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About

M. Balcells is a leading figure in astronomical instrumentation and observational astrophysics, with a primary focus on the development and deployment of cutting-edge near-infrared (NIR) cameras and multi-object spectrographs (MOS) for large telescopes. Their most impactful contribution is the leadership of EMIR, a powerful NIR instrument for the 10.4 m Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC). As detailed in their highly cited 2022 paper, Balcells and their team successfully delivered EMIR, which provides critical spectral coverage from 0.9–2.5 µm over a wide 6.67′ field of view. This work, garnering 25 citations, represents a major technical achievement in ground-based astronomy, enabling high-sensitivity studies of star formation, galaxy evolution, and the distant universe. Balcells’s expertise in bridging complex engineering with scientific requirements has made EMIR a key workhorse instrument for the GTC community. Their career reflects a deep commitment to advancing observational capabilities, directly empowering researchers to tackle fundamental questions in astrophysics through state-of-the-art instrumentation.