NICAP

what is NICAP?

The Newcastle University Institute for Creative Arts Practice provides a hub for the creative arts at the University. It stimulates interaction between all our creative practitioners and showcases their work, exploring ideas and challenging perceived boundaries between academic disciplines.

http://www.ncl.ac.uk/nicap/about/

The interaction of project aims to explore the unlikely relationship of two entirely different disciplines: fine art printmaking as a means to social communication, and semiconductor micro-fabrication applied to neuroscience.

Dr Enrique Escobedo-Cousin

Research Associate

I was born and raised in Mexico City. My background is in Electrical & Electronic Engineering, having done my first degree at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). I specialised in micro systems engineering and signal processing, and graduated with a thesis on noise reduction for infra-red astronomical images following a one year research placement at the Astronomy Institute. Shortly after graduating in 2003, i moved to Newcastle to study an MSc in Microelectronics and continued with a PhD in Semiconductor Technology, graduating in 2008.

My research interests include epitaxial graphene and strained silicon/silicon-germanium technologies for electronic device applications. My areas of expertise are semiconductor micro and nano characterisation techniques using Raman spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM), Raman-AFM integration, XPS, electrical analysis and micro-fabrication work in clean room environment. I am at home with all three phases of electronic device production: design, fabrication and characterisation, as well as data analysis and presentation.

Currently I work in a joint project between the Institute of Neuroscience and the group of Emerging Technology and Materials (EEE) which aims to implement a multi-contact electromyography sensor for cross-sectional imaging of skeletal muscle.

Erika Servin

Printmaking Demonstrator/Technician

I was born in Mexico City in 1972 and live in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. In 2000 obtained the Master of Arts degree in New York University. Since then she has exhibited in the UK, Mexico, Australia, NY, Finland, Malasia, France among others.

Currently I am working at Newcastle University as Printmaking Demonstrator/Technician. I am also a Trustee for Northern Print and continue exhibiting my work. In 2014 received the Santander mobility award for a project on Mexican Printmaking workshops. In 2015 received an Arts Council Grant for Mexico-UK Printmaking Cultural Exchange. Among the recognitions she has had from the Association of the Contemporary Museum of art of Chamaliers, France, for her contribution of art in contemporary times.

In 1998 received a Fulbright-Garcia Robles grant to study her MA.

Her work is based on societal issues and, she is inspired by popular Mexican culture, as well as commercial murals, printed matter such as calendars, packaging etc.

As a Printmaking Technician I am in charge of giving tutorials to students on diverse printing techniques such as etching, relief printing, mono prints, lithography, screen printing, laser cutting, analogue photography among others.