Course instructor Jesús Alonso-Zarate a winner at the Young Researchers Awards by the Spanish Royal Academy of Engineering

Course instructor Jesús Alonso-Zarate was recently awarded a prize in the 2019 Young Researchers Awards, by the Spanish Royal Academy of Engineering (RAI). During the prize-giving ceremony he thanked the academy and explained the keys to his career success. 

Last week, Jesús Alonso-Zarate received one of the most important awards in his career to date. At a ceremony held in Madrid for the the 2019 Young Researchers Awards, the RAI presented him with the Agustín de Betancourt y Molina prize. 

"When I found out they’d given me the prize, I took the time to reflect on myself and my career to try and understand why they'd given it to me, and to think about the values upon which I'd built my career. The cornerstones are hard work, sacrifice, results-oriented work, the search for excellence and doing well in networking", he explained.

The jury mentioned his contribution to knowledge in the field of the Internet of Things, due to his more than 150 technical publications to date, his R&D project leadership at a national and European level, his contributions to technology transfer, and the international projection of his work as he has given papers and taken part in round tables on technology and innovation during his career.

A researcher with the Centre Tecnològic de Telecomunicacions de Catalunya (CTTC) and holder of a doctoral degree in Telecommunications Engineering, our course instructor has also complemented his education with a master's degree in Business Management and Administration. He has been the manager of the Machine to Machine Communications (M2M) department since 2013, where he heads a number of projects in the field of 5G technology and IoT. He is currently also coordinator of the 5GCroCo European project, financed by the European Commission through the 2020 Horizon programme. This project, in which the European telecommunications and automotive industries take part, has a budget of 17 million euros aimed at running 5G field trials for the connected, cooperative and self-driving car.

The RAI Awards

With the co-sponsorship of the Pro Rebus Academiae Foundation, the Spanish Royal Academy of Engineering presents two awards every year: the Agustín de Betancourt y Molina prize and the Juan López de Peñalver prize. Both are for young researchers or professionals who have made original and relevant contributions in any field of engineering, with special emphasis on aspects related to technology transfer. Candidates must be under 40 years of age (on 1 January) and maintain ties with Spain, where they will have developed a significant part of their work.