Showcasing outstanding pre- and postdoctoral research at the III IMB-CNM Young Researchers Day

The early stage researchers of the Institute of Microelectronics of Barcelona (IMB-CNM-CSIC) gathered for the third Young Researchers Day on May 15th. The main event was at the Sala de Graus of the UAB Science Faculty, featuring oral presentations and a poster showcase. Organized within the María de Maeztu research project by IMB-CNM, and sponsored by the A.I.E. D+T Microelectrónica and the IMB-CNM spin-offs FlexiiC, AiQuos, and Alibava. It brought together master’s students, PhD candidates, and postdoctoral researchers.

Launched in 2023, this annual event promotes collaboration across research areas at IMB-CNM and encourages early-career scientists to develop their presentation skills. PhD students gave 4-minute presentations summarizing their thesis work, while this year’s edition also welcomed master’s students presenting their final projects. During the coffee break, postdocs presented research posters to colleagues, fostering exchange. A panel of senior researchers, composed by Celeste Fleta, José Antonio Plaza, Gemma Rius, and Stella Vallejos; evaluated both oral and poster presentations.

The YRD is coordinated by a committee of pre- and postdocs; this year, the organizers were Eva Deltor, Silvia Mena, Ferran Pujol, Carla Riera Llobet, Leo Salgado, and Iker Uranga.

The day concluded with an awards ceremony at IMB-CNM. Winners of best PhD presentations and postdoc posters were selected by a combined jury (60%) and audience vote (40%). The awardees were:

• 1st prize: Haowen Hu (Nanofabrication and Nanomechanical Systems Group, NANONEMS)
• 2nd prize: Conrad Ferrer (Power Devices and Systems Group, PDS)
• 3rd prize: Carlos Alvarez (Integrated Circuits and Systems Group, ICAS)

The prizes for Best Poster went to:

• Alberto del Moral (Nanofabrication and Nanomechanical Systems Group, NANONEMS)
• Carlos Carbonell (MicroEnergy Sources and Sensor Integration Group, MESSI)

This year, there was also a prize for the Best Communicator, decided by the public and awarded to Haowen Hu.

The quiz competition was won by Miquel Tutusaus. 

The presentations were divided by research axis:

• Jack Nickson, DocFam+ doctoral programme fellow at IMB-CNM (funded by MSCA-COFUND): Advanced Wide Bandgap Semiconductor Devices for Particle Detection in High-Energy Physics and Space Applications
• Juan Campoverde: Ultra Low-Noise Multi-Channel CMOS Readout Integrated Circuits for Fast and Portable Ion Mobility Spectrometre

• Florent Dougados: Development of Low Gain Avalanche Diodes (LGAD) for Advanced Proton Tomography
• Felipe Zamorano: 3D ultra-thin silicon detectors for neutron measurement in radiotherapy
• David Batet Palau: Disposable and self-powered paper-based electronic sensors for sustainable point-of-care diagnosis
• Cristina Vaca: Magneto-opto-acoustic robocells for theranostic applications
• Zohre Hamzei: Conductometric VOC Microsensors for Monitoring Crop Health
• Aida Visús Martínez: Study of Electrochemical Processes in Silk-Based matrices
• Nerea Alvarez de Eulate: Monitoring Magnetoelectric Stimulation for Brain Modulation through Graphene Microarrays
• Leo Salgado: Graphene-based solution-gated transistors for multimodal neural recording
• Carla Riera Llobet: Adaptative Computational techniques and microdosimetry in protontherapy
• Marcio Jiménez: Development of advanced semiconductor dosimeters for new radiotherapies
• Pol Ainoza: Frequency Domain Multiplexing Techcniques for ASIC development in neural sensing
• Sergi Valero: Towards cleaner graphene interfaces in graphene FETs for biomedical applications
• Angela Maria Henao Isaza, hired within the framework of the DOSIFLASH project, which is supported by the CaixaResearch Call for Research in Health of the ”la Caixa” Foundation: Innovative SiC detectors for FLASH radiotherapy
• Houyem Trabelsi: Metal chalcogenide films for gas sesnors applications
• Carlos Alvarez (winner of the 3rd prize): Organic Chemosensory Neural Network for Cognitive Health Tracking
• Javier Cuenca: Lab-on-CMOS ISFET arrays for biomedical applications

• Arnau Fons: Minimizing Energy Demand in the Conversion of Levulinic Acid to 𝜸‑Valerolactone via Photothermal Catalysis
• Emma Solà Marimon: Study of new packaging materials and structures for advanced power modules
• Miquel Tutusaus Lleixà: Non-intrusive online junction temperature monitoring of MOS gated power devices
• Mariana Raya Di Francisco: SiC MOSFET Chip-embedding Switching-Cell for Multilevel Converters
• Alex Rodriguez Iglesias: Integration of materials and microtechnologies for the development of devices in the field of autonomous provision of energy
• Conrad Ferrer Falces (winner of the 2nd prize): Die-level studies on power semiconductor devices under real-operation overcurrent events in resonant converters
• Pierre Gallarday: Development of new high power devices based on emerging Ultrawide Bandgap (UWBG) Gallium Oxide semiconductor
• Ferran Bonet: Study of electro-thermal local phenomena in silicon carbide power devices by IIR-LD
• Eusebio Rodrigo: Research on advance power devices: radiation-hardened silicon VDMOS
• Aniol Vellvehí i Llovet: Development of advanced ultra-wide bandgap devices based in gallium oxide for high power electronics

• Maria Benito: Exploring Coupling Dynamics in CPW Superconducting Resonators
• Iker Uranga: Silicon spin qubits based on advanced nanofabrication
• Gabriele Petitto: MOSFET Single Electron Transistors for Quantum Dot based Qubits
• Zhenhua Su: Resistive Switching Behavior, Variability, and Stability in HfO₂- and Al₂O₃- Based Memristors
• Nuan Zhang: Electrochemical sensor platforms for the detection of contaminants in water
• Alex Fulleda: Novel Spiking Neural Networks for Time-Series Forecasting and Regression Tasks
• Haowen Hu (winner of the 1st prize and Best Communicator): Polymeric precision doping assisted by high-resolution block copolymers
• Marçal Blasco: Bidimensional active components integrated with photonic circuits based on silicon nitride
• Maria Teresa Elenes Cervantes: Vapour phase infiltration of block copolymers

• Sandra Pérez Rafael and Carme Martínez Domingo: Carbon Screen-Printed Inks for Textile Strain Sensors
• Maria D'Antuono: Ta and Nb Superconducting Thin Films: Compatibility and Scalability for Quantum Device Fabrication at IMB-CNM
• Carlo Pepe: Ion Irradiation for Advanced Control of Superconductivity in Thin Films
• Cristian Ferreyra: Decoupling the memristive dynamics in Complementary Resistive Switching systems of Ti/HfO2-based devices
• Marwa Ben Amar: Machine learning-enhanced smart sensor array for the detection of glutathione
• Ferran Pujol Vila: Nanofabricated antibacterial polymeric surface combining biomimetic nanotopography and plasmonic photothermia
• Alberto del Moral (winner of the Best Poster): Quantum technological platforms based on semiconductor materials
• Carlos Carbonell (winner of the Best Poster): Moisture Electricity Generation