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30 Mar 2024

Emilio Lora-Tamayo, former director of the Institute of Microelectronics of Barcelona and key figure in its founding, dies

We deeply regret the death of Emilio Lora-Tamayo, friend and colleague of the IMB-CNM-CSIC, to which he was linked since its beginnings. He was also President of CSIC and Professor of Electronics at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. May he rest in peace.

Composición de oblea con Emilio Lora-Tamayo y el texto "Pasión por la microelectrónica"

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The Institute of Microelectronics of Barcelona pays tribute to the figure of Emilio Lora-Tamayo d'Ocón, born in Madrid on November 5, 1950. Protagonist on his own merits in the history of CSIC, of which he has been vice-president and president on two different occasions (2003-2005 and 2012-2017). A researcher in the field of microelectronics and nanotechnology, he was also director of the IMB-CNM (2008-2012) and vice-director for many years. He was one of the key figures in the creation of the National Microelectronics Center in the early 1980s (officially founded in 1985), which allowed both the CNM and its Micro and Nanofabrication Clean Room, currently a Unique Science and Technical Infrastructure (ICTS), to see the light of day on the campus of the Autonomous University of Barcelona (Bellaterra, Barcelona) to become what they are today. He was also technical director of the company Diseño + Tecnología Microelectrónica (D+T Microelectrónica AIE).

We deeply regret the death of Emilio, who passed away yesterday, Friday, March 29, at the age of 74, as reported by CSIC itself. To all the people who worked with him at the Institute of Microelectronics in Barcelona, he leaves us a legacy that will always live with us. Our thoughts are with his family and friends. May he rest in peace.

The date of the funeral is still to be confirmed.

A career linked to microelectronics

Doctor in Physics from the Complutense University of Madrid, Professor of Electronics at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, he was a researcher in France (at centers such as the Ècole Nationale Supérieure d'Aéronautique et de l'Espace in Toulouse or the Laboratoire d'Electronique et de l'Informatique de Grenoble) and visiting professor at the University of Berkeley (United States). Lora-Tamayo was honorary rector for life of the Menéndez Pelayo International University (UIMP) and the Camilo José Cela University (appointed last October in his last public act).

Supernumerary member of the Royal Academy of Sciences and Arts of Barcelona; President of the Scientific Committee of the García Cabrerizo Foundation; Vice-President of Science Europe, a European institution that brings together public research organizations. He was also a member of the Royal Academy of Medicine and Surgery of Cadiz, the Royal Academy of Sciences of Murcia and the Royal Academy of San Dionisio of Arts and Sciences of Jerez de la Frontera.

His area of work was Microelectronics and Nanotechnology, especially in semiconductor technology, microcircuits and the simulation and design of silicon devices and integrated circuits, micro and nanosystems. With more than 100 articles in scientific journals and more than 150 communications in national and international congresses; co-author of seven patents and more than a dozen books and chapters of specialized books. He participated in more than 50 national and international R&D projects and chaired the Scientific Advisory Committee for the remediation of the consequences of the sinking of the ship "Prestige" between 2002 and 2003.