Joel Benito, a 2004 Balsells fellow in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Merce Dalmau, a 2005 Balsells fellow in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, have successfully defended their Ph.D dissertation and received their Ph.D degree from UC Irvine in May of 2010. Mercè Dalmau, a graduate from the Institut Químic de Sarrià (Universitat Ramon Llull) developed her thesis on Engineering a Protein Cage as a Multifunctional Nanoplatform. She is planning to continue her professional career in the biotech industry. Joel Benito’s doctoral dissertation studies the Advances in Spacecraft Atmospheric Entry Guidance. He is currently part of the EDL/Aero Applications Group technical staff at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. 

Balsells Fellows that received Ph.D. at UCI: 

   • Alba Perez Gracia (2003) 
   • Jordi Ros Giralt (2003) 
   • Miguel Sainz Serra (2003) 
   • Mari Cruz Villa Uriol (2005)
   • Laia Pages (2006) 
   • Alfred Grau Besolí (2008) 
   • Marc Carreras Sospedra (2008) 
   • Julius Klein (2009) 
   • Laura Marchal-Crespo (2009) 
   • Genis Turon Teixidor (2009) 
   • Xavier Casadevall i Solvas (2009) 
   • Daniel Massaguer Pla (2009) 
   • Mercè Dalmau Mallorqui (2010) 
   • Joel Benito Manrique (2010) 

Balsells Fellows that received Ph.D. at other universities: 

   • Francisco López Dekker . University of Massachusetts, Amherst (2003)
   • Natalia Galiana Ballester . Materials Science Institute, Madrid (2008)
   • Jasmina Casals Terré. UPC-Terrassa (2008).

June 2010: Balsells Fellows receive their Ph.D.