fellows2008_pepJosep Barberillo i Nualart was born in Corro d’Avall, Catalonia, in 1984. He graduated from the Escola Politecnica Superior (EPS) of the Universitat de Girona (UdG) in 2008, obtaining the degree of Industrial Engineer. In 2008 he spent 6 months at Universitat de Girona (UdG) developing his degree thesis. His research was focused in the field of Complex Networks. Most recently, he was awarded a Balsells Fellowship to pursue a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Transportation Systems Engineering at the University of California, Irvine. His research interests are in Transportation Networks and Transportation System Analysis. He enjoys traveling and making new friends from all over the world. He also likes snorkeling and underwater fishing.

 

fellows2008_davidDavid Barral was born in Barcelona in 1983. He graduated from the Escola Tècnica Superior d’Enginyers Industrials de Barcelona (ETSEIB) of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) in 2007 where he obtained the degree of Industrial Engineer. In 2006 he spent 6 months at Universita Politecnica di Padova (UPD) developing his degree thesis. His research was about the operation of a centrifuge hydraulic pump, focusing on its pressure ranges in different states. In 2009, he was awarded a Balsells Fellowship to pursue graduate studies in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Irvine. His research interests are in transportation systems analysis and design. He enjoys playing soccer, surfing, snowboarding, and traveling around the world.

 

fellows2008_pabloPablo Román Humanes was born in Sabadell in 1985. He graduated from the Escola Tècnica Superior d’Enginyeria (ETSE) of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) in 2008 where he obtained the degree of Computer Engineer. During his senior college year (2007-2008), he was awarded an Erasmus scholarship to study at the Tampere University of Technology (TUT) in Tampere, Finland. He completed his thesis there in the field of human-computer interaction by developing a system to optically track the position of the user’s head in three dimensions and translate the movements to actions that are acted upon by an on-screen character. He worked for more than one year in the Hardware-Software Prototypes and Solutions Lab (CEPHIS), in the microelectronics department at his home university (http://cephis.uab.es) programming for and configuring embedded systems. In 2008, he was awarded a Balsells Fellowship to obtain a Master of Science degree in Computer Graphics and Visualization at the University of California, Irvine. His research interests are in human-computer interaction, immersion and virtual reality. He enjoys playing volleyball, windsurfing, traveling, cinema and reading fiction.

 

fellows2008_fernanFernan Saiz Poyatos was born in Granollers (Catalonia, Spain) in 1982. He graduated from the Escola Tècnica Superior d’Enginyeria Industrial (ETSEIB) of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) in June 2006, obtaining the degree of chemical engineer. During his senior college year (2005-2006), he participated in an exchange program to achieve his final year project at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT). The title of his project was Fabrication and Characterization of Dichromated Holograms, as a potential application to enhance the efficiency of photovoltaic panels worked in partnership with SunPhocus Technologies, LLC. Prior to his graduate studies, he worked as a product manager assistant at Franke España, SAU and enjoyed two internship at Les Franqueses Town Hall and CIDEM (Generalitat de Catalunya). In July 2008, he was awarded a Balsells Fellowship to pursue a PhD in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of California, Irvine (UCI). His research interest is the application of mathematical simulations in atmospheric chemistry and thermal sciences.

 

fellows2008_xeviXavier Cordobes Adroher was born in Flaçà (Girona) in 1983. In 2008 he graduated in Industrial Engineering from the Escola Politècnica Superior at the Universitat de Girona. From June 2004 to June 2005 he worked as a trainee at the manufacturing facilities of British American Tobacco Australia, in Sydney. His job consisted of optimizing the tobacco recovery machine, resulting in a saving of AUD 300,000 per year. During the first half of 2006 he worked as a trainee for Frit Ravich, in Maçanet de la Selva (Girona). Furthermore, in summer 2006 he worked as a trainee for WTCM, a company which is developing foundry simulation software, in Ghent (Belgium). In 2007 he was awarded a scholarship from Becas Internacionales Bancaja – Universitat de Girona to do research abroad. He conducted research on wastewater biological nutrient removal at the Illinois Institute of Technology, in Chicago. In 2008 he was awarded an Erasmus scholarship to spend six months at the Technische Universität Hamburg-Harburg (TUHH), in Germany. His graduation project was based on the combination of multiwall carbon nanotubes and carbon black in multiphase epoxy nanocomposites. An article of part of this work has been submitted to the Journal of Materials Science. In summer 2008 he was awarded a Balsells Fellowship to pursue graduate studies in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of California, Irvine. His research interests are in renewable energies. He enjoys traveling, playing sports and learning from other cultures from all over the world.