The Institute of Information and Communication Technologies (ITACA) of the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) begins a new chapter with the appointment of its new management team, headed by Professor María Guillem as Director, Antonio Martínez as Deputy Director for Research, and David de Andrés as Administration Manager.
In this interview, we speak with Antonio and David to learn about their goals in this new role, as well as their career paths, research fields, and views on current challenges in technological research.
What is your professional background?
David de Andrés: I studied Computer Engineering in 1998 as part of the first cohort of graduates. Upon finishing, I had interviews with several companies, particularly in the banking sector, which demanded database system developers. However, that kind of work didn’t motivate me. What truly interested me was research.
That’s when I contacted the Fault Tolerant Systems group, which I already knew thanks to some lecturers whose subjects I particularly enjoyed. At the time, there were no master’s degrees, so I started a PhD directly with a national project-linked FPI grant. Additionally, the position of collaborating lecturer was created, allowing me to combine teaching and research, and I quickly went from teaching 6 to 33 credits.
This heavy teaching load delayed my thesis, which I completed in 2006–2007. Since then, I’ve worked in various areas within the Fault Tolerant Systems group. After the pandemic, I gained a tenured lecturer post after nearly 20 years as a contracted researcher. Finally, this year, Alberto Bonastre, last Administration Manager of ITACA, invited me to join the institute’s management team under María’s leadership. After speaking with her, I saw it as an exciting opportunity and accepted the challenge.
Antonio Martínez: I finished my degree in Telecommunications Engineering in 2009. While searching for a final year project, I visited the Polytechnic City of Innovation, interested in nanophotonics. However, on the first floor I saw a poster about technology and diabetes, which particularly caught my attention as my sister has diabetes. That’s how I discovered the SABIEN group (then TSB), whose approach and philosophy convinced me straight away.
Since then, I’ve been a researcher with SABIEN. Although I briefly worked in a partner company, I soon realised that research was my true calling. In 2016, I joined the Department of Electronic Engineering as an associate lecturer, teaching on the Biomedical Engineering degree, where I also discovered a passion for teaching.
With things clearer, I defended my doctoral thesis in 2017, and in 2021 I secured a position as a tenure-track lecturer. I am now a Senior Lecturer, mainly teaching at the School of Telecommunications. Over the years, I’ve seen ITACA grow from a mix of research groups into a far more cohesive structure, oriented towards solving real-world problems. When María offered me the Deputy Directorship, I saw it as a great opportunity to contribute to the centre’s growth.
What does your new position at ITACA mean to you?
David: I hadn’t held a role like this before. My profile has always been more academic, without as much industry contact as, for example, Antonio. It represents a significant change. As Administration Manager, I take on a more formal role than the Deputy Director for Research, but it’s also an opportunity for both personal and professional growth. This type of experience is necessary if one day I aim to become a full professor, as university management is a key requirement.
Antonio: On a personal level, it may sound dramatic to talk about sacrifice, but in a job like ours, where we enjoy the freedom to conduct research, taking on extra responsibilities is a genuine challenge. It adds another layer to the already heavy workload as teaching and research staff.
However, it’s also a great opportunity to try to change some of the things that have frustrated us for years. Day to day, one wonders why certain bureaucratic processes work the way they do. From a management position, you can listen, analyse and act—moving from subjective discomfort to recognising shared problems that can be improved. With this perspective and position, we can unify efforts and fight to resolve or mitigate unfair situations. Turning helplessness into action is deeply rewarding.
Have you made any changes since taking office?
David: Yes, we’ve achieved small administrative improvements which, although they might seem minor, were previously impossible. That gives us hope. We know we’re not going to transform the university, but we can encourage changes that improve life within the institute. As Alberto Bonastre once told me: what you want to do is one thing, what you can actually do is another.
What has changed at ITACA in recent years?
David: I’ve been at ITACA since its founding. Initially, you didn’t feel particularly proud to belong to the institute—there wasn’t a strong corporate identity. But that has changed in recent years. Now there’s much more cohesion and collaboration between groups.
Antonio: Yes, that sense of belonging is much more visible today. I also believe that previous leadership allowed each group to develop its activities in line with its own dynamics, within a certain framework. It’s been a huge achievement to unify academic staff, technical and administrative staff, and students from such diverse profiles, schools, departments and educational levels.
What are your areas of research?
David: In the Fault Tolerant Systems group, we work on critical systems: aerospace, automotive, rail, energy, healthcare… systems that cannot fail catastrophically. If they do fail, they must continue operating. We induce failures, analyse their impact and propose techniques to avoid or mitigate them. It’s essential work to ensure reliability and safety.
Antonio: At SABIEN, we aim to make the National Health System sustainable through technology. Which is no easy task. We design and implement solutions based on IoT, AI or process mining, to be useful to all system actors—from healthcare professionals and managers to patients and their carers.
What opportunities or challenges do you see in the field of technological research?
Antonio: One of the biggest challenges is stabilising the careers of researchers. There’s a huge amount of precarity. Scientific careers are often driven by vocational commitment, but without job security the vocational may diminish. It’s a profession and must be rewarded and valued as such. That said, the personal satisfaction of researching, being at the cutting edge of knowledge, and developing socially impactful solutions is enormous.
David: I completely agree. I’d add another challenge: generational handover. In my group, I’m the youngest—and I’m 50. This issue, although structural to the university, affects us directly: what will happen to groups when their leaders retire? Who will continue their work and support the contracted researchers?
What should be the university’s role in this respect?
David: The university should address it, but it’s the research centres that must raise our voices the loudest.
Antonio: The university is very large and heterogeneous. Institutes need to cater to the specific needs of our groups. Many researchers are hired only for projects, with no stable position. If we’re going to lead for six years, we must commit to improving their situation—ffering support, sharing knowledge, and providing experience to help them understand career development pathways both within and beyond the university.
David: The university mainly focuses on departments, schools and student recruitment. That’s why centres must advocate for our uniqueness.
What role should ITACA play in transferring knowledge to society and industry?
Antonio and David: To generate knowledge, develop useful solutions, and transfer results with real impact on society—improving citizens’ quality of life.
How does AI affect your research fields?
David: In my field, AI poses certain risks. In critical systems, being 98% accurate isn’t enough—there can be no margin for error. The big challenge is to make AI reasoning explainable and certifiable, which would open the door to its use in systems like aircraft or satellites. But for now, it remains uncertain.
Antonio: In my case, AI is a revolution comparable to the arrival of the internet. It affects multiple areas in a cross-cutting way. As researchers, we must constantly keep up to date, as it will be a key factor in managing projects, teams, and proposals.
How would you like your time in management to be remembered?
David: I’d like it to be remembered as a time when people were given the means to focus on their work, without so many bureaucratic hurdles. That we helped improve the stability of research staff.
Antonio: And that we helped strengthen the pride of belonging to ITACA. A few years ago, you wouldn’t boast about being here. That’s changed. We aspire for ITACA to serve as a benchmark, both within UPV and nationally and internationally, in technology transfer and social impact.