Prof. Dr. Joan R. Morante was born in Mataro (Spain). He obtained the Bachelor degree in 1977 from the University of Barcelona. In 1980, he received the PhD degree in Physics from the same university. Since 1986 he is full professor of Electronics and director of the Electronic Materials and Engineering group, EME. Now, he is the head of the EME (Electronic Materials and Engineering) research group, co-director of the CEMIC (Centre for Engineering of Microsystems) from 1999 and director of the CeRMAE (Centre of reference of Advanced Materials for Energy) from 2003. His activity is devoted to the electronic materials and technology, physics and chemical sensors, actuators, and microsystems. He has special interest in nanoscience and nanotechnologies.

Prof. Kenzo Shimanoe received his BE degree in applied chemistry in 1983 and ME degree in 1985 from Kagoshima University and Kyushu University, respectively. Then he joined the advanced material and technology laboratory in Nippon Steel Corporation until 1995 to study electronic characterizations of semiconductor surface and electrochemical reactions of materials. He received PhD in engineering in 1993 from Kyushu University. His current research interests include the development of chemical sensors as well as analysis of solid surface.

Dr. Gerhard Muller was born in 1948. He graduated in physics from the University of Heidelberg in 1974 and obtained a PhD degree in 1976. Subsequently, he was employed at the Max-Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg, where he worked on ion implantation and nuclear solid-state physics. In 1979, he migrated to the University of Dundee, UK, where he started research on hydrogenated amorphous silicon. In 1981, he moved to Messerschmitt-Boelkow-Blohm GmbH (MBB), where he performed developmental work on thin film solar-cell modules. Since 1986, he has been active in the field of silicon micromachining and sensors working in leading positions for a number of employers: MBB/DASA (1986?1993): building up clean room laboratories for silicon micromachining and thin film technologies; Daimler?Chrysler Central Research (1994?2000): sensors for automotive safety and exhaust gas monitoring; EADS Corporate Research Centre, Germany (2000 onwards): sensors for aircraft safety, maintenance, and diagnosis. Since 2001, he is a lecturer for micro- and nano-technologies at the Munich University of Applied Sciences.