Professor of Materials Science and Engineering in the Materials Science and Engineering Department at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) and DIRECTOR OF IMDEA Materials Institute. I lead the Powder Technology Group (UC3M) and Powder Sustainable Technologies group (IMDEA Materials). Fellow in the world's two most important Powder Metallurgy associations: FAPMI and FEPMA (first European to be Fellow simultaneously in Europe and USA). FEMS Gold Medal. Ivor Jenkins (IOM3) Gold Medal (maybe the most influential scientist in Spain, and among the top five in Europe, in the field of Powder Metallurgy). I have participated in over 80 International Advisory Committees at International Conferences, PI in about 35 competitively funded projects (among which five EU projects and one NSF-USA project) and several research evaluation panels (including the EU Research FPs). Throughout my career, I have constantly striven for a holistic approach, being involved in many academic activities: teaching, research, innovation, university management and management of research programmes and science communication. I have regularly participated in activities related to mentoring, research integrity, new ethics in science and the promotion of healthy conditions in research labs. I have been an active supervisor of PhD students and have created an excellent international network of former students in academia and industry. I also collaborate regularly with NGOs.

1)  377 papers published (5600 cites) according to Scopus (Scopus ID 7005264188), 220 as the first or principal author. According Google Schollar 7846 cites and H42, 13rd author in the topic “Powder Metallurgy”, 11th in “Sintering”, 2nd in “Metal Injection Moulding”.

2)  European Materials Gold Medal (the most prestigious award of FEMS, 16 recipients since 1992) and Ivor Jenkins Gold Medal (the most prestigious award at European level in Powder Metalurgy, awarded by the IoM3 in UK, 33 recipients since 1989).

3)  Fellow of the two most important societies in Powder Metallurgy in the world (American Powder Metallurgy Institute and European Powder Metallurgy Association). First European to be Fellow in the two societies.

4)  In 2013 was the recipient of the European Powder Metallurgy Association Special Services Award.

5)  Other received awards:

·        Honoris Causa Doctor, University of Craiova, (July, 2007).

·        Honoris Causa Doctor. Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, (December, 2001).

·        Slovak Academy of Sciences Award, on the 50th anniversary of the Materials Science Institute, (September 2005).

·        William Johnson International Gold Metal, AMTP, 2016

·        Honorary Award “Professor Fryderyk Staub for promoting the Polish Science and Higher Education in the Area of Materials Engineering on the International Arena and for achievements in collaboration with the Polish Scientist Community, 1999.

·        Merit diploma, awarded by the Representative Chamber and Parliament of Cluj-Napoca district, by the effort in the development of relationship with Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Romania, (December, 2001).

·        Patron for the Graduates of the School of Industrial Engineering of Castilla-La Mancha University in 2020, 2021

·        Gold badge of the higher school of Restoration and Conservation of Cultural Assets of the Community of Madrid, 2019

·        Honorary intern of the Fernando Abril Martorell Residential College. (2014).

·        To the research activity of a professor in the Technical Univ. of Madrid, under 32 years old. 1989

·        Best PhD Thesis (School of Mines of Madrid, Technical Univ. of Madrid), 1986

6)  PI in 35 competitive funded projects (among which five EU-projects and one NSF-USA project). As PI, the total amount of funding obtained from competitive grants was close to €6,000,000 (€4,000,000 from competitive grants, €2,000,000 in infrastructure)

7)       Technology transfer and innovation:

i)        Research contracts with Industry:

Strong links and fruitful collaborations with many different industries via consultancy and research activity. I would like to highlight more than 20 years of collaboration with the multinational company Höganäs AB (Sweden), leading to the creation of the  “Höganäs Chair” (renowned in the PM world) (contracts for 759,725 €), and with the multinational company AMES SA (Spain) (contracts for 163,723 €), with more than 12 years of close interaction. Under the frame of the Höganäs Chair, in its 20 years of active live, were developed 24 PhD thesis works. Nine PhD thesis under my supervision were directly funded by those companies. The consultancy and research contracts with industries acting as PI reached 1,300,000 €.

ii)       Strong activity as IMDEA Materials Director:

One of the pillars of IMDEA Materials Institute is its ability to carry out research of excellence at the frontiers of knowledge, but also being able to transfer this scientific knowledge to industry through various technology transfer mechanisms to create value in the market and in society. During his current period as Director of the Institute, Prof. J.M. Torralba has continued to promote and strengthen the activities of valorisation and transfer of the results obtained from the research projects. The main technology transfer performance indicators of IMDEA Materials for the period 2022-March 2024 are presented below.

During this period, IMDEA Materials has signed 21 direct research contracts with 14 different companies, including world leaders in manufacturing such as ITP Aero, Rolex, Acciona, Airbus and technological SMEs such as Nano4Energy, Citd and Idaero, with a total executed budget of more than 3 million euros. In addition to these direct contracts, the Institute has participated in 13 collaborative research projects, with a total budget for IMDEA Materials of 4,2 million euros, funded by public bodies (6 of them by the European Commission) and involving more than 40 leading companies, both large and SMEs. Among these collaborative projects 2 are industrial doctorates and 1 is a large national collaborative project (IRIDISCENTE-MICIN TransMisiones, total budget of 9 million euros), led by Prof. Torralba, in close collaboration with ArcelorMittal and 6 other companies.  

During this period, the Institute has registered 8 patents and 2 software. The current active IPR portfolio consists of 27 patents and 5 software covering a wide range of areas such as metal alloys, composites, polymers, nanotechnology, manufacturing and advanced materials and processes for industrial applications. IMDEA Materials has granted 2 commercial software licences and 22 academic software licenses to different national and international universities and research centres. IMDEA Materials ‘first Spin-off, Floatech SL, closed an investment round of 1,4 million euros in November 2023 to build a pilot plant for the production of silicon anodes for the next generation of lithium-ion batteries.

In 2023, IMDEA Materials generated income of 1,2 million euros from technology transfer activities, including licences, research contracts and R&D services. This remarkable result, which represents 18% of total revenues, highlights the significant economic impact of the Institute's technology transfer initiatives.

8) 29 PhD thesis supervised. Of those, 6 are full professors and seven associate professors. Another ten can be considered at their R3-R4 level in companies (most in R&D). Currently supervising 3 PhD students and 5 Post-docs.

9) More than 50 invite lectures/keynote presentations from internationally established conferences and/or international advanced schools. Last five: “High entropy alloys and powder metallurgy”, Plenary Lecture at the 18th International Symposium on Novel and Nano Materials, to be held in Vienna in July 2024, “A Sustainable Approach to Developing High-Entropy Alloys Using Commodity Powders: A Proof of Concept Using SPS, PBF-LB/M, and MIM” Keynote lecture at TMS 2024, March 2024, Orlando, USA.  “State of the art and the future of metallurgical development” VIP Presenter at the 90th Aniversary of the Danish Metallurgical Society, 24th April, 2023, Kolding, Denmark. “PM Co base superalloys and PM HEAs: beyond Ni-base superalloys for high-temperature applications”. Keynote lecture at TMS 2023, March 2023, San Diego, USA. “High Entropy Alloys and Additive Manufacturing” Plenary lecture at 16th International Conference on Nanostructured Materials NANO2022, June 2022, Seville.

10) Leader of the Powder Technology research group at the Carlos III University in Madrid since 1996. The European Powder Metallurgy Association has included this group in the list of Centres of Excellence. Leader of the Sustainable Powder Technologies research group at IMDEA Materials Institute.

11) Since 2013, Editor in Chief (co-editor) of Powder Metallurgy (SAGE) (the main scientific journal on Powder Metallurgy).

12) Chairman of 12 conferences (including Thermec, AMTP, EUROPM,…). Last one: Co-Chairman of the Technical Committee Programme of the World Congress on Powder Metallurgy (Lyon, Francia) in 2022.

13)   High activity of outreach work on science divulgation and academic policy. Frequent contributions to "The Conversation" (the leading publisher of research-based news and analysis), the blog "Universidad Si", the Blog “Espacios de Educación Superior” and the radio programme "A hombros de gigantes" (On the shoulders of giants, RNE). Organizer of the 1st and 2nd Webinar cycle “Reflexiones transversales durante la pandemia”. The lectures (on YouTube) have had more the 13.000 views.