David Atienza Alonso

David Atienza Alonso is a Full Professor in the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering at the School of Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland. He leads the Embedded Systems Laboratory (ESL) and serves as Associate Vice President for Centers and Platforms, overseeing major research infrastructure. His work spans embedded systems, IoT, edge AI, and sustainable computing.

His research interests focus on system-level design for high-performance and low-power computing systems. Key areas include thermal-aware design of multi-processor systems-on-chip (MPSoC), energy-efficient embedded machine learning, wireless body sensor networks, and electronic design automation (EDA). His lab develops novel methodologies for hardware-software co-design, memory optimization, and edge computing architectures.

The analysis of his recent publications reveals a strong trajectory in intelligent, energy-efficient computing systems. His work integrates machine learning with traditional EDA techniques for data center optimization, applies ultra-low power heterogeneous architectures to healthcare wearables, and advances thermal modeling for 3D ICs. Themes of sustainability, real-time processing, and edge intelligence are consistent across his research.

Dr. Atienza has received numerous accolades, including:

• ERC Consolidator Grant (2016)
• DAC Under-40 Innovators Award (2018)
• IEEE TCCPS Mid-Career Award (2018)
• ACM SIGDA Outstanding New Faculty Award (2012)
• ICCAD 10-Year Most Influential Paper Award (2020)
• Best paper awards at top-tier conferences

He has advised over 40 PhD students, many of whom have gone on to successful academic and industry careers. His research has been supported by major grants, including the ERC grant, and he has co-authored over 450 publications and 14 licensed patents. He plays a significant leadership role in the academic community, having served as Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Transactions on CAD, President of IEEE CEDA (2018–2019), and currently as Chair of the European Design Automation Association (EDAA). He is a Fellow of both IEEE and ACM.

His laboratory, the Embedded Systems Laboratory (ESL), is a leading center for research in embedded and cyber-physical systems, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation in sustainable computing technologies.