IMDEA Networks opens its laboratories to FP students in an outreach day

The activity allowed students to learn about the institute’s research work, visit the facilities, and explore telecommunications in an engaging way

17 December 2025

Around 60 vocational training students from IES San Juan de la Cruz and Colegio Valle del Miro visited three of IMDEA Networks’ leading laboratories today. During the day, the group had the opportunity to learn firsthand about the institute’s research areas and how the networks of the future are being developed.

The tour began at the NEXTONIC laboratory, founded by IMDEA Networks and Telefónica, where the foundations for network evolution are laid, with the aim of leading the rollout of 6G and other emerging technologies. Ignacio Berberana, Senior Research Engineer, and Neftalí González, Systems Administrator, explained how this evolution will be driven through practical cases and real-world applications.

In the LiFi laboratory, the group explored visible light communication (VLC), an emerging wireless technology that transmits data using light instead of radio signals. During a hands-on demonstration led by PhD student Freddy del Ángel, research engineer Fernando González, and Post-Doc researchers Edson Dos Santos, Luca Santoro, they saw how a complete system captures real-time video, encodes it into digital data, and transmits it via a light beam to a receiver, which reconstructs the information on a screen.

In the millimeter-wave laboratory, research engineer Anthony Sánchez explained some fundamentals of this technology, as well as its applications in communications and radar systems. He also shared how his team is already working on 6G networks, which will provide higher connectivity and function as sensors capable of perceiving the environment, detecting movements, objects, and other variables in real time.

To conclude the visit, the students participated in the Teleco Renta escape room, themed around the world of telecommunications, where they applied the knowledge gained during the tour. The activity allowed them to develop their ingenuity and teamwork in a fun and stimulating way.