Speakers
In this edition we will count with the presence of high-level scientists. They will be 4 days in which to share ideas, reflections, intentions, desires, related to the sustainable development, biorefinery, circular economy, that is, with a better future!
Featured Speakers
Sara Pinzi is currently, since July 2022, Vice Chancellor for Equality, Inclusion and Social Engagement at the University of Cordoba.
Since December 2017, she is Associate Professor at the Department of Physical Chemistry and Applied Thermodynamics, in the area of Thermal Machines and Engines at the University of Cordoba (UCO).
Graduated in Scienze e Tecnologie Agrarie (Qualification: 110/110 cum laude) from the University of Florence (Italy) in 2003, approved by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science in 2008, for the degree of Agronomist Engineer. He holds a Master’s degree in Environmental Management and Auditing from the University of Cadiz (2007). In June 2011, she obtained the title of Doctor with European mention in Engineering and Technology from the UCO (qualification: outstanding cum laude) with the thesis entitled «Biofuels for diesel engines from various vegetable fats». Extraordinary award for doctoral thesis of the UCO, in the academic year 2011-2012.
She has made stays at Technical University of Ostrava, in 2012, at the University of Salerno (Italy), at the University of Birmingham (UK) in 2010, for 4 months in the Future Power Systems (FPS) group and another 3 months in 2021, and in 2019, for 3 months, at the CRB (National Center for Biomass Research) of the University of Perugia (Italy).
Inaugural Conference: Gender Equality in Science for a Sustainable Energy Transition
Orlando J. Rojas is a professor and Canada Excellence Research Chair at the University of British Columbia, with joint appointments with the Departments of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Wood Science and Chemistry. He is adjunct professor in the Departments of Bioproducts and Biosystems of Aalto University and Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering of North Carolina State University. Dr Rojas is the recipient of the 2018 Anselme Payen Award and is elected Fellow of the American Chemical Society and the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters. Dr Rojas is Associated Editor of ACS journal Biomacromolecules and he is the scientific director of UBC’s Bioproducts Institute and research PI of the Finnish Materials Bioeconomy Flagship (FinnCERES), making part of the Boreal Alliance initiative. Prof. Rojas has coauthored more than 900 articles in JCR journals, as well as leaded several research transnational projects
Talk: Cellulose gelation and dissolution in bioproduct development
Carlos Martín Medina is Professor of Biomass and Bioresources Utilization at Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences (INN), and Visiting Professor at Umeå University, Sweden. His general research interests are focused on lignocellulose biorefineries, biomass pretreatment, and cellulosic ethanol. He has a MSc degree from the Leningrad Forest Technical Academy (USSR), and a PhD degree from the University of Matanzas (Cuba) in a sandwich model with Lund University (Sweden). After postdoctoral stays at Risø DTU National Laboratory (Denmark) and Karlstad University (Sweden), he started his independent career in 2004 at the University of Matanzas. He also worked for three years at Thünen Institute of Wood Research (Germany). Since 2013 he is working at Umeå University, and in 2021 he started at Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences. He is an Alexander von Humboldt Foundation fellow.
Talk: Spent substrate from mushroom cultivation – potential of an unexplored feedstock for biorefinery exploitation
Carla Vilela (ORCID: 0000-0002-9212-2704) is a principal researcher at CICECO – Aveiro Institute of Materials (University of Aveiro, Portugal) where she coordinates the research line on Sustainability. She is a member of the CICECO research group on Biorefineries, Biobased Materials and Recycling, and carries out research in the field of Cellulose and Renewable Materials as sustainable alternatives to meet the demands of different domains of application (e.g., water remediation, fuel cells, food packaging). CVilela is an Associate Editor of Chemistry Africa (Springer Nature) and Polysaccharides (MDPI), and Topic Advisory Panel Member of Nanomaterials (MDPI) and is a member of the European Polysaccharide Network of Excellence (EPNOE) and the Portuguese Materials Society (SPM). She was featured in the list of the World’s Top 2% Scientists by the Stanford University as one of the most cited scientists in 2020 and 2021.
Talk: Cellulose-based materials as advanced tools for water remediation
Kristin Syverud research manager at RISE PFI and part time professor at NTNU. Her main interests are within production, characterization, chemical modification, and applications of cellulose and nanocelluloses. She has initiated and managed several national and international projects within the area of nanocelluloses and related cellulose-based materials.
Talk: Application of nanocellulose dispersions in industrial fluids, foodstuffs, and the medical field
