Arturo Azcorra (born November 8, 1962, in Santurce, Spain) is a Spanish scientist and telecommunications engineer who is recognized as a pioneer of internet and network science research in Spain, as well as a promoter of telematics as a scientific and academic discipline born from the integration of telecommunications and informatics.

Arturo Azcorra
Arturo Azcorra in Madrid, March 2010
Born
Arturo Azcorra

(1962-11-08) November 8, 1962 (age 62)
CitizenshipSpanish
Alma materUniversidad Politécnica de Madrid
Known forResearch on network science, telecommunications and telematics
Scientific career
Fields5G, Computer Science, Telematics (Computer and Communications) and Telecommunications Engineering
InstitutionsUniversidad Carlos III de Madrid (University Carlos III of Madrid) IMDEA Networks Institute
Thesis[[1] Formal modeling of synchronous systems] (1990)
WebsiteIMDEA Networks site UC3M site MS-Access and SQL Book site

Life and career

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Azcorra graduated from Loy Norrix High School (Michigan, USA) in 1980. In 1986, he received his M.Sc. degree in Telecommunications Engineering from the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (Madrid, Spain), with "Sobresaliente" (Outstanding) grade, and was subsequently awarded the Price Waterhouse Prize for Best Student in 1986. He then obtained his Ph.D. in Telecommunications Engineering from the same university in 1989, receiving the National Award COIT-AEIT-ANIEL (AMETIC) to the Best PhD Thesis (Premio Nacional a la Mejor Tesis Doctoral). In 1993, he obtained an MBA from the Instituto de Empresa, graduating first in his class.

He began his career in the Madrid Subway Company (Compañía del Metropolitano de Madrid), while simultaneously performing research work in telecommunications at UPM. He was an associate professor at UPM from 1989 to 1998, when he moved to University Carlos III of Madrid (UC3M) where he became Full Professor[1] and founder of the NETCOM Research Group on Networks and Communication Technologies, which he has coordinated since, at the Department of Telematics Engineering. He was later appointed Deputy Vice-Provost for Academic Infrastructures at the UC3M and held this post from 2000 to 2007. He was a Visiting Researcher at ICSI University of California at Berkeley (USA) in 1999 and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (USA) in 2002. In 1998 he was appointed Director of the UC3M Telefónica Chair and worked in this role until 2009. In June 2002 he earned the distinction of being named IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Senior Member. From 2003 to 2008 he was Director of REDIMadrid,[2] the Telematics Research Network of the Community of Madrid. He is the founder and director since 2006 (except for occasional periods in which he has held other public positions) of the international research institute IMDEA Networks.

In November 2009 he was appointed Director General for Technology Transfer and Corporate Development at the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICINN)[3][4][5], a position he held until his appointment as Director General at the Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology (Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnológico Industrial - CDTI), the Spanish agency to fund research in private companies, on May 30, 2010.[6][7][8] In February 2012 he returned to his post as full professor at the Department of Telematics Engineering at University Carlos III of Madrid and Director of IMDEA Networks Institute.[9][10] In April 2021, he took leave from these posts, and incorporated to the Spanish Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation as Director General of Telecommunications and Organization of Audiovisual Media Services[11] On October 6, 2022, he was promoted to Undersecretary of Telecommunications and Organization of Audiovisual Media Services. In July 2023, he regained his position as full professor in the Department of Telematics Engineering at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid and director of IMDEA Networks Institute.

In October 2018 he was appointed member of the European Academy of Sciences "Academia Europaea". He received, in 2020, the prestigious Reginald Fessenden Award[12] for his contributions to the development of 5G technology. Granted by the ACM-MSWIM International Conference, the award ("for his pioneering contribution to the midhaul and core of 5G networks") recognises scientific contributions in the fields of wireless communications, networking and mobile systems.

In November 2021 he was elevated to the rank of IEEE Fellow in the “Technical Leader” category, for the scientific and industrial impact of his research contributions to the development of 5G technology. In this way, he becomes the first scientist in Spain to be designated IEEE Fellow in the “Technical Leader” category.

He has participated in or directed 63 advanced research projects, mainly in the Framework Programmes for Research and Technological Development of the European Union. He was the coordinator of the European Networks of Excellence E-NET, E-NEXT and CONTENT, and of the European projects CARMEN, TRILOGY, 5G-CROSSHAUL and 5G-TRANSFORMER. He has licensed technological developments in telecommunications for Ericsson-Telebit Denmark, NEC Europe and Huawei China. He has also performed advisory and technological consulting work for organizations such as Servicom, the European Space Agency, MFS-Worldcom, the Community of Madrid, RENFE, REPSOL, the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports (Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte), Ericsson-Telebit and the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology. He was a Member of the Advisory Board of the Future Internet PPP, European Commission, since February 2012 until December 2017. He was a member of General Assembly of the 5G Infrastructure Association from 2013 to 2021.[13] From 2013 to 2017 he was also a member of the Steering Board of the NetWorld2020 European Technology Platform (ETP) (formerly Net!Works & ISI ETPs), during which he was also the Chairman of its Expert Advisory Group.[14] Since 2014 he is partnership Board member of the European Union 5G-PPP,[15] and from 2015 to 2021 he was Vice-president of the 5TONIC Laboratory.[16] Arturo Azcorra is the founder of the ACM CoNEXT conference series, of which he was the first General Chair. He was a member of the Standing Committee of the IEEE INFOCOM Conference from 2005 to 2014, and has chaired prestigious international conferences such as IEEE INFOCOM, ACM CoNEXT and PROMS-IDMS. He has authored over one hundred and sixty technical publications in journals and international and national conferences.

Partial bibliography

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References

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  1. ^ Arturo Azcorra's personal website at the Department of Telematics, UC3M
  2. ^ Scientific Workshop held in 2006 where Arturo Azcorra appears as Director of REDIMadrid (in Spanish), May 4, 2006
  3. ^ Arturo Azcorra takes over new responsibilities at the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (in Spanish), November 2, 2009
  4. ^ Arturo Azcorra appointed Director General for Technology Transfer and Corporate Development at the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (in Spanish), October 22, 2009
  5. ^ Government of Spain-La Moncloa: Reference of the Council of Ministers held on Friday: Royal Decree appointing D.Arturo Azcorra as Director General of Technology Transfer and Corporate Development Archived December 24, 2013, at the Wayback Machine (in Spanish), October 16, 2009
  6. ^ Arturo Azcorra, new Director General at CDTI, (in Spanish), May 30, 2010
  7. ^ CDTI Appointment of Arturo Azcorra (in Spanish), May 30, 2010
  8. ^ Arturo Azcorra takes office as Director General of CDTI, the Spanish Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology
  9. ^ "Arturo Azcorra's public profile at IMDEA Networks". Archived from the original on 2021-03-02. Retrieved 2021-03-02.
  10. ^ Arturo Azcorra's personal website at IMDEA Networks
  11. ^ "Arturo Azcorra, new director general for Telecommunications (in Spanish), June 14, 2021".
  12. ^ "MSWiM 2020 Fessenden Award". mswimconf.com. Retrieved 2021-03-02.
  13. ^ "Towards 5G, February 20, 2014".
  14. ^ "NetWorld2020 Expert Advisory Group".
  15. ^ "Article in El Mundo newspaper announcing the launch of the 5G Infrastructure Association: "Una red mil veces más rápida" (in Spanish), February 24, 2012".
  16. ^ "Telefónica signs multilateral agreements to boost 5G technologies in Spain, December 9, 2015".
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