The IMB-CNM delivers this week the awards of the contest “Un microchip muy grande”

On September 22nd, at 1 pm, the award ceremony of the “Un microchip muy grande” contest will be held at the facilities of the Institute of Microelectronics of Barcelona (IMB-CNM, CSIC). The “Un microchip muy grande” contest, funded by the Fundación Española para la Ciencia y la Tecnología (FECYT) from the Ministry of Science and Innovation (Project FCT-21-16975) and organised by the IMB-CNM of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), is an outreach project to promote scientific vocations in the field of electronics among secondary school students.

The researcher and disseminator Elisabet Prats will be in charge of presenting the event, which will reward the best works in the modalities of compulsory secondary education, baccalaureate and formative cycles.

Luis Fonseca, director of the IMB-CNM and president of the selection jury, will do the institutional welcome; and Joan Marc Rafí, coordinator of the FECYT project, and Sabela Rey, from the scientific culture office, will talk about the project. Prats will also do the talk “De la radio del yayo a la Playstation 5”. The ceremony will hand over trophies to the winners of each category.

The proposals have been related to the field of electronics, while some groups have presented extensive bibliographic research and others have assembled their own electronic circuit. The use of the transistor as a microelectronic device has been particularly appreciated. The contest awards three modalities: M1 (Compulsory Secondary Education), M2 (Baccalaureate) and M3 (Formative Cycles).

A five people jury was in charge of the final assessment, including: Luis Fonseca, Cecilia Jiménez (IMB-CNM researcher in the area of biosensors and chemistry), Xavier Jordà (Scientific Deputy Director of the IMB-CNM), Jordi Sacristán (technician of the IMB-CNM specialized in circuit design) and Mercedes Saludes (professor of complusory secondary education in technology and jury vocal).

In the first phase, a moderating committee made up of technical and research staff of the center participated in the verification of compliance with the bases and in the initial assessment of the work.

The winning team receives a 500€ voucher for electronic material and the second and third receives an Arduino kit. In addition, all participating teams obtain a commemorative wafer for their participation in the contest.

Activities around 75 years since the invention of the transistor

This event closes a year of celebrations and activities around the 75th anniversary of the invention of the transistor. In addition to the contest, scientific outreach workshops have been carried out within the framework of different outreach events (Festa de la Ciència de Barcelona, Nit de la Recerca (Cosmocaixa), Setmana de la Ciència (MNACTEC) and ESCOLAB), an itinerant exhibition, workshops and seminars for schools, guided visits to the IMB-CNM facilities, a cycle of conferences and several outreach material.

The itinerant exhibiton "La Revolució Silenciosa” tells the story of microelectronics with the transistor as the protagonist. The next stop will be the Lleialtat Santsenca (Sants, Barcelona) in November 2023.

The IMB-CNM organized 27 guided tours of its facilities during the last academic year, with a total of 536 visitors, to show the research carried out by the center, as well as the operation of the Micro and Nanofabrication Clean Room, a Unique Science and Technology Infrastructure (ICTS).

Finally, the cycle of talks has been hybrid and has had invited lectures from Ignacio Mártil, disseminator and professor at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid; Núria Salán, professor at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya and disseminator; and Tomás Palacios, professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States.

Moderating committee: Joan Marc Rafí, Xavier Jordà, Joan Bausells, Cecilia Jiménez, Llibertat Abad, Gemma Gabriel, Gemma Rius, Jordi Sacristán, Miguel Zabala, Elisabet Prats y Mercedes Saludes.