Elena Pinilla, among the Top 50 emerging women leaders in Spain

Elena Pinilla Cienfuegos, a lecturer and researcher at the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), has been recognised as one of the 50 emerging women leaders in Spain by Santander Open Academy, as part of the Santander 2026 programme in Spain

This recognition from Banco Santander's programme highlights Elena Pinilla's career, leadership, and contribution in the field of research and scientific dissemination.

Elena Pinilla currently carries out her research at the Centre for Nanophotonics Technology (NTC) at the UPV and teaches at the School of Telecommunications Engineering (ETSIT) at the same university. She is also vice-president of the Royal Spanish Society of Physics (RSEF) and serves as an inspiration to new generations of female scientists in Spain.

"For me, this recognition represents an opportunity to continue growing, broaden my horizons, and strengthen my understanding of #leadership. In my case, through science, with the research projects I lead at the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) and at the Nanophotonics Technology Centre (NTC), and through the Royal Spanish Physical Society, with the conviction that leadership also involves building, paving the way, and supporting others in that process," says Elena Pinilla.

For the NTC researcher, joining this network also offers an opportunity to continue developing, incorporate new perspectives, and consolidate leadership styles that make a real impact. "The process has been particularly demanding! With thousands of applications internationally, which makes me value being part of this community even more," adds Elena Pinilla.

International phase

Following her selection in the national phase, Elena Pinilla is now part of the global SW50 community, which comprises the 50 women selected from each of the nine countries where local editions of the SW50 programme have been held (Germany, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Spain, Mexico, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and Uruguay).

The 450 finalists will compete in the global edition of the programme, from which the 50 best female executives internationally will be selected to take part in a high-performance in-person training programme in London.

About Elena Pinilla Cienfuegos

Born in Badajoz, Elena Pinilla Cienfuegos is a senior researcher at the Centre for Nanophotonics Technology (NTC) and a lecturer at the School of Telecommunications Engineering (ETSIT) at the Universitat Politècnica de València, where she teaches on the Bachelor's Degree programmes in Physics Engineering and Telecommunications Engineering.

At the NTC, she leads her research group ("Photonic and Innovative Nanomaterials Lab"), where they study how to integrate new nanomaterials into reconfigurable nanophotonic devices to make them more versatile and efficient, such as sensors, metasurfaces, and photonic switches with applications in telecommunications or medicine. Furthermore, she studies nanoscale wear phenomena in biomaterials with applications in healthcare and anthropology. She has a scientific track record of over 40 publications in highly prestigious journals in nanotechnology, photonics, and materials science, as well as more than 35 conference papers, 19 teaching and outreach articles. She has supervised over 25 undergraduate, master's, internship, and PhD students.

She is Vice-President of the Royal Spanish Society of Physics (RSEF) and Deputy Director of Institutional Communication and University Outreach at the School of Telecommunications Engineering (ETSIT) at the UPV. She is also a figure in scientific dissemination, with a particular interest in raising visibility of women's work in physics. She collaborates with initiatives such as 11F (International Day of Women and Girls in Science), the RSEF's specialist group for women in physics, Girls4STEM, AMIT, and the Women, Optics and Photonics Section of the Spanish Society of Optics (SEDOPTICA).

For her scientific, teaching and scientific dissemination work, she has been recognised with various awards, such as the 1st Valencia Idea Prize (2013), the 1st MUY Young Female Scientists Prize awarded by the magazine MUY INTERESANTE (2019), several teaching awards including Best Lecturer at the ETSIT (2023, 2024 and 2025), and various accolades as a supervisor of master's theses (the national Archimedes Award and the award for the best master's thesis at the 24th edition of NTV).