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Image Details:

Instrument used:QUANTA 3D FEG
Magnification: 12000x
Horizontal Field Width: 24.9
Vacuum: 2.7e-3 Pa
Voltage: 10kV
Spot: 5
Working Distance: 10
Detector: ETD

FEI announced that María Carbajo of the Electron Microscopy Unit in the Research Support

Services of the University of Extremadura has been awarded the grand prize in the 

2012 FEI Owner Image Contest for her entry “Spider Skin”.

FEI.com asked vistors to vote for their favorite image among the monthly winners.

A total of nearly 1000 votes were received and María Carbajo’s image, Spider Skin, narrowly

beat out other worthy images.

María’s entry shows the texture of the skin of a spider, with a hair root and brochosomes from

a leafhopper preyed upon by the spider.

About the Winner

María Carbajo was born in Badajoz (Extremadura) in 1979. In 2002 she finished her studies in Chemical Engineering at the University of Extremadura, and four years later she defended her doctoral thesis “Catalytic and Photocatalytic Ozonation of Water’s Contaminants”. She worked as a teacher for two years at the same University in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Physical Chemistry. In September 2010, she began working as a technician responsible for the Electron Microscopy Unit in the Research Support Services of the University of Extremadura (SAIUEx). María is responsible for sample preparation and handling of Scanning Electron Microscope QUANTA 3D FEG and Transmission Electron Microscope TECNAI G2 20 TWIN. From SAIUEx, María provides service to both researchers and companies in different fields, such as material science, biomedical, chemical and biological ones.

María has a 2 year old son, and her hobbies are photography, travel, and spending as much time as possible with her little one.