Lluís Torner is the founding director of the ICFO, an organisation considered a global leader in its field of research, and professor at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia. He is a fellow of the Optical Society of America, the European Optical Society and the European Physical Society, a member of numerous international panels and an advisor to public and private entities in various countries in Europe, the United States, Canada, Australia and the European Commission on matters related with scientific and technological foresight. He won the Monturiol Medal for Scientific Merit in 2009, the Optical Society of America’s Robert E. Hopkins Leadership Award in 2011 and the Catalan National Research Award in 2016.