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Carlos C.J. Alcantara

PhD, ETH Zurich

Staff Engineer, Samsung Electronics

Currently based in South Korea

My work has focused on turning designs into working physical systems. So far, that has meant microrobots at ETH Zurich, machine vision for robots in semiconductor manufacturing, and CMOS-integrated devices for cellular and neural sensing, along with applied AI for image and signal analysis.

Explore my work
Carlos C.J. Alcantara smiling outdoors

01

Areas I've worked in

Fabrication diagram showing two-photon lithography paths for electrodeposition and polymer casting

01

Microfabrication

My fabrication work has included lithography, 3D microfabrication, mold casting, electrodeposition, and thin-film deposition.

Patent drawing of the electrode and wiring architecture in a cellular sensing probe

02

Sensing and devices

I have worked on physical interfaces including CMOS-integrated electrodes and devices for cellular and neural sensing.

Open-loop control diagram for the stereo microrobot tracking setup

03

Robotics and vision

I have developed perception systems for robotic manipulation, including machine vision and automated data workflows. My earlier research also included untethered microrobots.

Patent architecture linking a host processor, accelerator, and memory for neural-network execution

04

Applied AI

I have worked on AI for physical systems, including image and signal analysis, neural-network operations, and defect detection.

02

Selected papers

Scanning electron micrographs of mechanically interlocked multi-material micromachines

Nature Communications

Co-first and corresponding author

Mechanically interlocked 3D multi-material micromachines

A fabrication strategy for independently movable metallic, polymeric, and hybrid components at the microscale. I designed and fabricated the structures.

Covered by ETH Zurich and 3D Printing Industry

Read the paper

More of my research

See my Google Scholar profile

03

Published patent applications

Applications on which I am a named inventor, with the assignee shown for each record.

Patent plot separating normal and defective response signals

AI systems

Defect detection, neural-network operations, and hardware emulation for physical inspection and compute systems.

Published scanning electron micrograph of a nanocavity electrode cross-section

Sensing and interfaces

Electrode architectures and probes built around CMOS integration and cellular or neural signals.

04

How I got here

2022 - present

Staff Engineer

Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology

I developed CMOS-integrated sensing devices across system specification, materials integration, and fabrication. I also deployed AI models for signal analysis.

2020 - 2022

Staff Engineer

Samsung Electronics, Mechatronics R&D Center

I developed machine-vision systems for real-time robotic manipulation in semiconductor manufacturing, including ML workflows for automated data acquisition and annotation.

2015 - 2019

Research Assistant

ETH Zurich, Multi-Scale Robotics Lab

I designed and fabricated metallic, polymeric, and hybrid microrobots using lithography, direct laser writing, mold casting, electrodeposition, and thin-film deposition.

2013 - 2015

Research Assistant

Federal University of Santa Catarina

I studied thiol adsorption on gold surfaces using surface plasmon resonance and worked with thin-film fabrication and characterization.

2011 - 2012

Engineering Internships

ABB Corporate Research, Siemens AG, and CERN

I developed a wireless power transfer prototype at ABB, a fault-detection method for induction motors at Siemens, and a database interface for magnetic-measurement data at CERN.

Ideas / Research / Shared interests

Feel free to say hello.

If something here connects with your work, a paper you are reading, or an idea you are exploring, I would be happy to hear from you.

alcantara at ccjalcantara.com