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Dr Aykut Eken and Dr Alberto Picinardi
Dr Aykut Eken and Dr Alberto Picinardi

New ICFOnians

Twenty-nine new ICFOnians joined the different ICFO research groups, units and facilities during the months of August and September. Welcome aboard!

October 22, 2018
Two visiting scientists, four postdoctoral researchers, eight PhD students, one research engineer, ten students and four visiting PhD students have joined ICFO in the months of August and September.

Aykut Eken, who holds a 2016 Ph.D in Medical Informatics from the Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey, and is now working in the Universitat Pompeu Fabra, is coming to ICFO as a visiting scientist at the Medical Optics research group led by ICREA prof. at ICFO Turgut Durduran. At ICFO he will be working on functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and EEG for neuro-cognitive development.

Alberto Picinardi, who obtained a 2011 Ph.D. in Technology for Energy at the Italian National Research Council (CNR), is coming to ICFO to join the KTT Unit as a visiting scientist. His position will allow him to work with KTT on market analysis and business development.

Petr Stepanov holds a 2018 PhD from Ohio State University, USA, and is now joining the Low-Dimensional Quantum Materials research group led by ICFO prof. Dmitri Efetov as a postdoctoral researcher. He will be working closely with both Dimitri Efetov and Frank Koppen’s group.

Luca Bolzonello, who holds a 2015 PhD in Molecular Sciences from the University of Padova, Italy, is coming to ICFO as a postdoctoral researcher at the Molecular Nanophotonics research group led by ICREA prof. at ICFO Niek van Hulst. At ICFO he will be working on ultrafast coherent dynamics in energy transfer complexes.

Biswajit Kundu, who obtained a 2018 PhD from the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Kolkata, India, is coming to ICFO to join the Functional Optoelectronic Nanomaterials research group led by ICREA Prof. at ICFO Gerasimos Konstantatos as a postdoctoral researcger. His position will allow him to work on probing the local electronic properties of nanomaterials via Scanning Probe Microscopy.

Oumaima Sliti holds a 2018 PhD from Tunis - El Manar University, Tunisia, and is now joining the SLN Facility led by ICFO prof. at Pablo Loza as a postdoctoral researcher. Her main tasks will involve analyzing images from retinas of patients to provide information of retinal motion and corrections for it.

Hung-Wei Sun, who holds a 2017 Master of Science from the National Tsing Hua University (NTHU), Taiwan, is coming to ICFO as a PhD student at the Attoscience and Ultrafast Optics research group led by ICREA prof. at ICFO Jens Biegert. At ICFO he will be working on attosecond X-ray physics in condensed phase.

Helena Villuendas, who recently obtained her MSc in Translational Medicine from the University of Barcelona, is coming to ICFO to join the Plasmon Nano-Optics research group led by ICREA Prof. at ICFO Romain Quidant as a PhD student. Her thesis will focus on unraveling the biological mechanisms behind targeted hyperthermia.

Georgios Mouloudakis holds a 2017 Master’s Degree in Physics from the University of Crete, Greece, and is now joining the Nanophotonics Theory research group led by ICREA prof. at ICFO Javier Garcia de Abajo as a PhD student. His main tasks will involve working on quantum optics with electron beams.

Javier Arguello, who holds a 2017 MSc in Theoretical Physics from the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, is coming to ICFO as a PhD student at the Theoretical Quantum-Nano Photonics research group led by ICFO prof. at Darrick Chang. At ICFO he will be focusing his thesis on how to generate interesting many-body quantum states.

Martina Mocera, who recently obtained an MSc in Cellular and Molecular Biology from the University of Palermo, Italy, is coming to ICFO to join the Neurophotonics and Mechanical Systems Biology research group led by ICFO Prof. Michael Krieg as a PhD student. She will work on the biochemical and molecular basis of mechanosensation and protection.

Shanti Liga holds a 2017 Master of Science in Chemistry from the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and is now joining the Functional Optoelectronic Nanomaterials research group led by ICREA prof. at ICFO Gerasimos Konstantatos as a PhD student. Her main tasks will involve the development of environmentally friendly nanocystalline materials for solar cells.

Natalia Alves, who holds a 2018 Master in Physics from the Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE), Brazil, is coming to ICFO as a PhD student at the Atomic Quantum Optics research group led by ICREA prof. at ICFO Mitchell. At ICFO she will be working on quantum optics of individual atoms.

Yongjie Wang is coming to ICFO to join the Functional Optoelectronic Nanomaterials research group led by ICREA Prof. at ICFO Gerasimos Konstantatos as a PhD student. His position will allow him to work on solution processed Nano crystals for energy harvesting and solar cells.

Ilaria Mannelli holds a 2004 PhD in Chemical science from the Universita’degli Studi di Firenze - Italy, and is now joining the Optoelectronics research group led by ICREA prof. at ICFO Valerio Pruneri as a research engineer. Her main tasks will involve working on optical surfaces for biosensing and antimicrobial.

Sara Gonzalez, who holds a 2015 degree in Bionics Engineering from the Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado de Puebla, Mexico, is coming to ICFO as a student in the Neurophotonics and Mechanical Systems Biology research group led by ICFO prof. Michael Krieg. At ICFO she will be working on.

Iris Ruider, who obtained a Master of Science in Physics from the EPFL Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, Switzerland, is coming to ICFO to join the Neurophotonics and Mechanical Systems Biology research group led by ICFO Prof. at Michael Krieg as a student. Her position will allow her to work on culturing C. elegans cells on elastic substrates and stimulate them mechanically.

Guillem Megias Homar holds a Physics Engineering degree from the UPC, and is now joining the Optoelectronics research group led by ICREA prof. at ICFO Valerio Pruneri as a student. His main tasks will involve working on quantum imaging devices.

Lorenzo Orsini, who holds an MSc in Physics of Matter, University of Pisa, Italy, is coming to ICFO as a student at the Quantum Nano-Optoelectronics research group led by ICREA prof. at ICFO Frank Koppens. At ICFO he will be working on graphene-based photodetectors.

Francisco Bernal Texca, who obtained a Master in Optics from the Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Óptica y Electrónica, Mexico, is coming to ICFO to join the Organic Nanostructured Photovoltaics research group led by ICFO Prof. Jordi Martorell as a student. His position will allow him to research semi-transparent solar cells.

Joana Fraxanet Morales holds an MSc in Theoretical Physics from the University of Leiden, and is now joining the Quantum Optics Theory research group led by ICREA prof. at ICFO Maciej Lewenstein as a student. Her main tasks will involve benchmarking random number generators

Umut Karadeniz, who holds a Master in Medical Engineering, Acıbadem University, Turkey, is coming to ICFO as a student at the Medical Optics research group led by ICREA prof. at ICFO Turgut Durduran. At ICFO he will be working on developing an educational protocol and materials for fNIRS.

Jessica Angulo Capel, who obtained an MSc in Biophysics, Universität Ulm, Germany, is coming to ICFO to join the Single Molecule Biophotonics research group led by ICREA Prof. at ICFO María Garcia-Parajo as a student. Her position will allow her to work on super-resolution STORM imaging and SPT on the transmembrane receptor CD44.

Baldo Luis Najera Santos holds an Erasmus Mundus Master Course in Europhotonics, and is now joining the Low-Dimensional Quantum Materials research group led by ICFO prof. Dmitri Efetov as a student.

Rodrigo Itzamna Becerra Deana, who holds a Master of Science in Optics from the Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Optica y Electronica, Mexico, is coming to ICFO as a student at the SLN Facility led by ICFO prof. Pablo Loza. At ICFO he will be working light-sheet microscopy.

David Plankensteiner, who obtained a 2014 MSc at the University of Innsbruck and is now pursuing his PhD degree, is coming to ICFO to join the Theoretical Quantum-Nano Photonics research group led by ICFO Prof. Darrick Chang as a visiting PhD student. His position will allow him to work on a collaborative project on collective effects in atom-light interactions.

Juan Manuel Garcia holds a 2016 Master in “EdTech” (education, public policy) at the Center for Research and Interdisciplinarity and is now a PhD candidate in the Institut Curie and the IPGG, Paris, is now joining the SLN Facility led by ICFO prof. Stefan Wieser as a visiting PhD student. His main tasks will involve super-resolution imaging of cortex dynamics in amoeboid migrating.

Tiago deSouza, who holds a 2015 Master´s in Physics from the Universidade de Sao Paulo, Brazil, is coming to ICFO as a visiting Phd student at the Attoscience and Ultrafast Optics research group led by ICREA prof. at ICFO Jens Biegert. At ICFO he will be working on nonlinear propagation and self compression of intense laser pulses.

Varun Sharma, who obtained a 2014 MSc in Physics from Panjab University Chandigarh, India and is now working in the Physical Research Laboratory- Ahmedabad, is coming to ICFO to join the Optical Parametric Oscillators research group led by ICREA Prof. at ICFO Majid Ebrahim-Zadeh as a visiting PhD student. His position will allow him to work on the development of novel sources of structured beams based on OPOs.

Dr Petr Stepanov, Dr Luca Bolzonello, Dr Biswajit Kundu, and Dr Oumaima Sliti
Mr Hung-Wei Sun, Ms Helena Villuendas, Mr Georgios Mouloudakis, and Mr Javier Arguello
Ms Martina Mocera, Ms Shanti Liga, Ms Natalia Alves, and Mr Yongjie Wang
Dr Ilaria Mannelli
Ms Sara Gonzalez, Ms Iris Ruider, Mr Guillem Megias Homar, and Lorenzo Orsini
Mr Francisco Bernal Texca, Ms Joana Fraxanet Morales, Mr Umut Karadeniz, and Ms Jessica Angulo Capel
Mr Baldo Luis Najera Santos, Mr Rodrigo Itzamna Becerra Deana, Mr David Plankensteiner, and Mr Juan Manuel Garcia
Mr Tiago de Souza and Mr Varun Sharma