Milena Arciniegas graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Universidad del Norte in Colombia and obtained her Ph.D. from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia in Spain in 2008. In 2009, Milena joined the Advanced Manufacturing Research Center with Boeing in England, where she played a key role in developing composite components for aircraft. In 2012, she transitioned to a postdoctoral fellowship in the group of Prof. Liberato Manna at IIT. Her work focused on the preparation of nanocomposites and their mechanical properties, leading to significant advancements in the field. Milena started her independent research career at IIT in 2018, where she established a small yet highly productive research group dedicated to exploring the unique properties of emitting organic-inorganic 2D layered structures. Her groundbreaking research has recently earned her an ERC Consolidator Grant from the European Research Council, recognizing her excellence as a scientist. From 2024, Milena is leading the Automated Nanomaterials Engineering research line that aims to develop advanced functional nanomaterials by creating and optimizing automated processes for material preparation and data workflows. Within the framework of her research line, Milena is also responsible for the design and coordinator of the forthcoming Automated Synthesis Lab and the related data infrastructure in IIT.
Education
2008 - PhD in Materials Science and Metallurgical Engineering. UPC Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. Barcelona, Spain. Advisors: Prof. J.M. Manero and Prof. J. Pena. Excellent Cum Laude.
2004 - Post-graduate Certificate in Materials Engineering. Ghent University. Ghent, Belgium.
2002 - M.S in Mechanical Engineering. Universidad del Norte. Barranquilla, Colombia. Title homologated by The Spanish Ministry of Education and Science in April 2008.
Current Appointment
Since 2024 Principal Investigator Research Line Automated Nanomaterials Engineering. Italian Institute of Technology, Genoa, Italy.
Since 2018 Affiliated Researcher. The Molecular Foundry, Lawrence O. Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley (California, USA).
Previous Positions
2018-2023 Researcher. Nanochemistry. Italian Institute of Technology. Genoa, Italy.
2013-2018 Postdoctoral Researcher. Nanochemistry Research Line at the Italian Institute of Technology. Genoa, Italy.
2012-2013 External Collaborator. Nanochemistry Research Line at the Italian Institute of Technology. Genoa, Italy.
2009 Integrated Projects Team Member. Composite Centre. Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre with Boeing. Sheffield, England.
Grants - On going projects
2024-2029 Horizon ERC Consolidator grant “EVA” contract number 101124411, acting as PI.
2024-2028 Horizon-MSCA-2023-DN-01 “Track the Twin” - Tracking Nanomaterial Performance, Towards Digital Twins of Quantum Dots Under Loading. Project ID: 101168820, acting as coordinator for IIT in the network.
2024-2028 Horizon-MSCA-SE-2022 “Delight - Designing of multifunctional nanomaterials for light-driven innovation technologies” Project ID: 101131111, acting as a team member.
2023-2024 User project “Atomic resolution imaging of layered perovskites”, acting as PI. Project funded by the U.S. Department of Energy.
Fellowships, Awards, and Honours
- 07-09/2018, 07-08/2019, 08/2022, 05/2024 – Affiliated Visiting Scientist at the Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley Lab., Berkeley, CA (USA).
- 2023 – Selected by ACS Energy Letter among the Women Scientists at the Forefront of Energy Research. January 2023. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsenergylett.2c02727
- 2021 – Highlighted by Advanced Materials among the top Women in Materials Science.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/toc/10.1002/(ISSN)1521-4095.WomeninMaterialsScience
- 2021 – Highlighted by Nanoscale among the top Emerging Investigators in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology. https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2021/nr/d1nr90087k
- 2021 – Highlighted by Nature Italy on the article ‘A Recipe for Perovskites’. https://www.nature.com/articles/d43978-021-00025-6
- Invited to interview for ERC Consolidator 2020 – panel PE 8.
- 2006/2008 – Training of Research Staff (FPI) Fellowship. Spanish Ministry of Education and Science. Barcelona, Spain.
- 2005 – One-year fellowship. Biomaterials, Biomechanics and Tissue Engineering Group. UPC Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. Barcelona Spain.
- 2003 – One-year grant for student mobility exchange funded by the European Commission. Academic Formation for Latin America - ALFA program – Building the Future on Education.
Invited Talks/Seminars
I have been invited to present my work at 5 conferences: NanoGe-Matsus24 Conference at the symposium “AI - Automation and Nanomaterials (machine learning, artificial intelligence, robotics, accelerated discovery) ”; E-MRS Spring Meeting 2024 at the symposium “Semiconductor nanostructures towards optoelectronic and photonic device applications – IX”; E-MRS Fall Meeting at the symposium “From predictive modeling to machine learning as versatile tools for materials design” in 09/2022; NanoGe Conference on “Novel 2D Materials for Lighting Applications” in 10/2021; and EuroMat 2017 (highlighted talk). In 07/2022, I was invited as Discussion Leader of the session ‘Optoelectronics’ at the Gordon Research Conference on Colloidal Semiconductor Nanocrystals. On 11/2022 I gave my first plenary talk at the E-MRS Madica conference. I have also been invited to give 6 seminars and presentations at PhD schools and Universities. My contribution to the scientific community is also demonstrated by (15) oral and (5) poster presentations.
Reviewing Activities
2024 Remote panel member, panel ST5 - National Science Center. Poland.
2022 Remote panel member, panel PE5 - ERC Consolidator grant 2022. EU Commission
2020-2022 Expert member of the proposal review board. The Molecular Foundry. Lawrence Berkeley Laboratories. USA.
2019 External evaluator PhD student selection. University of Trieste. Italy.
2019 Evaluator. PostDoc fellowship. Nanomaterials for Biomedical Applications group at the Italian Institute of Technology, Italy.
2009 PhD thesis evaluator. Dr. Marta Gonzalez. Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. Spain.
Since 2017 I have been a regular reviewer for peer-reviewed international journals (American Chemical Society, Wiley, and Nature).
Organization of Scientific Meetings
10/2023 Co-organizer of the symposium ‘Functional Nanomaterials’ at MAT-SUS Fall Meeting.
12/2021 Co-organizer of the 2-days online workshop ‘Designing the Nanomaterials of the Future’ (150 people).
2019 Organizer of nanoseminars “at the Italian Institute of Technology. (45 people each seminar), Genoa, Italy.
Institutional Responsibilities
2015-2022 PhD student’s advisor. Italian Institute of Technology with University of Genoa. Italy.
Since 2020 Leader of experimental data integration and analysis for AI/ML through digital tools. Italian Institute of Technology, Genoa. Italy.
2019 Qualified as Associate Professor for the area of Engineering and Architecture. The Catalan University Quality Assurance Agency (AQU). Spain.
2014 Member of the commission for the PhD program in Chemistry, Italian Institute of Technology with University of Genoa. Italy.
Past Granted Projects
Dynamic Transformation of Perovskite Nanocrystals via In Situ Transmission Electron Microscopy, 2019-2020, acted as PI and funded by the U.S. Department of Energy.
Granted Patents
Masked Cation Exchange Lithography. R. Krahne, K. Miszta, A. Toma, F. Greullet, S. Marras, M. Prato, M. Arciniegas, and L. Manna. United States patent number: US 10160906. Issued date: 25th of December 2015. Contribution: Evaluation of the mechanical properties of the nanocomposites via nanoindentation.
