The Research Institute of Water and Environmental Engineering (IIAMA) was founded in 2001 and recognised as a Research Organisation by the governing body of the Universitat Politècnica de València on 26th July of the same year. The R&D work that the Institute had been carrying out for over 30 years in the fields of Water Engineering and the Environment at that time required new premises and new equipment to improve results and efficiency.

IIAMA consists of 10 research groups within the Universitat Politècnica de València. All the groups have wide experience, acquired in the course of the last 30 years in fields related to Water and the Environment, including research and consulting. There is also a high degree of inter-group cooperation.

In 2005, IIAMA was recognised as a University Research Institute and acquired new offices and laboratories in the Polytechnic City of Innovation, where its central office is located.

The Institute is very much aware of the existence of the needs of society, the public administration and industry for the services it can provide, and also of the possibilities of improving industrial processes and competitiveness through the development of technology and innovation. The need to respond to the new challenges in the fields of Water and the Environment have opened up new opportunities of cooperation with public bodies, other research centres and private companies, for which the Institute is totally prepared. IIAMA has long experience in the transfer of results to businesses, public organisations and to society in general.

One of the characteristics of the Institute is its preference for inter-disciplinary research projects not only among its own groups but also involving outside organisations, with the aim of expanding the scope and quality of its R&D&I work.