Veronica Bermudez | Hamad Bin Khalifa University

Dr. Veronica Bermudez

Senior Research Director

Office location

C-1163-B2-1st. Floor

Dr. Veronica Bermudez

Senior Research Director

Educational Qualifications

Habilitation for Professor and to Supervise Research

PhD Thesis Materials Science

Entity

Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute

Biography

Dr. Veronica Bermudez Benito is Senior Research Director at the Energy Center at the Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute (QEERI) where she leads the efforts in research, technology development, and innovation for the Energy Transition department. Dr. Benito has a PhD in Physics from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain, and holds a number of international awards for her research activity. She is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy and acts as an independent expert for a number of international funding agencies such as the European Commission and European National funding bodies.

She is also the author or co-author of more than 120 scientific papers in renowned journals, including Nature, Nature Energy and Science. She has delivered a large number of invited and keynote talks at several international conferences and has a relevant patent portfolio. She has extensive experience in laboratory to industry research and technology transfer in the field of sustainable energy, in almost the whole value chain, from materials development to grid integration for generation, storage, and energy management solutions.

She is also an IEEE Senior Fellow and is actively engaged in promoting science among the youth, with a focus on STEM for women.

 

Habilitation for Professor and to Supervise Research

Universite Aix-Marseille, France

2011

PhD Thesis Materials Science

Universidad Autonoma de Madrid (UAM)

1998

Master Thesis: “Study and characterization of domain structure of LiNbO3”.

Universidad Autonoma de Madrid (UAM)

1996

Degree: Bachelor in Physics (5 years)

Universidad Autonoma de Madrid (UAM)

1996

Senior Research Director

Energy Center Director ,QEERI (Qatar Energy and Environmental Research Institute) ,Qatar Foundation, Doha, Qatar

2018 - Present

R&D Acting General Manager

Technology Division ,Atsugi Research Center ,Solar Frontier KK, Atsugi-shi, Japan.

2016 - 2018

Principal Scientist and Research Program Leader

“Materials and technologies for industrial PV and storage” ,EDF R&D Chatou, France.

2014 - 2016

Senior Scientist and Research Manager

Start-up (founding team), NEXCIS Photovoltaic Innovation, Rousset, France.

2009 - 2014

Researcher and Laboratory Manager

Institute for the Research and Development of Photovoltaic Energy (IRDEP) ,EDF R&D, CNRS, ENSCP mix Institute, Chatou, France.

2005 - 2009

Assistant Professor

Materials Physics Department, Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, Spain.

2001 - 2006

Co-founder

Start-up ,TechnoCrys. Technology for Crystal Growth, Madrid

2002 - 2005

Post-doctoral fellow

Materials Physics Department, Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, Spain.

2000 - 2001

European Post-doctoral fellow

Marie Curie Program in the 5th EU Program ,Laboratory of Advanced Technologies (DEIN/SPE/GCO), CEA-LETI, Saclay, France.

1999 - 2000

PhD Thesis at Crystal Growth Laboratory of Materials Physics Department at Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, Spain.

1995 - 1998

Member Expert Committee for French Publication “Connaissances d’energie”
Pool of experts in European Technology & Innovation Platform PV (subtask BIPV)
Co-chair International Task Force for PV quality assurance WG2 Taks 8

2010 - 2016

EDF representative at AFNOR (French IEC)

2015 - 2016

European PV Cluster. Working group leader “PV industrial manufacturing”

2012 - 2016

Experts steering committee for University Degree “Science for Engineers”, Aix-Marseille University, France
Experts steering committee for University Master “Materials”, Aix-Marseille University
European Technology & Innovation Platform Member of the WG PV Quality and Economy
Advisory Board Siva Power (2019), Santa Clara, California, US
Advisory Board IREC (Intitute of Reseach in Energy), Barcelona, Spain

  • “Influencing intramolecular Motion with an Alternating Electric Field”, Nature, 406, 608-611
  • "Electrochemical Synthesis of CuIn(S,Se)2 alloys with graded composition for high efficiency solar cells" Applied Physics Letters 94 (6) 061915
  • “Solution processing route to high efficiency CuIn(S,Se)2 solar cells”. J. Nano Research 4 (2009)1105.
  • “All solution-processed inorganic solar cells – from single functional layers towards a 13.8%- efficient device” Advanced Materials 25 (1), 12-27
  • “Economical and operational issues for CIGS in the future PV panorama” Solar Energy 146, 85-93
  • “Electricity storage supporting PV competitiveness in a reliable and sustainable electric network” J. Renewable and Sustainable Energy, 9, 012301
  • “Understanding the cell-to-module efficiency gap in Cu(In,Ga)(S,Se)2 photovoltaics scale-up” Nature Energy, 3, 466-475
  • “High Performance Perovskite/Cu(In,Ga)Se2 Monolithic Tandem Solar Cells” Science 361, 904-908
  • “Record Efficiency for Thin-Film Polycrystalline Solar Cells Up to 22.9%” IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics, 9, 1, 325-330

  • 2017- “Imagination fueling innovation and change in the energetic sector”
    9th IEEE Career Development Essay Contest.        
  • 2017- IEEE Senior Fellowship
  • 2007- Schieber Prize        
    International Organization of Crystal Growth (IOCG) 
  • 2004- National Prize for Young Scientist
    Private Foundation Complutense de Madrid 
  • 2003- Finalist of “The EU Descartes Prize 2003” 
    European Project “Molecules in Motion: hydrogen bond-assembled molecular machines (MOLS-INMOTION). European Commission
  • 1999- Extraordinary Prize of doctorate for PhD work in Science 
    Universidad Autonoma de Madrid