New ICFOnians

Two postdoctoral researchers, Dr. Johnny Tam and Dr. Michele Dall’Arno; one PhD student Mr. Ivan Nikitskiy; two students, Mr. Mohammad Vahid and Ms. Joanna Zielinska; two engineers, Mr. Juan Carlos Diaz and Mr. Cristian Vilar Giménez; and two members of the Administration area, Ms. Mireia Vilamala Diez and Mr. Stewe Bekk; have joined ICFO.

Dr. Johnny Tam obtained his PhD in Bioengineering from UC Berkeley and UCSF, United States. He was awarded a Whitaker International Scholar grant to join ICFO as a postdoctoral researcher in the Advanced Fluorescence Imaging and Biophysics group led by Prof. Melike Lakadamyali, where he will investigate cellular dynamics using microfluidics combined with super resolution microscopy.

Dr. Michele Dall’Arno joins ICFO as a Postdoc in the group of Quantum Information Theory led by Prof. Antonio Acín. Michele received his PhD in Physics from the University Pavia in 2012. His previous research covers the study of quantum measurements or quantum error correction techniques. At ICFO, Michele will be working on device-independent quantum information applications.

Mr. Ivan Nikitskiy received his Bachelor and Master's integrated degree in Physics from Moscow State University (Russia). He has previous research experience in spectroscopy of carbon nanotubes working in the group led by Prof. Elena Obraztsova, and in SPM examination of organic field-effect transistors, in the group led by Prof. Carmen Ocal. Ivan will work jointly with the groups led by Professors Gerasimos Konstantatos and Frank Koppens on hybrid graphene-quantum dot phototransistors.

Mr. Mohammad Vahid Farsi is a student in the Master’s in Photonics program in Barcelona. He will undertake his Master’s project at ICFO on optical parametric oscillators in the group led by Prof. Majid Ebrahim-Zadeh. His project is focused on the development and study of frequency conversion techniques based on novel nonlinear materials for the generation of tunable, high-power picosecond pulsed radiation in the visible and near-infrared.

Ms. Joanna Zielinska is from Torun, Poland, and has studied at the University of Warsaw. She participated in the CX Summer Fellowship program in 2011 and now joins the group led by Prof. Morgan Mitchell. As a Master’s student, Joanna is working on high-performance atom-based filters for quantum optics experiments.

Mr. Juan Carlos Diaz holds a Biology Degree from Universidad Central de Venezuela, and is the Health and Biosecurity Coordinator at ICFO. Juan Diaz will be responsible for the implementation of the Biosecurity Program at this institute and is part of the Light for Health focus Program.

Mr. Cristian Vilar Giménez, Electronic Engineer specialist in digital systems, joins the Electronic Workshop. As Design Engineer he will work in the design, development, testing and debugging of electronic devices. He will also advise researchers on electronic matters.

Ms. Mireia Vilamala Diez holds a MSc in Human Resources Management. She joins the ICFO Human Resources and Education Unit in order to strengthen the team in the implementation of new programs and initiatives. In particular, she will be responsible of organizing and promoting the Internships program, as well as managing the external fellowships for PhD students.

Mr. Stewe Bekk will work in ICFO’s Project Unit, responsible of identifying new international funding opportunities. In addition, he will organize seminars to inform ICFO researchers about existing funding opportunities, put in place protocols and procedures to enhance the quality of the proposals that ICFO submits, and provide assistance to ICFO researchers in dealing, supervising and managing coordinated projects and activities for international projects.