The project “La Universidad en tu Barrio” was presented to the students of the Gerardo Diego School in Santander, on October 1st, 2018.  Guillermo Díaz and Gema Pérez attended the event on behalf of the Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering Department of the University of Cantabria. During the presentation the project was explained to the students and their parents. Guillermo and Gema talked about their workshop on wastewater treatment. During the workshop Guillermo , Gema and Lucía Gómez will teach the students how to determine the presence of cupper in water and how copper, a dangerous heavy metal,  can be removed by applying the ion exchange technology.

Clara Casado, Sandra Sánchez, Guillermo Díaz, Marta Romay and Aitor Marcos, researchers of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, participated in the Micro-theatre event that took place in the Casyc theatre

The title of the show was “Carbon Footprint”.

Last September 28th, 2018, researchers of the Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering Department participated in the event “European Researchers´ Nigh” in the Porticada Square in Santander. The event was organized by the Scientific Culture and Innovation Unit of the UC, and 23 researchers of our department were collaborating with science shows and activities aimed at making chemical engineering science closer to the general public . The activity outreached the expectations and facilitate the general public to become aware of the relevance of R&D in daily life.

Paula Ribao Martínez defended her doctorate thesis “Design of TiO2-based materials for photocatalytic environmental applications”, developed in the Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering Department of the University of Cantabria with the supervision of Prof. Inmaculada Ortiz and Dr. María José Rivero. The event took place on September 28th, 2018. The evaluation committee was formed by Prof. Dr. Raquel Ibañez (University of Cantabria); Dr. Jose Antonio Casas (Autonomous University of Madrid) and Dr. Jose Alcides (Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Portugal).

On September 28th, 2018, we received the visit of a delegation of the company Dynasol. During the visit to the facilities of the Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering Department, our research groups presented their scientific background in topics related to polymer materials and process engineering, materials characterization techniques and present applications of new polymer and composite materials in the areas of energy and medical devices, water treatment, CO2 capture and transformation, etc.

Chris Hardiman, Director of Technology of Dynasol group, together with Sergio Corona, and Antonio Rodríguez, senior researchers in the group and Juan Esteras, technical assistance manager, formed the Dynasol delegation. During the visit to them in order to look for future collaborations between both institutions.

Dr. Jason E. Bara, Associate Professor in the University of Alabama visited the Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering Department of the University of Cantabria, on September 27th, 2018. During his visit, Dr. Bara delivered the conference “Engineering ion-polymer interactions for chemical separations and functional materials design”. He also met several researchers of the Department to broaden the existing collaborations. The meeting finished with a visit to the facilities of the department.

Rafael Ortiz, researcher of HYLANTIC project, attended to the “Joint European Summer School on Fuel Cell, Electrolyser and Battery Technologies (JESS 2018)” from 9 to 21 of September 2018 in Athens, Greece. The summer school consisted on various topics and Rafael participated on “Low Temperature Fuel Cells and Electrolysers (PEFC, alkaline & PEM)” in the first week and “The Modelling Master Class” in the second week. JESS 2018 was organized by the University of Birmingham, the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), Forschungzentrum Jülich and Ulster University.

Faculty members of the Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering Department (CBE) are part of the project “Amenturate”, an initiative of the UC and the Cantabrian Association supporting the High Intellectual Capacities (ACAACI), aimed at the promotion of science among secondary school students.

The workshops supervised by CBE faculty members are:

• Nanomaterials and their application to energy and environmental applications. Supervisor: maria José Rivero.
• Blue energy: Gaining sustainable energy from the sea. Supervisor: Raquel Ibañez, Lucia Gómez
• How can a chemical engineer contribute to mitigate the climate change? Supervisor: Guillermo Diaz

More information: https://web.unican.es/noticias/Paginas/2018/septiembre_2018/La-vicerrectora-de-Estudiantes.aspx

Claudia Solá, PhD student of the Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering Department is currently developing a predoctoral research stay at the Institute of Biogeochemistry and Pollutants Dynamics, Department of Environmental Systems Science at ETH Zürich, under the supervision of Prof. Kristopher McNeill.  During the period September – December 2018, she is studying the reaction mechanisms occurring during the advanced oxidation of triclosan in aqueous matrixes.

On September 28th, 2018, a new edition of the European Researchers Night it will take place in Porticada Square (Santander). The Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering Department will participate with different experiences aimed to show their research activity to the general public. Moreover, some of the Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering Researchers will participate in the micro-scientific theatre session in the Casyc Theatre.

We are looking forward to see you there!!!