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Angélica Anglés Estellés and Alfredo Quijano Rubio are the new Outstanding UPV Alumni of 2025. Both received this award at a ceremony held at Caixa Forum, presided over by the rector of the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), José Capilla.

At the awards ceremony, the rector of the UPV, José Capilla, addressing the new Outstanding UPV Alumni, said that ‘when I see your careers, your achievements, I see what gives meaning to the university and is its primary mission: to educate people so that, as we see in your case, you push the boundaries of knowledge with great brilliance’.

You have achieved your dream

For Angélica Anglés (video), it was "very emotional to receive this award. I came to the UPV with a dream. I have always been fascinated by the possibility of life on Mars, and I decided to study Cartography, thinking it would provide a solid foundation in planetary mapping that I could apply to Mars. It turned out to be entirely correct. After so many years, receiving this award is recognition of all my work and hearing them say "you have achieved your dream", as well as honouring the academic staff. What they taught me has reached every corner of the planet.” (Interview)

Meanwhile, Alfredo Quijano (video) said that 'it is an honour' for him and that he is "very deeply moved to return and greet all the people who have helped me in my career. These have been the best years of my life, and I have received spectacular training in biotechnology. I was allowed to do laboratory research and begin to understand how to move from research to set up a company, thanks to the Ideas UPV programme.‘ He has also recalled his participation in the IGEM university competition. (Video) All this experience ‘has prepared me to become what I am today, a researcher and entrepreneur.‘ (Interview)

Joint distinction (ex aequo)

The Governing Council of the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), held in June this year, approved the awarding of this distinction ex aequo to both. In addition to their professional and personal careers, the Council recognised their significant contribution to promoting the image of the Universitat Politècnica de València and their commitment to the university.

Angélica Anglés Estellés was recognised for her significant contributions to the search for life on Mars, her participation in analogue space exploration missions, and her dedication to inspiring future generations in the fields of science and space exploration.

Alfredo Quijano Rubio was honoured for the impact of his research in the field of health, his academic excellence, scientific contributions, business leadership and commitment to society.

Angélica Anglés Estellés

She holds a degree in Cartography and Geodesy from the Universitat Politècnica de València and two master's degrees in Planetary Sciences and Astrophysics from Imperial College London and University College London. Her PhD from the University of Hong Kong, in the field of Astrobiology and Planetary Sciences, dealt with the possibility of life on Mars and the selection and future return of Martian samples. This research included fieldwork studying the geological features of the Qaidam Basin in Tibet as an analogue for Mars.

She was part of the team that selected the landing site for the Mars 2020 probe at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and is one of five analogue astronauts on the first UK Analogue Space Mission.

She is also a Senior Researcher at the Icelandic Space Agency, where she has led expeditions in analogue environments to Mars, including locations such as Rio Tinto, Iceland, the Pyrenees, New Zealand, Tibet, Australia, Lake Cisó (Girona), and Germany. She is a researcher at the Macao Space Sciences Centre (China) and the European Space Agency.

Alfredo Quijano Rubio

He is an international reference in the field of biotechnology. He graduated in Biotechnology from the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) in 2015. His academic career was marked by excellence. He was the best student in his class and received the Award for Best Academic Record and the Award for Best Bachelor's Thesis in Biotechnology.

He subsequently obtained a scholarship from the La Caixa Foundation to pursue his PhD in Bioengineering and Computational Protein Design at the University of Washington, under the supervision of the 2024 Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry, Dr David Baker. During his PhD, Alfredo specialised in computational protein design. This cutting-edge field combines synthetic biology and artificial intelligence to develop new therapies and diagnostics.

He is the co-founder of two biotechnology companies: Neoleukin Therapeutics (2018) and Monod Bio (2021), where he serves as the scientific director and leads a team of over 20 researchers. These companies have developed innovative biosensors and therapies that have a positive impact on health.

Alfredo Quijano holds 10 granted patents, demonstrating his ability to transform research into practical applications. His publications in high-impact scientific journals, including Nature and Science, have made significant contributions to the advancement of knowledge in biotechnology.

With the participation of Patricia Ramírez

The Alumni UPV Award ceremony was held in the CaixaForum auditorium. It featured the participation of psychologist Patricia Ramírez, @patri_psicóloga, who gave a motivational and informative talk focused on emotional well-being, stress and anxiety management, self-esteem and personal relationships.

Alumni UPV was established in 2011, and the Outstanding Alumni award was first presented in 2016. The first recipient was Carlos Ledó.