Mohammad Khaja NazeeruddinDr. Md. K. Nazeeruddin received M.Sc. and Ph. D. in inorganic chemistry from Osmania University, Hyderabad, India. He joined as a Lecturer in Deccan College of Engineering and Technology, Osmania University in 1986, and subsequently, moved to Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute, Bhavnagar, as a Research Associate. He was awarded the Government of Indias fellowship in 1987 for study abroad. After one year postdoctoral stay with Prof. Graetzel at Swiss federal institute of technology Lausanne (E P F L), he joined the same institute as a Senior Scientist. His current research focuses on Dye-sensitized solar cells, Hydrogen production, Light-emitting diodes and Chemical sensors. He has published more than 380 peer-reviewed papers, ten book chapters, and inventor of 40 patents. The high impact of his work has been recognized with invitations to speak at over 80 international conferences, including the MRS Fall (USA, 2006) and Spring 2011 Meetings, GORDON conference (2014), and has been nominated to the OLLA International Scientific Advisory Board. He appeared in the ISI listing of most cited chemists, and has more than 33'500 citations with an h-index of 89. He is teaching "Functional Materials" course at EPFL, and Korea University; directing, and managing several industrial, national, and European Union projects on Hydrogen energy, Photovoltaics (DSC), and Organic Light Emitting Diodes. He was awarded EPFL Excellence prize in 1998 and 2006, Brazilian FAPESP Fellowship in 1999, Japanese Government Science & Technology Agency Fellowship, in 1998, Government of India National Fellowship in 1987-1988. Recently he has been appointed as World Class University (WCU) professor by the Korea University, Jochiwon, Korea (http://dses.korea.ac.kr/eng/sub01_06_2.htm) and Adjunct Professor by the King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Anna Fontcuberta i Morral2014 Associate Professor at the Institut des Matériaux, EPFL
2008 Assistant Professor Tenure Track at the Institut des Matériaux, EPFL
2009 Habilitation in Physics, Technische Universität München
2005-2010 Marie Curie Excellence Grant Team Leader at Walter Schottky Institut, Technische Universität München, on leave from Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS, France)
2004-2005 Visiting Scientist at the California Institute of Technology, on leave from CNRS; Senior Scientist and co-founder of Aonex Technologies (a startup company for large area layer transfer of InP and Ge on foreign substrates for the main application of multi-junction solar cells)
2003 Permanent Research Fellow at CNRS, Ecole Polytechnique, France
2001-2002 Postdoctoral Scholar at the California Institute of Technology
Study of wafer bonding and hydrogen-induced exfoliation processes for integration of mismatched materials in views of photovoltaic applications
Sponsor: Professor Harry A. Atwater
1998-2001 PhD in Materials Science, Ecole Polytechnique
Study of polymorphous silicon: growth mechanisms, optical and structural properties. Application to Solar Cells and Thin Film Transistors
Advisor: Pere Roca i Cabarrocas
1997-1998 Diplôme dEtudes Approfondis (D.E.A.) in Materials Science at Université Paris XI, France .
1993-1997 BA in Physics at Universitat de Barcelona
Michael GraetzelProfessor of Physical Chemistry at the Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) Michael Graetzel, PhD, directs there the Laboratory of Photonics and Interfaces. He pioneered research on energy and electron transfer reactions in mesoscopic systems and their use to generate electricity and fuels from sunlight. He invented mesoscopic injection solar cells, one key embodiment of which is the dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC). DSCs are meanwhile commercially produced at the multi-MW-scale and created a number of new applications in particular as lightweight power supplies for portable electronic devices and in building integrated photovoltaics. They engendered perovskite solar cells (PSCs) which turned into the most exciting break-through in the history of photovoltaics. He received a number of prestigious awards, of which the most recent ones include the RusNANO Prize, the Zewail Prize in Molecular Science, the Global Energy Prize, the Millennium Technology Grand Prize, the Marcel Benoist Prize, the King Faisal International Science Prize, the Einstein World Award of Science and the Balzan Prize. He is a Fellow of several learned societies and holds eleven honorary doctor’s degrees from European and Asian Universities. His over 1500 publications have received some 220’000 citations with an h-factor of 218 (SI-Web of Science) demonstrating the strong impact of his scientific work.
Christophe BallifChristophe Ballif is director of the Phototovoltaics and Thin Film Electronics Laboratoryb) (PV-Lab at the institute of microengineering (IMT) in Neuchâtel (part of the EPFL since 2009). The lab focus is on the science and technology of high efficiency heterojunction crystalline cells,so-called passivating contacts for solar cells, multi-junction solar cells include novel generation Perovskite on innovative optical high speed detector and on various macroelectronics application. It also deals with energy management with a focus on integration of solar electricity into the energy system. The PV-Lab has strongly contributed to technology transfer and industrialization of novel devices and full technology with numerous companies. Christophe Ballif graduated as a physicist from the EPFL in 1994, where he also obtained in 1998 his Phd degree working on novel PV materials. He accomplished his postdoctoral research at NREL (Golden, US) on compound semiconductor solar cells (CIGS and CdTe). He worked then at the Fraunhofer ISE (Ge) on crystalline silicon photovoltaics (monocrystalline and multi-crystalline) until 2003 and then at the EMPA in Thun (CH) before becoming full professor at the University of Neuchâtel IMT in 2004, taking over the chair of Prof. A. Shah. Since 2013, C.Ballif is also the director of the new CSEM PV-Center, also located in Neuchâtel. The CSEM PV-Center is focussing more on industrialisation and technology transfer in the field of solar energy, including solar electricity management and storage. At the core of the CSEM PV-center activities lies several "pilot lines" for various kinds of solar cells manufacturing, with a focus coating technologies, wet chemistry processes for crystalline silicon, metalisation techniques for solar cells, and a platform for developing "ideal packaging solutions and polymers" for PV modules. In addition, joined facitilites between CSEM and EPFL of over 800 m2 are available for modules manufacturing, measuring and accelerated aging. CSEM PV-center has also full team dedicated to storage and energy systems and operates a joined center with BFH in Biel for research on electrochemical storage. He (co-) authored over 500 journal and technical papers, as well as several patents. He is an elected member of the SATW, member of the scientific council of the Swiss AEE, and member of the board of the EPFL Energy center. In 2016, he recieved the Becquerel prize for his contributions to the field of high efficiency photovoltaics.
Fabien Sorin Sep 2002-Oct 2007
Ph.D., Department of Materials Science and Engineering, MIT, USA.
Supervisor: Prof. Yoel Fink; Thesis: Multi-material, Multifunctional Fiber Devices.
After graduating with an engineering degree and a Master of Science in Physics from the Ecole Polytechnique in Palaiseau, France, Prof. Sorin joined the department of Materials Science and Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, USA for his graduate studies. He worked as a research assistant in the Photonic Bandgap Fibers and Devices Group of Professor Yoel Fink and graduated with a PhD in 2008. His PhD thesis led to the development of a new class of fiber material and devices and he was a pioneer of the field of multi-material fibers.
Mar 2008-Oct 2010
Postdoctoral Associate and Research Scientist, Research Laboratory of Electronics, MIT.
He then joined the Research Laboratory of Electronics at MIT as a Postdoctoral Associate, and continued as a Research Scientist associate, where he conducted independent research in the emerging field of multi-material fibers and was involved and led a variety of projects in fundamental research as well as in collaborations with local start-ups.
Apr 2011 Feb 2013
Research Engineer, Saint-Gobain Recherche, Aubervilliers, France.
Surface du Verre et interface Group
In 2011, prof. Sorin returned to Europe and joined the company Saint-Gobain in the Saint-Gobain Recherche center, its biggest research center located near Paris in France. As a research engineer, he developed a new research thrust investigating new photonic materials and nanostructures for the energy and building industries. In particular, he and colleagues developed innovative processing approaches to deploy photonic nanostructures for light management over large area substrates, for applications in energy harvesting and saving, and for building materials and windows.
Mar 2013 Present
Assistant Professor tenure-track, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland.
Head of the Photonic materials and fibre devices laboratory (FIMAP)
Since March 2013, he is in the department of Materials Science (IMX) at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) as an assistant professor tenure-track. He is starting a research group on photonic materials and fiber devices (FIMAP), continuing on developing innovative materials processing approaches and photonic device architectures to develop new solutions in energy harvesting, saving and storage, in sensing and monitoring, health care and smart fabrics.
Andras Kis2015− Associate professor, EPFL, STI, Institute of Electrical Engineering (IEL) and Materials Science and Engineering Institute (IMX)
2008−2015 Tenure-track assistant professor at EPFL, School of Engineering (STI), Institute of Electrical Engineering (IEL)
2004−2007 Postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Berkeley, Physics Department in the group of Prof. Zettl
2000−2003 PhD student at EPFL, Faculty of basic sciences, Institute of physics of complex matter, group of Prof. Forró
1994−1999 MS, Physics, University of Zagreb, Croatia
1994 Baccalaureate, MIOC (Mathematical and Informational Educational Center) high school
