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1 December 2022 (ICFO & Online)

Photonics landscape

9:00 to 9:30

Registration

9:35 to 9:40

Welcome and introduction

Streaming available
Lydia Sanmartí-Vila

Lydia Sanmartí-Vila

Outreach Coordinator at ICFO

9:40 to 10:10

The photonics landscape

Streaming available
Robert Sewell

Robert Sewell

Head of Academic Affairs at ICFO, SPIE@ICFO Chair for Diversity in Photonic Sciences

10:10 to 11:00

Academia panel, moderated by Robert Sewell

Streaming available

Nicoletta Liguori

Nicoletta Liguori

Professor and Group leader at ICFO

Gianluca Valentini

Gianluca Valentini

Professor of Photonics at Politecnico de Milano

Halina Rubinsztein-Dunlop

Halina Rubinsztein-Dunlop

Director of Translational Research Program of ARC CoE for Engineered Quantum Systems, Professor at University of Queensland (Australia)

Marta Camprubí

Marta Camprubí

Neonatologist and Researcher at Hospital Sant Joan de Déu

11:00 to 11:30

Coffee Break*

11:30 to 12:20

Industry Panel, moderated by Silvia Carrasco

Streaming available

James Greene

James Greene

CEO at Medlumics SL

Thomas Siegel

Thomas Siegel

Head of R&D at ASE Optics

Vanesa Diaz

Vanesa Diaz

CEO of LuxQuanta

Ana Maiques

Ana Maiques

CEO of Neuroelectrics

12:20 to 13:10

My start in photonics, moderated by Lisa Saemisch

Streaming available

Jessica Angulo

Jessica Angulo

Ph.D. student at ICFO

Bárbara B. Polesso

Bárbara B. Polesso

Postdoctoral researcher at ICFO

Yu Bi

Yu Bi

Team Leader of Fabrication at Qurv

Roland A. Terborg

Roland A. Terborg

Postdoctoral Researcher and Entrepreneur at ICFO's LaunchPad

13:10 to 14:20

Lunch break* with networking session

14:20 to 15:15

Photonics for society: Health, Quantum, Energy and beyond, moderated by Lydia Sanmartí-Vila

Streaming available

Turgut Durduran

Turgut Durduran

ICREA professor, Group Leader Medical Optics at ICFO, presenting health projects

Valerio Pruneri

Valerio Pruneri

Member of the Science and Engineering Board of the Quantum Flagship & Group Leader at ICFO, presenting quantum initiatives

Alastair Cunningham

Alastair Cunningham

KTT Project Portfolio Manager at ICFO, presenting the energy portfolio

Silvia Carrasco

Silvia Carrasco

Director of KTT at ICFO, presenting the FLIGHT Ph.D. call

15:15 to 16:15

Photonics is everywhere panel, moderated by Federica Beduini

Streaming available

Alina Hirschmann

Alina Hirschmann

Science Communication Officer at ICFO

Alessandro Seri

Alessandro Seri

Data Science Researcher at SIRIS Academic

Ariadna Martínez Marrades

Ariadna Martínez Marrades

KTT Project Portfolio Manager at ICFO (Health)

Enrique Sánchez-Bautista

Enrique Sánchez-Bautista

Head of Policy & Coordinator of the QCN office in Brussels, European Physical Society & Quantum Flagship

Wolfgang Neubeck

Wolfgang Neubeck

Patent Attorney at Grünecker Patent und Rechtsanwälte PartG mbB

16:15 to 17:40

Networking & Coffee*

17:40 to 17:50

Wrap up Day 1

* Provided by ICFO

Funded by

In collaboration with

With the support of

Trustees

Consortium

Lydia Sanmartí-Vila

Lydia Sanmartí-Vila

Outreach Coordinator at ICFO

Contact info

https://www.icfo.eu/
lydia.sanmarti@icfo.eu

Social media

https://twitter.com/lysanma

Bio

Dr. Lydia Sanmartí-Vila – PhD KTT Outreach Coordinator at ICFO. She is ECOP’s Executive Officer, where she coordinates the pursuit of new projects for ECOP to encourage collaboration among the centres. She manages ICFO’s international outreach projects and activities, such as the current ICFO-coordinated project CARLA and the CSA of the Quantum Flagship as well as past projects such as GoPhoton!, LIGHT2015, PHABLABS 4.0. She is the creator of the LIGHTtalks events, which were replicated in over 20 countries in Europe between 2015 and 2017. Lydia has a degree in chemistry from the Autonomous University of Barcelona and a doctorate in neurobiology from the Otto von Guericke University in Germany, and has extensive international experience.

About the Institution

ICFO is a CERCA research centre member of the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, founded in 2002 by the Government of Catalonia and the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya · Barcelona Tech, both of which are members of ICFO’s board of trustees along with the Cellex and Mir-Puig Foundations, philanthropic entities that have played a critical role in the advancement of the institute. Located in the Mediterranean Technology Park in the metropolitan area of Barcelona, the institute currently hosts 500 people, organized in 25 research teams that use 80 state-of-the-art research laboratories. Research lines encompass diverse areas in which photonics plays a decisive role, with an emphasis on basic and applied themes relevant to medicine and biology, advanced imaging techniques, information technologies, a range of environmental sensors, tunable and ultra-fast lasers, quantum science and technologies, photovoltaics and the properties and applications of nano and quantum materials such as graphene, among others. In addition to three consecutive accreditations of the Severo Ochoa national program for top research excellence, ICFOnians have been awarded 16 elite ICREA Professorships as well as 42 European Research Council grants. ICFO is very proactive in fostering entrepreneurial activities, spin-off creation, and creating collaborations and links between industry and ICFO researchers. To date, ICFO has helped create 11 start-up companies. 

Robert Sewell

Robert Sewell

Head of Academic Affairs at ICFO, SPIE@ICFO Chair for Diversity in Photonic Sciences

Contact info

https://www.icfo.eu/
robert.sewell@icfo.eu

Social media

https://twitter.com/ICFOnians

Bio

Prof. Robert Sewell completed a dual arts/science undergraduate degree at the University of Melbourne, and received his PhD in Physics from Imperial College London in 2009. He joined ICFO in 2009 as a Marie Curie Research Postdoctoral Fellow, and in 2014 was appointed Staff Scientist and Coordinator of Academic Programs at ICFO. From 2021 he is a Tenured Scientist and Head of Academic Affairs, responsible for ICFO’s PhD program, postdoctoral training program, and training of undergraduate and masters students. He is Co-Director of the Master of Multidisciplinary Research in Experimental Sciences offered by the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in conjunction with The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, and in 2020 was appointed SPIE@ICFO Chair for Diversity in Photonic Sciences.

About the Institution

ICFO+: ICFO’s Training and Development Program — Scientists with wide-scope scientific and technical training are more successful in helping frontier research to have a profound effect on society. They are also better equipped to take advantage of the wide range of professional opportunities that their scientific training may present. With this in mind, we created the ICFO+ program of excellence which encompasses a series of activities designed to equip PhD students and young post-docs with personal and professional skills to prepare them for leadership in the academic and the industrial worlds.

The ICFO+ Training and Development Program offers a unique package of wide-scope scientific and technical training, courses on entrepreneurship and commercialization techniques, and opportunities for professional and personal development. It includes lectures, tutorials, skills training and personal and professional development and business training among other activities.

Contact info

Social media

Nicoletta Liguori

Nicoletta Liguori

Professor and Group leader at ICFO

Contact info

https://www.icfo.eu/research-group/32/photon-harvesting/home/437/
nicoletta.liguori@icfo.eu

Social media

https://twitter.com/nikinikki87

Bio

Nicoletta Liguori is a physicist with experimental and computational experience in biomolecular physics, especially in photosynthesis. She graduated cum laude in physics at Università degli Studi Roma Tre (IT), after an MSc thesis in molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of biomolecules at UC Berkeley (US). For her Ph.D., she joined the group of Biophysics of Photosynthesis headed by Roberta Croce at the VU Amsterdam (NL). During her Ph.D., she combined ultrafast spectroscopy with MD simulations to investigate how the light-harvesting complexes of plants and algae activate photoprotection. In 2018 she obtained a prestigious national VENI grant that allowed her to develop a spectroscopic tool to measure how photoactive molecules respond to pH changes.

In 2022, Nicoletta Liguori was appointed principal investigator at ICFO, within the elite CELLEX NEST fellow program. Her group develops novel experimental and computational tools to study the functional response of photosynthetic proteins to changes in the microenvironment. 

About the Institution

Nicoletta Liguori´s group aims at understanding how changes in light, structure and environment regulate the molecular mechanisms of photoactive (bio)molecular systems. To this end, novel ultrafast spectroscopic methods are tailored to: i) induce in a controlled way the physiological changes that photoactive molecules experience in their natural environment, and ii) probe in real time how, and how fast, photoactive molecules respond to such changes and switch their function on/off. The aim is to probe the molecular response of a variety of (bio)molecules from the femtosecond to above the second, and to uncover the ground and excited states properties of all the intermediate states. Her group combines the experimental tools with cutting edge molecular dynamics simulations-based methods, for most of which they work on national supercomputing facilities, to obtain structural detail of such molecular switches with an ultrafast resolution and atomistic detail.

This specific research can potentially refine the fundamental knowledge of how living and artificial systems sense and respond at the molecular level to changes in light and environment. This information can be crucial for future rational design of (bio)inspired molecular sensing systems.

Gianluca Valentini

Gianluca Valentini

Professor of Photonics at Politecnico de Milano

Contact info

www.polimi.it

Social media

http://twitter.com/fisipolimi

Bio

Gianluca Valentini received his degree in nuclear engineering from Politecnico di Milano, in 1985. From 1985 to 1988, he worked for IBM, developing new products in the field of image processing devices. He joined the “Istituto di Fotonica e Nanotecnologie” of the Italian National Research Council as Research Scientist (1988). Since 1999 he has been Professor of Physics and Photonics at Politecnico di Milano where he teaches Electromagnetism for students on the BS program in Biomedical Engineering and Photonics for students on the MS program in Engineering Physics. From 2007 to 2010 he was Rector Deputy for the management of intellectual property and for the establishment of spin-off companies at the Politecnico di Milano. In addition, he was President of the Board of Directors of Mi.To. Tech, a spin-off company specialized in intellectual property management for public research institutions (from 2007 to 2019) and also he was Coordinator of the BS and of MS program in Engineering Physics at the Politecnico di Milano (from January 2013 to 2018).

His main research topic is the development and application of advanced spectroscopic and microscopy techniques for medicine, biology, and conservation of cultural heritage.

About the Institution

Politecnico di Milano (POLIMI) is the largest scientific-technological university in Italy, training engineers, architects and industrial designers. Nearly 1,500 professors and researchers currently work at POLIMI, and 47,000 students study at 7 different campuses. POLIMI offers 27 Bachelor of Science programmes, 43 Master of Science programmes (41 taught in English) and 19 Ph.D. programmes. POLIMI is a highly international university, with 28% of master’s Students and 25% of doctoral Students coming from around the world. POLIMI is organised in 12 Departments that are responsible for scientific research and industrial developments. POLIMI is an active part of the large European research network and coordinates or is a partner in 60 Horizon Europe-funded projects and 6 MSCA fellowships from 2021.

The Physics Department has deep and long-term expertise in the field of optics and photonics-based knowledge, both in terms of teaching and research activities. In fact, it offers a programme in Engineering Physics (divided in 3 levels: Bachelor of Science, Master of Science, and Ph,D.) with the aim of training engineers for the development of modern technologies, based mainly on low-dimensional materials, optics and photonics. it also carries out top-level experimental and theoretical scientific research in the fields of Photonics, Optics and Matter Physics.

Halina Rubinsztein-Dunlop

Halina Rubinsztein-Dunlop

Director of Translational Research Program of ARC CoE for Engineered Quantum Systems, Professor at University of Queensland (Australia)

Contact info

https://www.smp.uq.edu.au/node/106/94
halina@physics.uq.edu.au

Social media

@halina_physics

Bio

Halina Rubinsztein-Dunlop is the Director of Translational Research Program at the ARC CoE for Engineered Quantum System, and a Professor of Physics, at University of Queensland. There, she leads groups in experimental quantum atom optics, laser micromanipulation and biophotonics. Her work on the mechanical action of light in biological and micron scale systems produced seminal results in the field. She was the first to demonstrate transfer of angular momentum from singular beams carrying orbital angular momentum to absorbing particles on microscopic scale. She was the first to demonstrate the transfer of spin angular momentum of light to microscopic objects resulting in rotation of the object. She has a distinguished record of achievements in the atomic domain of laser cooling and trapping of atoms. Her group demonstrated the experimental milestones in quantum chaos, dynamical tunnelling of ultracold atoms. Recently, her group made observation of Onsager vortex clusters, a fundamental coherent structure in two-dimensional fluid turbulence, whose observation has evaded experimental attempts since the prediction of this state more than 70 years ago. This work was published in Nature in 2019.  

Halina is the recipient of many national and international awards, including Officer in the General Division of the Order of Australia. She is a Fellow of Australian Academy of Science, Fellow SPIE and Fellow of OPTICA (former OSA).  

About the Institution

The University of Queensland (UQ, or Queensland University) was founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament. The University of Queensland is a research intensive institution and was ranked second nationally by the Australian Research Council in the latest research assessment and equal second in Australia based on the average of four major global university league tables.  

The Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Engineered Quantum Systems, EQUS headquartered at UQ has a mission to engineer the quantum future by building quantum machines that harness the quantum world for practical applications.  The centres researchers from five Australian Universities and in collaboration with a number of Institutions around the globe are solving the most challenging research problems at the interface of basic quantum physics and engineering, working with partners in industry to translate our discoveries into practical applications and devices, and training a new generation of scientists in cutting-edge research, innovation and entrepreneurialism. 

Marta Camprubí

Marta Camprubí

Neonatologist and Researcher at Hospital Sant Joan de Déu

Contact info

https://www.sjdhospitalbarcelona.org/ca
marta.camprubi@sjd.es

Social media

Bio

Marta Camprubí Camprubí is a Pediatrician and Neonatologist that works in SJD Barcelona Children’s Hospital leading the neonatal neuro-cardiac critical care unit. She combines her clinical activity with basic and clinical research. She holds both, a master’s degree in Neuroscience (Barcelona University, 2009) and a master’s degree in Statistics and methodology (Autonoma University, 2020).  

Dr. Camprubí has focused her research career on the study of the impact that critical illness has on the neurodevelopment of  the neonate. She has conducted several research projects on hypoxic-ischemic brain injury using both animal models and humans. During the last four years, she has closely collaborated with Dr. Sanchez de Toledo in several projects focused on neurodevelopmental outcomes in children with congenital heart disease (CHD) undergoing heart surgery. Her preliminary work within the PI17/02198 project has allowed her to obtain a grant from the Instituto Carlos III this year (PFIS 19/00118) to study the relationship between oxidative stress and brain injury in newborns with CHD. In the clinical arena, Dr. Camprubí is part of the neuro critical care newborn unit team and she has conducted several workshops in the use of neuromonitoring within the neonatal intensive care unit.  

In 2020, the European Commission funded one collaborative projects (TinyBrains) in the framework of the Horizon 2020 program. Tiny Brains is a multi-disciplinary and collaborative project that brings together end-users, academy and industry. The aim of the project is to Build a novel research tool focused on cutting-edge research for preventing brain injury in the newborns and infants.

About the Institution

SJD Barcelona Children’s Hospital is a highly specialized center for the treatment of children and pregnant women. SJD Barcelona Children’s hospital offers a comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach to health care from birth through 18 years of age. HSJD combines basic general pediatrics with specialized care for all tertiary-level pediatric pathologies, in particular, cardiology, psychology, psychiatry, neuroscience, endocrinology, infectious diseases, neonatology, oncology, and orthopedic surgery, among others, covering a pediatric population of 350,000 children.  

With over 300 heart surgeries a year, SJD-PHC is one of the largest pediatric heart centers in Spain. It holds both, national (Spanish Ministry of Health) and European (European Reference Network) accreditations that recognize it as a referral center for the treatment of Pediatric Heart Disease. Moreover, our cardiology master’s degree is among the most sought-after pediatric cardiology fellowships in Spain. Staff from three different institutions, including SJD Hospital, BCNatal, and Hospital Clinic, work together to ensure a transversal model of care and research from fetus to adulthood. 

Contact info

Social media

James Greene

James Greene

CEO at Medlumics SL

Contact info

www.medlumics.com
jgreene@medlumics.com

Social media

Bio

Currently, Mr. Greene serves as Chief Executive Officer for MedLumics bringing 35 years of extensive operational experience in medical device design, development, and commercialization. 

Before joining MedLumics, Jim served as a Partner in Seroba Lifesciences Limited, a Dublin based venture capital firm, where he is still serving as a Medtech advisor to the firm. Jim is a serial entrepreneur founding multiple medical device start-ups and serving as CEO for Verso technologies, Apica Cardiovascular, Advanced Medical Technologies (APK), and MitralSolutions. Additionally, he has served as Board Chairman for Novate Medical Ltd. and is a Founder and Board member for Bionet-Sonar. Earlier in his career, Jim held Director level positions at global medical device companies such as Bioheart, Medtronic, Arterial Vascular Engineering, Perclose, and Guidant.

Jim holds a B.A. degree from Furman University, Greenville, S.C. and served in the United States Military following graduation for 7 years. 

About the Institution

MedLumics SL, is a pre-commercial, Madrid based medical device company developing a unique optically guided cardiac ablation catheter AblaView®  and PulseView® which incorporates photonics and optics to guide cardiac ablation catheters using radiofrequency or pulsed field electroporation therapies for the treatment of Atrial Fibrillation. The combination of optics and photonics guides electrophysiologists and enables direct lesion assessment for the prediction of treatment durability in real-time. Medlumics is supported by a team of EU based venture capital firms and is the recipient of a 2.4M€ Horizon 2020 grant in 2019 and most recently a 2.2M€ RETOS grant in November 2022.

Thomas Siegel

Thomas Siegel

Head of R&D at ASE Optics

Contact info

www.aseoptics.com
thomas.siegel@aseoptics.com

Social media

Bio

Thomas Siegel is Director of R&D at ASE Optics Europe (2014 – ongoing) in charge of the R&D team and ECQA-certified EU project manager. Together with the rest of the R&D team, he has developed optical systems for many applications, such as medical, defense, and large scientific installations.  

He has a Masters in physics (2006) and a PhD in quantum optics and laser science (2010), both from Imperial College London. His research career was furthered by one year of postdoc in the cold plasma group in UNAM, Mexico (2011-2012) and three years of postdoc at Imperial College London (2010-2011 then 2012 – 2014).  

About the Institution

ASE Optics Europe was founded in 2011 with a clear underlying concept: “freedom to innovation”. ASE designs, develops custom and fully integrated optical, optoelectronic and laser systems, highly precise, with high technology performance and quality. ASE helps its customers to achieve their technological and commercial goals, through its extensive knowledge in optical design and engineering. Its multiskilled team of engineers accumulates over 40 years of experience in optical systems design and laser systems integration. The firm has developed complex optics and photonics-enabled systems, integrating physics, photonics, optics, and mechanics, electronics, scientific imaging, and systems design. ASE has provided solutions for its customers in various industries, principally in: Optical Metrology and Industrial inspection, Defense, Astrophysics, Biotechnology, and Large Scientific installations in applications in both imaging and non-imaging.  

Vanesa Diaz

Vanesa Diaz

CEO of LuxQuanta

Contact info

www.luxquanta.com
vanesa_diaz@luxquanta.com

Social media

https://twitter.com/LuxQuanta

Bio

Vanesa works as Business Developer Director at LuxQuanta leading the activities related to business
development, customer engagement, strategic partnerships and marketing. She has more than 17 years of
experience in diverse commercial roles in the optical communication industry where she has built a solid
reputation as a communicator with recognized experience at international conferences and industry magazines. Vanesa holds a Masters Engineering Degree in Telecommunications from the University of
Cantabria, Spain, and a Master of Business and Marketing from Griffith University, Australia.

About the Institution

LuxQuanta was born in May 2021 as a spin-off from ICFO and after being incubated for over 4 years with the mission of developing Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) systems and technologies, exploiting the unique properties of quantum physics to distribute cryptographic keys between users with the highest level of security. The technology is capable of providing high-performance quantum cryptography solutions, easy to integrate into existing network infrastructures while capable of delivering a quantum-safe layer of security on top of mathematical cryptographic techniques. From its headquarters in Barcelona (Spain), LuxQuanta strives to deliver ultra-secure data encryption and communications to all European Union’s governmental institutions, financial sectors, data centres and private telecommunication network providers.

Ana Maiques

Ana Maiques

CEO of Neuroelectrics

Contact info

www.neuroelectrics.com
ana.maiques@neuroelectrics.com

Social media

https://twitter.com/Neuroelectrics

Bio

Ana Maiques is the CEO of Neuroelectrics, a company aiming to change the way we interact with the brain, developing innovative technologies to monitor and stimulate the brain to help many patients in need. She was nominated as one of Spain’s most influential entrepreneurs under 40 in 2010. She received the EU Prize for Women Innovators from the European Commission EC in 2014. For two years in a row 2015 & 2016, she was named one of the most inspiring women on the Inspiring Fifty list in Europe.  

In 2022, she co-founded EsTech, an organization of high-growth companies that want to make more visible the impact of a new productive model. She joined the European Innovation Council Advisory Board, the pan-European organism that aims to scale up European companies. And recently Goldman Sachs recognized her as one of the Most Exceptional Entrepreneurs of 2022 at its Builders and Innovators Summit. Ana continues breaking the barriers of science and technology in an impactful way with Business Ethics. 

About the Institution

Neuroelectrics is a Spanish company pioneer in brain stimulation and artificial intelligence technologies and therapies to alleviate neurological diseases. 
  
The company currently offers the best-in-class non-invasive and high-definition electrical brain stimulation technology for personalized neuromodulation. By measuring and modifying brain function, they aim to restore brain health, minimize disabilities and create a better life for patients. 
  
Founded in 2011 and headquartered in Barcelona and Boston, Neuroelectrics distributes its products in more than 40 countries for basic neuroscience and clinical research in hundreds of universities and academic medical centers. Their vision is to create a powerful neurotechnology platform upon which verticals can be developed to improve the lives of as many people as possible. Clinical applications are already being developed to diagnose and treat brain diseases as well as improve brain health (e.g., in epilepsy, neuropathic pain, or mood disorders) and cognitive function (e.g., memory in dementia or executive function in children with ADHD). 

Contact info

Social media

Jessica Angulo

Jessica Angulo

Ph.D. student at ICFO

Contact info

https://www.icfo.eu/research-group/21/smb/people/437/
jessica.angulo@icfo.eu

Social media

https://twitter.com/Jessica14165165

Bio

Jessica Angulo studied Biochemistry in the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) (Spain), and a MSc. in Biophysics in the Universität Ulm (Germany). Right now, she is working as a PhD student in the Single Molecule Biophotonics group in ICFO, under the supervision of Prof. Maria Garcia-Parajo. In her thesis, she uses fluorescence microscopy techniques to study a fundamental process of the cell: the formation of transport carriers in the Golgi apparatus, a very important organelle of the cell. In ICFO she is able to use and develop cutting edge fluorescence microscopy techniques that allow a biophysical description of this cellular process. She is member of ICONS, ICFO’s student organization, where she helps to organize activities to create a welcoming environment for students. First dealing with social media of the organization, and now as the treasurer, being in ICONS helped her to develop very important softs skills.

About the Institution

ICFO is a CERCA research centre member of the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, founded in 2002 by the Government of Catalonia and the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya · Barcelona Tech, both of which are members of ICFO’s board of trustees along with the Cellex and Mir-Puig Foundations, philanthropic entities that have played a critical role in the advancement of the institute. Located in the Mediterranean Technology Park in the metropolitan area of Barcelona, the institute currently hosts 500 people, organized in 25 research teams that use 80 state-of-the-art research laboratories. Research lines encompass diverse areas in which photonics plays a decisive role, with an emphasis on basic and applied themes relevant to medicine and biology, advanced imaging techniques, information technologies, a range of environmental sensors, tunable and ultra-fast lasers, quantum science and technologies, photovoltaics and the properties and applications of nano and quantum materials such as graphene, among others. In addition to three consecutive accreditations of the Severo Ochoa national program for top research excellence, ICFOnians have been awarded 16 elite ICREA Professorships as well as 42 European Research Council grants. ICFO is very proactive in fostering entrepreneurial activities, spin-off creation, and creating collaborations and links between industry and ICFO researchers. To date, ICFO has helped create 11 start-up companies. 

Bárbara B. Polesso

Bárbara B. Polesso

Postdoctoral researcher at ICFO

Contact info

https://www.icfo.eu/about-icfo/people/directory/?id=2158
barbara.polesso@icfo.eu

Social media

@ICFOnians

Bio

Bárbara B. Polesso is a Chemical engineer and got her PhD in Materials Engineering and Technology at Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil (June 2022). She has more than 6 years of research experience which include materials synthesis, materials characterization, design of new materials and systems for CO2 capture technologies. She also worked with major research projects funded by Oil companies (Shell and Petrobras). Looking for new challenges and projects whereby she could contribute to society and make difference on our planet, she is currently working as a postdoctoral researcher under the supervision of Prof. F. Pelayo García de Arquer (CO2 MAP group), working with CO2 conversion, pursuing advances in the performance of new catalysts for CO2 electrochemical reduction to value products.  

About the Institution

ICFO is a CERCA research centre member of the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, founded in 2002 by the Government of Catalonia and the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya · Barcelona Tech, both of which are members of ICFO’s board of trustees along with the Cellex and Mir-Puig Foundations, philanthropic entities that have played a critical role in the advancement of the institute. Located in the Mediterranean Technology Park in the metropolitan area of Barcelona, the institute currently hosts 500 people, organized in 25 research teams that use 80 state-of-the-art research laboratories. Research lines encompass diverse areas in which photonics plays a decisive role, with an emphasis on basic and applied themes relevant to medicine and biology, advanced imaging techniques, information technologies, a range of environmental sensors, tunable and ultra-fast lasers, quantum science and technologies, photovoltaics and the properties and applications of nano and quantum materials such as graphene, among others. In addition to three consecutive accreditations of the Severo Ochoa national program for top research excellence, ICFOnians have been awarded 16 elite ICREA Professorships as well as 42 European Research Council grants. ICFO is very proactive in fostering entrepreneurial activities, spin-off creation, and creating collaborations and links between industry and ICFO researchers. To date, ICFO has helped create 11 start-up companies. 

Yu Bi

Yu Bi

Team Leader of Fabrication at Qurv

Contact info

https://www.qurv.tech

Social media

Bio

Yu Bi is a Materials Scientist with more than 10 years’ experience in nanotechnology. She got her PhD degree in 2013 at the Institute of Semiconductors of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. There, she studied synthesis of semiconductor nanocrystals and their application in optoelectronics devices. In 2013, she joined the Optoelectronic Materials group in TU Delft as a postdoctoral researcher, where she investigated the photo-induced charge carrier dynamics of surface modified nanocrystals. In October 2015, she joined the Functional Optoelectronics Nanomaterials group at ICFO, spending three productive years on investigating the light harvesting in the infrared by means of colloidal quantum dots based solar cells. In July 2018, she joined an incubation project that develops a visible, infrared light detection technology based on colloidal quantum dots and graphene. In September 2020 she witnessed the birth of the new start-up Qurv, from the incubation project. Since then, she has been working at Qurv, leading a fabrication R&D team.

About the Institution

Qurv develops wide-spectrum image sensor technologies and integrated solutions to enable next-gen computer vision applications, addressing the expanding needs of an autonomous and intelligent new world. Qurv’s technology leverages current CMOS scalable manufacturing and advanced materials to unlock new levels of performance, reliability, and function in XR devices, service robots, and automotive. Qurv’s breakthrough technology platform stemmed from nearly a decade of applied research and the company was spun-out from ICFO in 2020.

Roland A. Terborg

Roland A. Terborg

Postdoctoral Researcher and Entrepreneur at ICFO's LaunchPad

Contact info

www.icfo.eu
roland.terborg@icfo.eu

Social media

Bio

Roland A. Terborg studied Physics at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) and obtained the PhD in Photonics at ICFO. His research areas include: generation of structured light beams with high orbital angular momentum, self-induced optical waveguides in artificial nonlinear media as well as holography and lens-free microscopy for the detection of nanometer-thin films and disease biomarker detection. Driven by his motivation of bringing to society solutions that will have a positive impact, he is currently working as a postdoctoral researcher under the supervision of Prof. Pruneri and as an entrepreneur at ICFO’s Launchpad alongside the KTT team, coordinating scientific activities and carrying out the business development of a spin-off project in the metrology and life-sciences sectors.

About the Institution

ICFO is a CERCA research centre member of the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, founded in 2002 by the Government of Catalonia and the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya · Barcelona Tech, both of which are members of ICFO’s board of trustees along with the Cellex and Mir-Puig Foundations, philanthropic entities that have played a critical role in the advancement of the institute. Located in the Mediterranean Technology Park in the metropolitan area of Barcelona, the institute currently hosts 500 people, organized in 25 research teams that use 80 state-of-the-art research laboratories. Research lines encompass diverse areas in which photonics plays a decisive role, with an emphasis on basic and applied themes relevant to medicine and biology, advanced imaging techniques, information technologies, a range of environmental sensors, tunable and ultra-fast lasers, quantum science and technologies, photovoltaics and the properties and applications of nano and quantum materials such as graphene, among others. In addition to three consecutive accreditations of the Severo Ochoa national program for top research excellence, ICFOnians have been awarded 16 elite ICREA Professorships as well as 42 European Research Council grants. ICFO is very proactive in fostering entrepreneurial activities, spin-off creation, and creating collaborations and links between industry and ICFO researchers. To date, ICFO has helped create 11 start-up companies. 

Contact info

Social media

Turgut Durduran

Turgut Durduran

ICREA professor, Group Leader Medical Optics at ICFO, presenting health projects

Contact info

https://www.icfo.eu/research-group/16/medical/people/437/
turgut.durduran@icfo.eu

Social media

Bio

Prof. Durduran is an ICREA professor /group leader at ICFO, where he leads the Medical Optics group. The group focuses on developing and translating photonics technologies for biomedical/clinical applications. 

As such, they work closely with clinicians and hospitals all around the world including Spain, UK, USA, Italy, Denmark, Germany, Austria and France and more. He has coordinated multi-partner, multi-disciplinary projects from the European Council, the Spanish government and the Catalan regional government. Over the years, he has participated in many grant review boards, has authored over a hundred peer-reviewed papers and delivered numerous invited talks at international conferences and colloquia. The group has trained many students and postdocs in transdisciplinary career paths with eventual positions in academia, industry and even in clinics.

About the Institution

ICFO-Medical Optics (ICFO-MEDOPT) group was founded in 2009 by Dr Turgut Durduran as an inter-disciplinary group that develops new technologies using advanced photonics for pre-clinical and clinical bio-medicine. His group uses state-of-the-art optical technologies to probe a variety of tissues from small animals to clinical cases, from sub-cellular length-scales to large tissues such as adult brain and breast.

The group’s main expertise is in diffuse optical monitoring and tomography which uses photon diffusion to probe “deep” (0.1-10cm) into tissues. Their research aims to advance the field in theoretical instrumentation and application oriented approaches in parallel. They focus on applications in neurology and oncology and in both pre-clinical animal model studies and in clinical human studies. Inter-disciplinary, collaborative work forms the core of their vision and they routinely collaborate with biomedical centers, hospitals and engineering departments in Spain, around Europe and abroad. In particular, they have strong ties with other centers in Barcelona area and with researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, USA.

Valerio Pruneri

Valerio Pruneri

Member of the Science and Engineering Board of the Quantum Flagship & Group Leader at ICFO, presenting quantum initiatives

Contact info

www.icfo.eu
valerio.pruneri@icfo.eu

Social media

https://twitter.com/QuantumFlagship

Bio

Valerio Pruneri is Corning Inc. Chair leading the Optoelectronics group at ICFO. Previously he worked for Avanex, Corning, Pirelli, and the University of Southampton. He is inventor in more than 60 patents and has given more than 100 invited talks. His group has developed technologies for the Photonics industry, including low voltage electro-optic modulators, nonlinear frequency converters, tunable lasers for telecommunication, ultrathin materials and nanostructured surfaces for display screens, quantum devices and systems for imaging and secure communication. His work has led to numerous industrial collaborations and three spin-offs, Quside, Sixsenso and Luxquanta. He was awarded the Philip Morris Prize, Pirelli Fellowship, IBM Faculty award, Paul Ehrenfest award, Duran Farell Prize and Corning Inc. Professorship. 

 

 

About the Institution

Valerio Pruneri´s group is focusing on the study and the development of new advanced materials, devices and systems for information and communication technologies, in particular displays, image sensors and cybersecurity. The main driving goal is to carry out research which bridges academia and industry, by developing fundamental ideas with great potential for revolutionizing future photonic products.

Alastair Cunningham

Alastair Cunningham

KTT Project Portfolio Manager at ICFO, presenting the energy portfolio

Contact info

www.icfo.eu
ktt@icfo.eu
alastair.cunningham@icfo.eu

Social media

https://twitter.com/ICFOnians

Bio

Dr. Alastair Cunningham has worked in ICFO’s KTT Unit since 2018, managing, amongst other topics, the energy intellectual property portfolio of the institute. Here, he focusses on establishing connections between the institute and potential industrial partners. Prior to this he worked for a major funder of cancer research, managing a national network of leading cancer research centres, and for a technology consultancy, communicating emerging scientific concepts to international clients in the energy, automotive, and materials sectors. His academic background is in optical materials (PhD, University of Geneva), nanoscience (MSc, University of Neuchâtel) and chemistry (MSci, University of Strathclyde).

About the Institution

ICFO is a CERCA research centre member of the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, founded in 2002 by the Government of Catalonia and the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya · Barcelona Tech, both of which are members of ICFO’s board of trustees along with the Cellex and Mir-Puig Foundations, philanthropic entities that have played a critical role in the advancement of the institute. Located in the Mediterranean Technology Park in the metropolitan area of Barcelona, the institute currently hosts 500 people, organized in 25 research teams that use 80 state-of-the-art research laboratories. Research lines encompass diverse areas in which photonics plays a decisive role, with an emphasis on basic and applied themes relevant to medicine and biology, advanced imaging techniques, information technologies, a range of environmental sensors, tunable and ultra-fast lasers, quantum science and technologies, photovoltaics and the properties and applications of nano and quantum materials such as graphene, among others. In addition to three consecutive accreditations of the Severo Ochoa national program for top research excellence, ICFOnians have been awarded 16 elite ICREA Professorships as well as 42 European Research Council grants. ICFO is very proactive in fostering entrepreneurial activities, spin-off creation, and creating collaborations and links between industry and ICFO researchers. To date, ICFO has helped create 11 start-up companies. 

Silvia Carrasco

Silvia Carrasco

Director of KTT at ICFO, presenting the FLIGHT Ph.D. call

Contact info

www.icfo.eu
ktt@icfo.eu
silvia.carrasco@icfo.eu

Social media

https://twitter.com/ICFOnians

Bio

PhD, MBA, KTT Director at ICFO. Vice-chair of the SPIE Chair for Diversity in Photonic Sciences at ICFO, she served as vice-president of the Spanish mirror of the European platform Photonics21, as a Member of the Board of SECPhO and of the Investments Committee of “Caixa Invierte Start”. Currently a member of the Board of Directors of Elisava-Barcelona School of Design and Engineering and in the Board of Directors of several ICFO spin-off companies, Carrasco was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship and enjoyed research stays at several USA institutions, including the College of Optics, University of Central Florida, the Photonics Center, Boston University, and Harvard University, Boston. She received the Fem Talent Award in 2013 and the Economy and Innovation Castelldefels City Award in 2019. Already at ICFO in 2016, Silvia Carrasco created ICFO’s KTT Unit, in charge of the innovation, technology transfer and outreach activities. She has a broad experience in IPR and outreach management, resulting in a patent portfolio of more than 100 patent families and a Corporate Liaison Program. She has created ICFO’s LaunchPad, a deep-tech start-up incubator where eleven spin-off companies have been launched that currently includes new ventures in various stages of incubation.

About the Institution

ICFO is a CERCA research centre member of the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, founded in 2002 by the Government of Catalonia and the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya · Barcelona Tech, both of which are members of ICFO’s board of trustees along with the Cellex and Mir-Puig Foundations, philanthropic entities that have played a critical role in the advancement of the institute. Located in the Mediterranean Technology Park in the metropolitan area of Barcelona, the institute currently hosts 500 people, organized in 25 research teams that use 80 state-of-the-art research laboratories. Research lines encompass diverse areas in which photonics plays a decisive role, with an emphasis on basic and applied themes relevant to medicine and biology, advanced imaging techniques, information technologies, a range of environmental sensors, tunable and ultra-fast lasers, quantum science and technologies, photovoltaics and the properties and applications of nano and quantum materials such as graphene, among others. In addition to three consecutive accreditations of the Severo Ochoa national program for top research excellence, ICFOnians have been awarded 16 elite ICREA Professorships as well as 42 European Research Council grants. ICFO is very proactive in fostering entrepreneurial activities, spin-off creation, and creating collaborations and links between industry and ICFO researchers. To date, ICFO has helped create 11 start-up companies. 

Contact info

Social media

Alina Hirschmann

Alina Hirschmann

Science Communication Officer at ICFO

Contact info

www.icfo.eu
alina.hirschmann@icfo.eu

Social media

https://twitter.com/ICFOnians

Bio

Dr. Alina Hirschmann – Science communication officer at ICFO. She obtained a double B.Sc. degree in Physics and Astrophysics from Florida Institute of Technology- FloridaTech. She obtained her PhD degree in Astrophysics from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya- UPC (Barcelona) through the Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC). From 2006 to 2010, she worked as an associate professor at the Dept. of Physics and Nuclear Engineering (ETSEIB) of the UPC. In 2009, she became communications manager at IEEC. Since 2013, she is the Science Communicator Officer at ICFO. In 2018, she obtained a master’s degree in Corporate Communication Management from the Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF) in Barcelona.

About the Institution

ICFO is a CERCA research centre member of the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, founded in 2002 by the Government of Catalonia and the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya · Barcelona Tech, both of which are members of ICFO’s board of trustees along with the Cellex and Mir-Puig Foundations, philanthropic entities that have played a critical role in the advancement of the institute. Located in the Mediterranean Technology Park in the metropolitan area of Barcelona, the institute currently hosts 500 people, organized in 25 research teams that use 80 state-of-the-art research laboratories. Research lines encompass diverse areas in which photonics plays a decisive role, with an emphasis on basic and applied themes relevant to medicine and biology, advanced imaging techniques, information technologies, a range of environmental sensors, tunable and ultra-fast lasers, quantum science and technologies, photovoltaics and the properties and applications of nano and quantum materials such as graphene, among others. In addition to three consecutive accreditations of the Severo Ochoa national program for top research excellence, ICFOnians have been awarded 16 elite ICREA Professorships as well as 42 European Research Council grants. ICFO is very proactive in fostering entrepreneurial activities, spin-off creation, and creating collaborations and links between industry and ICFO researchers. To date, ICFO has helped create 11 start-up companies. 

Alessandro Seri

Alessandro Seri

Data Science Researcher at SIRIS Academic

Contact info

https://sirisacademic.com/
alessandro.seri@sirisacademic.com

Social media

https://twitter.com/SIRISAcademic

Bio

Alessandro Seri is a physicist with a PhD in photonics. After obtaining his bachelor and master degree at the University of Camerino (Italy), in 2014 he moved to ICFO to work in experimental quantum optics as a PhD student, developing quantum memories for quantum communication. He continued as a postdoc in the same laboratory until 2020, when he joined Accenture – Barcelona Innovation Center as a Data Analyst to work in machine learning applied to supply chain optimization. Last year, he was granted a Torres Quevedo fellowship to join Siris Academics. Here he works on natural language processing techniques (automatic data extraction from texts) to support strategic decisions, mostly for public entities such as regions or universities.

About the Institution

SIRIS Academic works with decision makers of institutions with public or socially-oriented missions. They provide with insights, processes and also tools that challenge the way of thinking and enable a better accomplishment of missions. 

Ariadna Martínez Marrades

Ariadna Martínez Marrades

KTT Project Portfolio Manager at ICFO (Health)

Contact info

www.icfo.eu
ariadna.martinez@icfo.es

Social media

https://twitter.com/amartima17

Bio

Ariadna Martínez Marrades, PhD. is responsible for IPR management and exploitation of R&D results generated at ICFO, maturing marketable photonic technologies for their applications in Health and Life Sciences. Her expertise includes performing patentability studies, drafting commercialization strategies, raising competitive funding resources and promoting and establishing strategic alliances and collaborations with industry as well as with public institutions. In particular, she is working towards establishing a framework for a continuous collaboration between ICFO and its network of hospitals partners in the Barcelona metropolitan area to further promote the latest advances of photonics technologies in the medical sector.

About the Institution

ICFO is a CERCA research centre member of the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, founded in 2002 by the Government of Catalonia and the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya · Barcelona Tech, both of which are members of ICFO’s board of trustees along with the Cellex and Mir-Puig Foundations, philanthropic entities that have played a critical role in the advancement of the institute. Located in the Mediterranean Technology Park in the metropolitan area of Barcelona, the institute currently hosts 500 people, organized in 25 research teams that use 80 state-of-the-art research laboratories. Research lines encompass diverse areas in which photonics plays a decisive role, with an emphasis on basic and applied themes relevant to medicine and biology, advanced imaging techniques, information technologies, a range of environmental sensors, tunable and ultra-fast lasers, quantum science and technologies, photovoltaics and the properties and applications of nano and quantum materials such as graphene, among others. In addition to three consecutive accreditations of the Severo Ochoa national program for top research excellence, ICFOnians have been awarded 16 elite ICREA Professorships as well as 42 European Research Council grants. ICFO is very proactive in fostering entrepreneurial activities, spin-off creation, and creating collaborations and links between industry and ICFO researchers. To date, ICFO has helped create 11 start-up companies. 

Enrique Sánchez-Bautista

Enrique Sánchez-Bautista

Head of Policy & Coordinator of the QCN office in Brussels, European Physical Society & Quantum Flagship

Contact info

www.eps.org
https://qt.eu
e.sanchez@qt.eu

Social media

https://twitter.com/EuroPhysSoc // https://twitter.com/QuantumFlagship // https://twitter.com/Enrique_S_B

Bio

Originally from Madrid, Enrique Sánchez Bautista graduated in Physics at the Complutense University in 2010. After working at the European Space Agency (ESA/ESAC) in the XMM-Newton telescope team, in 2011, he moved to Barcelona to pursue a PhD at the Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO), where he obtained a PhD degree in Photonics in 2015. From 2013 until 2018 Enrique was Young Ambassador of the European Physical Society and in 2016 he joined the EU Diplomacy program at the Diplomatic School of Madrid, where he completed a thesis on the relations between the European Union and the European Space Agency. In 2021, Enrique also completed a postgraduate programme in Leadership in Public Administration at IESE Business School. 

After a period working in the banking sector as a data scientist in London, Enrique moved to Brussels in 2017 to work in the EU Space Programmes Directorate, DG Internal Market (DG GROW) of the European Commission. In 2018 he became the Head of Policy of the European Physical Society, becoming a permanent non-voting member of its Executive Committee. In 2019, he was appointed coordinator of the newly stablished Quantum Community Network office of the EU Quantum Flagship in Brussels, acting as the liaison with the European Institutions, coordinating several working groups, and advocating the European Commission in different initiatives in European policy in Quantum Technologies. From January 2020 until February 2021, Enrique, as part of the team of Prof. Tommaso Calarco, led and coordinated the community building process that led to the creation of the European Quantum Industry Consortium gathering more than 300+ stakeholders of Quantum Technologies in Europe. For these efforts, his team were awarded with the AMETIC “Business Excellence in Quantum Technologies” prize. 

Enrique is also member of the Executive Committee of the Initiative for Science in Europe platform, that represent the interests of nearly 500.000 researchers from all scientific disciplines in Europe. Within this platform, he has chaired several working groups, highlighting the coordination of the Horizon Europe position paper and the Widening Participation working groups. 

About the Institution

Quantum Flagship: After the Graphene Flagship and the Human Brain Project, the Quantum Flagship is the third largest-scale research and innovation initiative of this kind funded by the European Commission. It started in October 2018 and will run for 10 years. 

EPS: The European Physical Society (EPS) is a not for profit association whose members include 42 National Physical Societies in Europe, individuals from all fields of physics, and European research institutions. 

As a learned society, the EPS engages in activities that strengthen ties among the physicists in Europe. As a federation of National Physical Societies, the EPS studies issues of concern to all European countries relating to physics research, science policy and education. 

Wolfgang Neubeck

Wolfgang Neubeck

Patent Attorney at Grünecker Patent und Rechtsanwälte PartG mbB

Contact info

www.grunecker.de
neubeck@grunecker.de

Social media

Bio

Wolfgang graduated in Physics from the Technical University Karlsruhe and holds a PhD degree of the University of Grenoble in France. During his time as a postgraduate student, he was involved in thin film processing and characterization of magnetic properties of thin films using synchrotron radiation facilities (like the European Synchrotron ESRF in Grenoble, France). His work led to several scientific publications in renowned journals like Physical Review Letters.

After his PhD and prior to joining the IP boutique law firm Grünecker in 2002, he worked for two years as a system engineer in the research and development department of ASML, one of the major lithography tools manufactures.

Since joining Grünecker, Wolfgang focuses on patent prosecution and patent litigation. His clients come from all over the world and range from small and medium size entities to multinational companies. He also takes care of Start-ups and university and research labs.

Wolfgang represents clients before the German, French and European patent offices, has gathered extensive experience in opposition proceedings before the European Patent Office and regularly pleads at the German Federal Patent Court. His experience also covers cross boarder litigation, in particular litigation cases spreading over Germany and France.

About the Institution

Grünecker Patent- und Rechtsanwälte PartG mbB is a boutique law firm specialized in Intellectual Property (IP) law. Grünecker is a mixed law firm with patent attorneys and attorneys at law working under one roof. We have 30 partners supported by about 120 patent attorneys, attorneys at law, scientist (mainly with PhD) and engineers with a total staff approaching 500 people. Our offices are located in Munich, the home of the German and European Patent Offices as well as the Federal Patent Court, Berlin and Cologne as well as Paris, France. We have a rather international staff, with e.g. attorneys having qualifications for Germany, France, Italy, Spain and UK.

As a law firm specialized in IP law we work in all technological areas (physics, chemistry, mechanics, electrical engineering, software, biotech) and in all relevant legal areas of IP (patents, trademarks, designs, know-how, internet). Our attorneys are involved in prosecution, litigation, mediation, due diligences, contracts before national and international institutions and courts.

Grünecker is constantly hiring highly qualified scientists and engineers as patent engineers or patent attorney trainees.