Fernando Aldana

Born in Guadalajara, Spain, in 1944, Prof. Fernando Aldana received his Doctorate in Engineering for Industry, specializing in electronics, from Universidad Politecnica de Madrid in 1975. Since then, he has been a Professor in that University, where he has held many senior management positions including Dean of Engineering, Vice-President and Vice-Rector for Research. He also had specific responsibility for international relations.

He has developed many research programs, both within Spain and abroad, and has led a large number of research projects including the Spanish special action in microelectronics financed by the European Commission. He had steering roles in over two hundreds international conferences, and held officerships in the world wide Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) including President of the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society, President of the IEEE Technical Activities Board, and President of the IEEE Strategic Planning Committee. He was the first non-American to hold such positions. He has also been advising the European Commission on Research and Development matters since 1990.

In 1996 he moved to the Spanish administration where he was appointed Director General for Research and Development at the Ministry for Education and Culture. In 1998, he was appointed Director of the newly created national Office for Science and Technology. He was the main driving force in the Spanish Inter-ministerial Commission for Science and Technology, where he concentrated on strengthening the structure of the Spanish research administration, developing greater industry/university cooperative links and leading his country's efforts to promote technological innovation in the cause of socio-economic growth. During that period he was also the Vice-President of the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), and Chairman of the EUREKA High Level Group.

In 2000, he returned to industry/academia while retaining many positions on the European S&T scene. He is currently Chairman of the Board of Governors of the European Union’s Joint Research Center (JRC). He leads the European Union’s delegation in the Intelligent Manufacturing Systems (IMS) initiative, and he is a Special Advisor to the EU Commissioner for Research, Philippe Busquin.

He plays a key role in the efforts undertaken by the European Union towards the establishment of the Global Information Society. He was elected President of the Euro-Mediterranean Information Society Steering Committee in 1996, and of the Euro-Latin American Information Society Steering Committee in 1999, thus paving the way for the launching of European Union programs worth over a hundred million Euro. He is the President of the Association for the Promotion of the Information Society between Europe and Latin America (APISEL), and a member of the Honorary Committee of the Association for the Promotion of International Technological Cooperation for Humanistic ends (PITCH).

He is Director of the Office of Innovation and Technology for the Enterprise of the Universidad Politecnica de Madrid. He also sits on Boards of several Spanish companies, and he is the President of the Cluster of Aqua-culture of Galicia.