GEMA Team

Short biography

Pedro Miranda González was born in Castuera, Badajoz (Spain). He studied Physics at the University of Extremadura (Spain) and received his PhD at the same university in 2003. He was Marie Curie OIF Postdoctoral Fellow at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (2005-2006) after which he returned to his position as professor at University of Extremadura. Since 2020 he is Full Professor In the Area of Materials Science and Metallurgical Engineering in the Department of Mechanical, Energy and Materials Engineering of the Industrial Engineering School at said University.

Main research topics

• Development and optimization of customized scaffolds from bioactive ceramics and glasses by additive manufacturing (robocasting/DIW and DLP).
• Development of hybrid biomaterials produced by impregnation/coating of bioceramic structures with polymers.
• Mechanical optimization of complex and multilayered systems for diverse applications.
• Mechanical characterization and numerical simulations by finite element modeling (FEM) in general, but especially applied to biomedical materials.
• Development of multisegmented composites for protective applications.

Short Biography

Antonia Pajares Vicente studied the Bachelor’s Degree in Physical Sciences (Distinguished Student) at the University of Extremadura obtaining the Extraordinary Bachelor’s Degree Award. In 20th of September of 1993 she received her doctorate (Extraordinary Doctorate Award) at the University of Extremadura. At the end of his undergraduate studies, he obtained a FPI scholarship from the Ministry of Education and Science and was fully incorporated into the research work in the Materials Group of the University of Extremadura. Later she joined the teaching work at the University of Extremadura in the Area of Condensed Matter Physics in which she was University Holder (12/18/1997 – 11/13/2007 ). In 2007 she took possession of a position of Full Professor in the Area of Materials Science and Metallurgical Engineering in the Industrial Engineering School at the University of Extremadura.

During her career he has made a predoctoral stay of 12 weeks at the KFA-Julich (Germany) with Rolf W. Steinbrech and numerous postdoctoral stays, total duration 3 years, at the NIST-Gaithersburg (USA) with Brian R. Lawn.

Main research topics

• Development and optimization of customized scaffolds from bioactive ceramics and glasses by additive manufacturing (robocasting/DIW and DLP).
• Development of hybrid biomaterials produced by impregnation/coating of bioceramic structures with polymers.
• Mechanical optimization of complex and multilayered systems for diverse applications.
• Mechanical characterization and numerical simulations by finite element modeling (FEM) in general, but especially applied to biomedical materials.
• Development of multisegmented composites for protective applications.

Currently, her lines of research are oriented towards the development through additive manufacturing techniques of scaffolding for bone tissue engineering, the study of the wear of human tooth enamel, the mechanical characterization of bone tissue and the development by robotic molding of personal protection structures.

Coordinator of GEMA group

Short biography

He joined the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Extremadura in 1979, where he obtained his Chair in 1997. In 1999 he moved to the School of Industrial Engineering where he continues today.  He has extensive professional experience acquired during thirty-eight years of service, having spent two of them in prestigious international centers (C.N.R.S., France and N.I.S.T., United States). His research work has always been related to the development of advanced ceramic materials for structural applications, being a researcher of recognized prestige in the field of mechanical properties.

He has been director or co-director of 10 Doctoral Theses. He has been principal investigator in numerous research projects and has participated as a researcher in many others led by researchers from the GEMA group, all of them financed with funds obtained in competitive calls. 

His teaching activity has been mainly related to Materials Science and Engineering, teaching subjects such as “Solid State Physics” and “Materials Physics” in the Bachelor’s Degree in Physics, “Structure of Materials”, “Mechanical Properties” in the Materials Engineering degree and “Fundamentals of Materials Science” in the Industrial Technical Engineering degrees, as well as in the new Degrees in Engineering of the industrial branch.

He has been President of the University Entrance Exams and the Access Tests for people over 25 years of age in 2000 and 2002, Vice-Rector for Research, Transfer and Innovation of the University of Extremadura just under one year (2004), President of the Electoral Board of the University of Extremadura in the period 2009-2010, Director of the Department of Mechanical Engineering,  Energy and Materials of the University of Extremadura almost 4 years. He has also been a member of the National Commission for the preparation of the White Paper corresponding to the degree of Materials Engineer, evaluator of the ANEP and expert member of the Selection Committee of the Ramón y Cajal program, member of the Advisory Committee of Mechanical and Production Technologies (section 6.1 Engineers and Architecture) of the National Commission for the Evaluation of Research Activity (CNEAI) in 2018. He has been Vice President of the Basic Science Section of the Spanish Society of Ceramics and Glass for 4 years.

Short biography

He graduated first from University of Extremadura in 2006 with a B. Eng. in Chemical Engineering and a bachelor thesis in material sciences. This bachelor thesis was carried out in the research group GEMA in the same university (attaining Extraordinary Bachelor´s thesis award). Later on, he got his second B. Eng. in Mechanical Engineering at the School of Engineering of University of Extremadura in 2009. From 2008 to 2012 he undertook his PhD at material sciences laboratory in the Industrial Engineering School and applied for the degree in Engineering. The thesis work included the processing of ultra-high temperature ceramics, such as ZrB₂, ZrC, SiC, MoSi₂, to name a few, using spark plasma sintering technique at University of Stockholm and milling the raw materials using high-energy ball mills (Extraordinary Doctorate award). Finally, he got a third B.Eng. in Industrial Engineering in 2013. In 2013 he got a contract as Research Assistant at University of Glasgow working at the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Cardiac Physiology. He obtained a postdoctoral fellowship at University of Glasgow from 2014 to 2016 working in the modification of topographical material for hiPSC derived cardiomyocytes and validation of high-throughput methods for drugs screening on commercial hiPSC derived cardiomyocytes. From these periods he had several scientific publications and stayed in different universities and institutions such as FDA in Washington. From to 2016 to 2017 he worked as principal scientist at Clydebiosciences in Scotland. After which he returned as Tenure Lecturer at University of Extremadura. In 2019 he got a research fellow position in GEMA research group for 4 years from the regional government of Extremadura.

Main research topics

• Development of Cermet composites with superior wear and corrosion properties.
• Processing of ultra-high temperature ceramics and mechanical characterization applied to aerospace materials.
• Superhard and ultra-hard materials for tribological applications.

Short biography

Florencia Martín-Rayo Nogales was born in Badajoz city (Spain). She studied Mechanical Engineering at the University of Extremadura (2019). After she finished her studies, she started to work as a Project Technician at the University of Extremadura, specifically in the Department of Mechanical, Energy and Materials Engineering of the Industrial Engineering School.

Since 2020 she is an active member of FabLab Badajoz, a collaborative association of makers focused on creative design and manufacturing engineering in the Industrial Engineering School.

Main research topics

• Development and optimization of new 3D printing systems for UV photocurable polymer/composite materials.

• Additive manufacturing and mechanical characterization of dental prostheses from composite.

He is graduated in Business Administration and Management at the University of Extremadura.
He has worked in the banking sector and has teaching experience in middle and higher degree cycles of professional training in Commerce, Administration and Marketing.
Since 2007 he has been performing management and administrative tasks for GEMA group.

Antonio José Gallego Núñez was born in Castuera on May 3^rd, 1964. He is UEX staff since 1994, working at different services of the University of Extremadura: as ex officio officer at Central Services and Laboratory technician at Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in 2001. In 2002 he began to work in the Area of Materials Science and Metallurgical Engineering as a laboratory specialist technician.

He is Graduated in Agricultural Technical Engineer, specialized in Agricultural Holdings, Horticulture and Gardening.

Short biography

F. Hugo Perera Martínez was born in Badajoz city (Spain). He studied Physics (2005), Materials Engineering (2007) and Master of Science on Advanced Ceramics (2009) at the University of Extremadura (Spain) and received his PhD at the same university in 2012. He has been working at the University of Extremadura (Spain) as Associate Lecturer in Materials and Mechanical engineering (2011-2013) and Postdoctoral Research Associate in Materials Engineering (2013-2020). He has also worked as a Materials and Production Engineer at GreenPrints Labs (2017-2020). Since 2020 he is assistant professor in the Area of Mechanical Engineering in the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the Industrial Engineering School at the University of Salamanca (Bejar, Salamanca, Spain). In addition, since 2020 he is the president of Creative Manufacturing Laboratories (CremaLabs), a collaborative association of makers focused on sustainable manufacturing engineering.

Main research topics

• Development and optimization of customized scaffolds from bioactive ceramics and glasses by additive manufacturing (robocasting/DIW and UV polymerization).
• Development of hybrid biomaterials for bone reconstruction produced by filling 3D printed biopolymeric structures with bioceramic powders.
• Development and optimization of new 3D printing systems and polymer/composite materials.
• Development of CNC manufacturing systems and technics.

Short biography

Francisco Javier Martínez-Vázquez studied Materials Engineering at the University of Extremadura (Spain) and received his PhD at the same university in 2012. Soon after, he got a researcher position at the Complutense University of Madrid. In 2014 he returned as a member of the materials science research group GEMA in the Department of Mechanical, Energy and Materials Engineering of the Industrial Engineering School at Universidad de Extremadura. Dr. Martínez-Vázquez is author of 20+ articles in JCR-indexed journals (>90% in Q1) averaging 30+ citations per paper), and his h-index in 2021 is 11 (source: Scopus). He has participated in 10+ research projects, currently in one as principal investigator (PI). He has contributions to numerous national and international scientific meetings and has supervised 1 PhD Theses, 2 Master Theses and 4 BSc Final Projects.

Since 2021 he is postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Condensed Matter Physics at the University of Seville (Spain).

Main research topics

• Additive Manufacturing (DIW, DLP, etc.) of ceramics and composites.
• Development and optimization of customized AM scaffolds from bioactive ceramics and glasses.
• Development of dense B₄C derived specimens for aeronautic applications.
• Development of hybrid biomaterials produced by impregnation/coating of bioceramic structures with biodegradable polymers.
• Mechanical characterization and numerical simulations by finite element modeling (FEM).