IMB-CNM pays tribute to Emilio Lora-Tamayo, former director of the institute and former president of CSIC
Family members, institute staff and colleagues remembered his professional and personal impact one year after his death in an intimate ceremony.
The scientific community gathered to pay tribute to Emilio Lora-Tamayo d'Ocón, former vice-director and director of the Institute of Microelectronics of Barcelona (IMB-CNM-CSIC), as well as president of the CSIC; whose dedication and leadership left an indelible mark. During the event, held yesterday at the CSIC Delegation in Catalunya, anecdotes and shared experiences were told, a commemorative plaque was presented to his family and his contribution to the growth of the institution was highlighted.
Speaking for IMB-CNM were Luis Fonseca, as current director and colleague; Lourdes Carreras, his secretary throughout his career at IMB-CNM, who highlighted his more personal side; Joan Bausells, researcher who spoke as a colleague in the same research group; and Manuel Lozano, researcher and first PhD student at IMB-CNM whose thesis was supervised by Lora-Tamayo.
On behalf of the CSIC, Luis Calvo, CSIC institutional delegate in Catalonia, and Jose Ramon Urquijo, who was Vice-President for Organization and Institutional Relations during Lora-Tamayo's presidency, intervened. For the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), Joan García, professor and colleague in the department, intervened. For the Universidad Camilo José Cela (UCJC), Fernando de Saavedra, cabinet director during Lora-Tamayo's time as rector of the institution, spoke.
Although they were unable to attend, words were also read by Francesc Serra i Mestres and Joan Peracaula Roura, as former colleagues and former directors of the IMB-CNM; and by Jaime Olmedo Ramos, UCJC rector who succeeded Lora-Tamayo in the position.
On the scientific side, his visionary work in the development of microelectronics in Spain in the early 1980s was highlighted, as well as his contribution to the establishment of nanoelectronics research in the early 2000s.
On a personal level, everyone agreed in highlighting the more human side of Lora-Tamayo, his approachability, his availability and his catch phrases.
From the universities, those who spoke agreed in emphasizing his passion for teaching and for teaching in general.
At the end of the ceremony, the family was presented with a commemorative plaque, identical to the one that now hangs in the IMB-CNM facilities, which reads: “In recognition of Emilio Lora-Tamayo d'Ocón, whose work and dedication made IMB-CNM-CSIC the reference center it is today”. For the presentation, his family, wife and three children, and the former directors Manuel Lozano and Carles Cané took the stage.
The institutional delegate collected the contributions of all the people and closed the ceremony by wishing that the value of Emilio Lora-Tamayo's management and effort would live on, highlighting milestones of his presidency at the CSIC and wishing that his legacy would continue.
A trajectory linked to research and management
Lora-Tamayo was deputy director of the IMB-CNM from the early days of its foundation, in 1985, and was director between 2008 and 2012. He was also president of the CSIC between 2003 and 2004 and, in a second period, between 2012 and 2017.
PhD in Physics from the Complutense University of Madrid and began to develop his research work in France, in 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. His areas of work were Microelectronics and Nanotechnology, especially in semiconductor technology, microcircuits and the simulation and design of silicon devices and integrated circuits, micro and nanosystems.
He was honorary rector for life of the Menéndez Pelayo International University (UIMP) and the Camilo José Cela University. 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.
Gallery
- Intervention by Luis Fonseca.
- Intervention by Lourdes Carreras.
- Intervention by Joan Bausells.
- Intervention by Manuel Lozano.
- Intervention by Luis Fonseca.
- Public.
- Intervention by Jose Ramon Urquijo.
- Intervention by Fernando de Saavedra.
- Intervention by Joan García.
- Emilio Lora-Tamayo's family in hommage act, his wife, two sons and daughter.
- Luis Calvo, CSIC's institutional delegate.
- Group picture with Emilio Lora-Tamayo's family and the invited people who spoke.