​-By David Murphy, KAUST News

Jhonathan Prieto Rojas joined KAUST in 2009 from the National University of Colombia in Bogota and completed both his master's degree (2010) and Ph.D. (2014) in electrical engineering at the University under the supervision of Professor Muhammad Mustafa Hussain. Prieto Rojas spent six years at KAUST before leaving the University in August of 2015 for his current role as assistant professor in the
electrical engineering department at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) in Dhahran.

"I joined KFUPM with the objective and conviction of continuing my research into the many fascinating subjects that I first encountered during my master's and Ph.D. studies at KAUST. Furthermore, the teaching experience has been very gratifying, and thanks to it, I actually find myself learning more and more every day," he said.

The main driving force behind Prieto Rojas' decision to join KAUST was that he saw a great opportunity to explore a different culture and be part of a unique experience.

"My experience at KAUST was full of many discoveries and academic challenges that helped me mature a lot. The incredibly rich and diverse community of the University let me discover, interact and learn from many cultures around the world, which made the experience much more rewarding," he said.

At KAUST, Prieto Rojas' work was focused on using micro and nanofabrication techniques to build and develop novel structures, architectures and devices for new and exciting applications in diverse areas.

"During my master's degree, I fabricated a miniature micro-reactor incorporating carbon nanotubes to produce energy out of common bacteria found in wastewater while decomposing organic matter—it is called a micro-sized microbial fuel cell. During my Ph.D., I mainly focused on the development of an innovative process to create flexible electronics out of conventional rigid microchips," he said.

KAUST alumnus Jhonathan Prieto Rojas (second row, third from right) was a speaker at the KAUST-NSF Research Conference on Electronic Materials, Devices and Systems for a Sustainable Future held on campus in March 2016. File photo.

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