Samuele Colombi presents his PhD thesis

On April 14th, Samuele Colombi, a PhD student from UPC's research groups Innovation in Materials and Molecular Engineering: Biomaterials for Regenerative Therapies (IMEM) and Biomaterials, Biomechanics and Tissue Engineering (BBT), defended his doctoral thesis under the supervision of Prof. Carlos Alemán and Dr. José Manuel García-Torres.

Dr. Colombi presented his thesis on "Soft and conductive material architectures for flexible electronics: from hydrogels to nanomembranes" at the Barcelona East School of Engineering (EEBE) of the UPC.

During his doctoral thesis, the student developed 

advanced soft and conductive materials, ranging from hydrogels to nanomembranes, for next-generation flexible electronics and biomedical applications. By engineering alginate, GelMA, and PLA-based systems with conducting polymers and functional nanomaterials, he has established strong structure-property-function relationships.

The resulting platforms enable applications in sensing, energy, drug delivery, and tissue engineering with enhanced performance. Overall, the thesis highlights how rational design of soft materials can drive multifunctional technologies for healthcare, energy, and environmental solutions.

The thesis committee was composed of Joan Torras, President (UPC); Gonzalo Guirado, Secretary (UAB); and Sara Pellegrino (University of Milan), Frederico Ferreira (University of Lisbon) and Joan Marc Cabot (Leitat Technological Center) as Vocals.