Mónica I. Acuautla appointed associate professor in Engineering Materials for Mechatronic Systems

We are very happy to report that Dr. Mónica I. Acuautla has been promoted by the Executive Board of the University to Associate Professor in Engineering Materials for Mechatronic Systems. Many congratulations to Mónica!

Dr. Acuautla received her PhD (in 2014) in Micro and Nanoelectronics from the University Aix – Marseille, France. After a postdoctoral fellowship at the Zernike institute of Advanced Materials (University of Groningen) she started as tenure-track assistant professor in Engineering Materials at the Engineering and Technology institute Groningen (ENTEG) in 2018. The research of Dr. Acuautla pertains on the synthesis of piezoelectric materials and the development of engineering systems exploiting the potential of piezoelectric materials. She follows a multidisciplinary approach (Engineering and Material Science) to integrate the materials in the design of sensors, actuators, MEMS (Micro-electromechanical system), energy harvesters and flexible electronics, to name a few. Through diverse research projects different aspects of piezoelectric materials are covered, considering not only the application, but also the development of the materials tailoring their properties to get the best performance for a given application. Thus, covering the full line of development of the piezoelectric system, from the synthesis of the material (as bulk, thin film or polymer), understanding of their morphology and structure, characterization as a device (sensor, actuator, wearable device or energy harvester), and their implementation within the final application.