Dr Almudena Celaya Sanfiz
Almudena has over 7 years experience in heterogeneous catalysis. She obtained her M.Sc. in Chemical Engineering, specializing in Environmental Engineering from the University of Oviedo (Spain). Recipient of a Socatres/Erasmus fellowship, she completed her Master thesis at the Technical University of Kaiserslautern (Germany). She then joined Forschungzentrum Karlsruhe GmbH (Germany) as Research Associate. Her research in the field of energy production from biomass was mainly related to gas cleaning by means of nickel-based catalysts within integrated, high-temperature ceramic filters. At the Fritz-Haber Institute of the Max-Planck Society (Berlin, Germany), she obtained her Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry, collaborating with academic and industrial partners, including a short placement at the University of Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia). Her doctorate focussed on synthesis, characterization and catalytic testing of metal oxide catalysts in the selective oxidation of propane. Whilst in her Post-doc she pursued ongoing research into heterogeneous catalysis through joint efforts between the Fritz-Haber Institute and corporate partners within the catalyst manufacturing industry, seeking to scale-up the novel catalytic process developed during her PhD. In addition, she has authored and submitted several papers for scientific publications and patents.
Almudena recently joined BNC as Scientific Consultant. Her work focusses on the development and optimisation of a testing regime and the subsequent testing of the innovatively prepared nanocatalysts for the synthesis of fine chemicals.
Dr Irene Chomiak
Irene completed her undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering in Venezuela. In pursuit of her interest in the field of Corrosion Science, she moved to the U.S.A. where she obtained her Master’s and Ph.D. Degrees in Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Her Master’s research focused on the electrochemical behaviour of alloys and their thermally grown nitrides for use as bipolar plates in PEM Fuel Cells. To expand her understanding of electrochemistry and green energy beyond metallic corrosion, her Ph.D. research focused on electrochemical and photoelectrochemical studies of semiconducting oxides such as KTaO3, ZnO, and TiO2 in the production of hydrogen via electrolysis of water. This research was undertaken at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, U.S.A. Her research is supported by the publication of several journal articles, as well as recognition in poster and ceramographic competitions.
After finishing her Ph.D. Irene moved to England and joined Bio Nano Consulting in April 2010.
Dr Ainara Garcia Gallastegui
Ainara studied for an MSc in Chemical Engineering at the University of Basque Country (Spain) until 2003. She then gained two years of industrial experience as a research assistant at Inasmet. During this period, her research focussed on the synthesis and purification of carbon nanotubes. Beyond her technical background, the more client oriented research projects led her to study an MSc in Innovation and Technology Management at the University of Deusto. After this, she completed her PhD in Chemistry, which was a direct collaboration between the University and Tecnalia; here she applied the fundamentals of the chemistry of carbon nanomaterials as technological solution. She then moved to the University of Trieste in Italy as part of the group of Excellence for Nanostructured Materials (CENMAT), where her research was focussed on the labelling of nanomaterials for uptake, cytotoxicity and cell activation assessment, and the conjugation of fullerenes and carbon nanotubes with dendrimers for the immobilization of antibiotics. This resulted in a short post-doc at the Department of Biomaterials and Nanotechnology in the Health Unit of Tecnalia, here her research was applied to European and National research projects. She has authored and co-authored a number of scientific publications, and presented at international conferences.
Currently, she is working at the Chemistry Department, Imperial College London researching carbon nanotube frameworks with controlled structures for catalysts supports.
Dr Maurice Mourad
Maurice is a physical chemist with research experience on various experimental systems ranging from bio membranes and clay to colloidal (liquid) crystals and nanomaterials. Prior to joining BNC he worked at Utrecht University, the Netherlands. He obtained a PhD from Utrecht University for research on colloidal systems of anisometric particles using various microscopic and scattering techniques. Furthermore, he holds a MSc from Utrecht University that included a minor at Lund University, Sweden. His current research interests are: morphology and crystal phases of minerals, neutron and X-ray scattering, clay-solvent interactions, colloidal interactions, electrospinning and catalysis.