Our Early Stage Researchers

Adriana Rioja Cabanillas

ESR 1 – Investigation and development of electrocatalysts and electrochemical cells for the production of hydrogen from wastewater

Adriana Rioja Cabanillas obtained her bachelor in the field of Energy Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Madrid, Spain with an exchange semester at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway. She received her Master’s Degree in Sustainable Energy Technology from Delft University of Technology, Netherlands. During her Master, she specialized in Energy Storage and Electrochemistry and did her master thesis in the topic of Electrocatalytic reduction of CO2 in Deep Eutectic Solvents. She also has industrial experience, as a Researcher of salinity gradient batteries at the innovative Startup AquaBattery and as a Battery Engineer at EnspireME (joint venture between Eneco and Mitsubishi Corporation). Adriana is passionate about sustainability and her research interests within REWATERGY project are energy recovery from wastewater and manufacturing routes for catalytic materials.

Contact: Adriana.Rioja@rewatergy.eu

Marina Avena Maia

ESR 2 – Large-scale production of materials for the production of hydrogen from wastewater

Marina Avena Maia obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in Chemical Engineering from the Federal University of Santa Maria (Brazil) with a one-year placement at the University of Strathclyde (UK). Marina is passionate about the academic field, in which she can incorporate her experience from working in Brazil’s top companies, such as Braskem – the world’s 6th larger manufacturer of plastic resins – and WEG – one of the largest electrical equipment manufacturers in the world. She obtained her Master’s Degree in Chemical Engineering from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil).  During her master’s, Marina studied the removal of anionic species from aqueous solutions and industrial wastewaters through the adsorption process. Currently, Marina holds a Marie Curie Ph.D. scholarship and her research topic in the REWATERGY Programme is the development of materials for urea and ammonia removal from wastewaters.”

Contact: Marina.Maia@rewatergy.eu

Rubén Asiaín Mira

ESR 3 – Development of an ammonia decomposition prototype for hydrogen production from waste water

Rubén Asiaín Mira studied Chemical Engineering and Energy Engineering at Rey Juan Carlos University. He obtained his bachelor’s degrees working on the development of a kinetic model for the elimination of emerging micropollutants by ultraviolet photolysis of free chlorine and the design of a reactor for purification of Indian water based on this process. After obtaining his bachelor’s degrees, Rubén started working as an Energy Consultant in Minsait, developing new products for Health, Security and Environment for the Oil & Gas Industry. During this period, he gained transversal competences such as communication skills, team coordination, and cost control and project management. His research interest within the REWATERGY project is the development of a new sustainable system to remove ammonia and urea from wastewater, obtaining hydrogen for energy production.

Contact: Ruben.Asiain@rewatergy.eu

Salem Alkharabsheh

ESR 4 – Development of novel mechanisms based on photo and electrodisinfection and decontamination of wastewater and drinking water

Salem Alkharabsheh holds a degree in chemical pharmaceutical Engineering from the German Jordanian University (Jordan). His graduation project focused on fabricating polymeric nano-porous membranes based on magnetized iron particles. During this period he completed a six-month study at Beuth University of Applied Sciences (Berlin). Then an additional internship was fulfilled in developing HPLC columns for analyte mix separation at Merck KGaA Company in Frankfurt. He holds a master’s degree in Hydrology and Water Quality, specializing in Desalination and Water Treatment at The Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. His Master’s project focused on the fabrication, modification, and characterization of novel thin film composite (TFC) membranes using poly-ionic liquids as an active layer. His research within REWATERGY project focuses on Development of novel mechanisms based on photo and electro disinfection and decontamination of wastewater and drinking water.

Contact: Salem.Alkharabsheh@rewatergy.eu

Conor Reddick

ESR 5 – UV LED prototype for the photoelectrocatalytic generation of oxidising species for water treatment

Conor Reddick studied chemical engineering at Queen’s University, Belfast, obtaining First Class Honours (Meng). During his time as an undergraduate, Conor worked as an Automation Engineering with Eli Lilly, a blue chip pharmaceutical manufacturer based in Kinsale, Ireland. For his master’s project, Conor’s research focused on heterogeneous catalysis, specifically looking at the use of copper loaded zeolites to remove methane from automotive exhaust streams. Conor has also worked with MOF Technologies, a spin-off company from Queen’s University, Belfast, working on the development and scale up of metal organic frameworks such as ZIF-8 and Cu-BTC. Then he joined a government innovation organisation based in Northern Ireland. The Innovation Lab uses design and innovation methodologies to solve some of the most pressing societal problems facing Northern Ireland, such as childhood obesity, increasing demand for healthcare services, and the regeneration of town centres across the region. His research interest within the REWATERGY project is on the development of a UV LED prototype for the photoelectrocatalytic generation of oxidising species for water treatment.

Contact: Conor.Reddick@rewatergy.eu

Shabila Perveen

ESR 6 – Evaluation of the potential risks of antibiotic resistant bacteria and genes (ARBs & ARGs), and microplastics (MPs); and monitoring of their removal in water treatment processes

Shabila Perveen received an MS degree in Environmental Science from the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, NUST (Pakistan). At NUST, she conducted her MS thesis on “Detection of Quorum Quenching Enzymes Producing Genes in Membrane Bioreactor for Membrane Biofouling Control”. She completed an Erasmus Mundus Semester Exchange Program (EMMASIA, 2012) in Environmental Protection/ Ecology at Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu Romania and a 6 months internship with Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency Islamabad. Her work and interdisciplinary research experience has given her diverse exposure to qualitative and quantitative research studies. Under REWATERGY program, her research will focus on the risk assessment and analytical methods development for the quantification of Antibiotic Resistance Bacteria/Genes and Microplastics in water samples. Furthermore, designing a monitoring strategy for ARBs/ ARGs and MPs removal efficiency analysis of wastewater treatment systems.

Contact: Shabila.Perveen@rewatergy.eu

Adithya Pai Uppinakudru

ESR 7 – UV-C LED emitters: Design and simulation challenges

Adithya Pai Uppinakudru has studied Mechanical engineering at K.S.Institute of Technology, Bangalore (India). His bachelor’s degree project titled “PID Controller on Boilers” was awarded the Best project of the year by Indian Institute of Science under 41st Student Project Programme under the Government of India and Government of Karnataka. During his Bachelor’s he along with his team, “Prodigy Racers” have built Go-karts and raced at national level. He did his Master’s degree in Renewable Energy at Cranfield University, United Kingdoms and worked on thesis titled “Residual stress effects on structural integrity of renewable energy marine structures”. In addition, he has previously worked with Technologics Global Pvt. Ltd on industrial automation projects during his early study years. His research interest in the REWATERGY project is the design of UV-C LED emitters for wastewater treatment.

Contact: Adithya.Uppinakudru@rewatergy.eu

Angela Raffaella Pia Pizzichetti

ESR 8 – Domestic UV-C LED / membrane water treatment

Raffaella obtained her Bachelor Degree in Chemical Engineering from Politecnico di Torino, Italy. Later she graduated from both Politecnico di Torino in Chemical and Sustainable Processes Engineering and from KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm in Chemical Engineering as part of a Double Degree Master Programme. During her studies, she focused on different aspects of existing technologies and investigated new methods for their implementation. She had a leadership role as “building engineer” in Engineers without Border for developing a new sustainable method for plastic recycling using Solar Thermal Power. On her Master Thesis, she worked on Renewable Energy, in particular on Photovoltaics and what concerns the Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells technology. Within the REWATERGY Project, she will be designing a prototype system of a household device which incorporates a membrane filtration system with a UV-C LED emitter to remove Microplastics (MPs) and other Emerging Contaminant (ECs) and to inactivate different target microorganisms, such as Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria and Genes (ARBs & ARGs), viruses, and protozoa.

Contact: Raffaella.Pizzichetti@rewatergy.eu

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Acknowledgements

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodoska-Curie Grant Agreement No 812574 – H2020-MSCA-ITN-2018