In memory of Vitali Parkhutik (25 June 1951 to 20 February 2006)
Authors: Matveeva Eugenia , Parkhutik Vera , Canham Leigh 
Published: May 2007

Vitali Parkhutik was born in Minsk, Bielorussia, on 25 June 1951. He finished secondary school in 1968 with a medal for outstanding academic achievements. One of his earliest hobbies was model construction, developing as he grew older into a passion for constructing and repairing all kinds of mechanical devices. He considered becoming an engineer, but chose instead a more theoretical career and entered the Physics Faculty of the Bielorussian State University. Specializing in semiconductor physics, he graduated in 1973 and a diploma with honours.

His first independent steps in science took place in Minsk Radioengineering Institute, transformed after the breakup of the Soviet Union into the Bielorussian University of Informatics and Electronics. He started his doctoral studies there in 1975, the main topic of his research being the anodization of various metals, including aluminum and silicon. In this way, he first took interest in the formation and properties of porous silicon, a field that inspired most of his scientific activity in the later years. He defended his doctoral thesis in 1979, upgrading it to the level of Doctor Habilitus – the highest scientific degree in the Soviet Union – in 1991.

His youthful enthusiasm for life was matched by his enthusiasm for science, and he retained this quality throughout his life. He was a cheerful, active person, one who brought his fellow colleagues together and promoted all kind of amusing activities. Harmonist of “The Flooding Song” band, he excelled at adapting the lyrics of popular Russian and foreign songs to make fun of day‐to‐day problems of an average scientific laboratory. Editor of an unofficial university newspaper, his poems and drawings relieved the tension at the end of a tough day.

His first visit to Spain took place in 1989, when Vitali met Prof. Albella and Prof. Martinez‐Duart and was invited to work at the Madrid Autonomous University. The interest in porous silicon strengthened, and so did the personal ties. A year's fellowship led to an indefinite stay. The whole family came over and in 1992 Spain became his adopted country. First Madrid, and later Valencia and its Polytechnic University, became Vitali's scientific headquarters.

Since then, Vitali Parkhutik's activities have been numerous and diverse. Most of his research was centered on porous silicon and his first publication on the material appeared in 1983. He designed one of the first computer‐controlled anodization systems a few years later. Many papers followed on different aspects of porous Si, but his greatest interest was probably in understanding the formation mechanisms. One very important contribution was recognizing the role of hydrogen injection into the silicon lattice in the etching process. A simple database search reveals the titles of more than a hundred indexed publications and the names of more than a hundred co‐authors and collaborators. But Vitali has had much more depth to his character than is apparent from his published work. He was passionate about education – he was an avid teacher who continued holding his classes when terminally ill. He was passionate about youth and not wasting youth – a deeply caring father. He was passionate about communication‐ multilingual and fluent in Russian, Spanish and English.

Vitali is probably best known among the scientific community as the founder and promoter of the PSST Conferences, born from his desire to bring people together and put Valencia under the lights of international science. He liked to remember the day the idea was first voiced between him and Leigh Canham, during a break at the Strasbourg E‐MRS Meeting in 1996. Initiated as an adventure supported mostly by personal enthusiasm and good‐hearted intentions, it turned into a successful meeting with a perfect balance of scientific value and sunny Mediterranean hospitality. The biannual get‐together became habit, then tradition, and looking back after the 5th such meeting in Barcelona, it is difficult to believe the stressful moments of that first spring. Only 32 abstracts were received three days prior to the reception deadline, rising to 140 at the very last moment.

Matching his scientific zeal, Vitali lived his life as an incredibly energetic, passionate person. He never hesitated to join a heated discussion, to voice his opinion, to fight against ignorance, bureaucracy, and injustice. He loved to meet new people and discover new places. He traveled to about twenty countries: all of North America, India, Japan, Mexico. He crossed all of Europe from Minsk to Madrid by car more than once.

Throughout his three years of fighting colon cancer, he strived to maintain an absolutely normal, productive life. In his last months he worked actively preparing the 5th PSST Conference in Barcelona. His latest brainchild was a PSST hymn to the music of a John Lennon song. He never finished the lyrics.

Vitali Parkhutik died on 20 February 2006, three weeks before his latest PSST meeting. He leaves a wife, daughter and son. He will be missed and remembered in many ways, especially at our future conferences.