SHORT SUMMARY OF SCIENTIFIC LIFE
Eric Valdés (Barcelona, 1996) holds a bachelor's degree in Biotechnology (University of Barcelona, 2018) and a MSc in Biological and Environmental Engineering (Autonomus University of Barcelona, 2021). He has a strong biotechnological background as he did his bachelor degree’s final project at the Center for Research in Agricultural Genomics in a work focused on expression patterns of SlSGT genes in tomato. He also has international experience as a graduate researcher in Lund University (Sweden) where he worked in the characterization of an enzyme with environmental applications (FDCA production from the sugar HMF).
He did his master degree’s thesis in the gases group of GENOCOV, where he developed a kinetic model for the bioproduction of sulfur in presence of acetate in a continuous stirred tank reactor. This work is embedded within the ENSURE project, which aimed to develop and optimize a technology for the treatment of SOx and NOx emissions and sulfur recovery trough a two- stage biological process (sulfate reduction followed by partial oxidation of sulfide).
In 2021 he also worked on the kinetic characterization of heterotrophic methanogenic biomass as a temporary staff member of CETAQUA in the NIMBUS project, which has the ultimate goal of using upgraded biogas from wastewater sludge to feed a TMB (Barcelona’s public transport network) bus.
He is currently a PhD student in Environmental Science and Technology and his research aims to develop and implement mathematical models for the optimization of bioprocesses. The end goal is developing a decision support tool to assess the different configurations of the SONOVA model for SO2 capture and recovery.
Eric’s current research interests are:
• Valorisation of SO2 from flue gases
• Mathematical modelling and optimization of bioprocesses
• Sulfate reduction in a UASB with and without methane production using glycerol as an external source of C
• Partial oxidation of sulfide and sulfur recovery in a microaerated CSTR
• Autotrophic denitrification with complete oxidation of sulfide in a SRT-controlled CSTR
PUBLICATIONS
Sayed, M., Gaber, Y., Valdés Martín, E., Sang- Hyun, P., Hatti-Kaul, R. Oxidation of 5-hydroxymethilfurfural with a novel aryl alcohol oxidase from Mycobacterium sp. MS1601. Microbial Biotechnology. Volume 15, Issue 8, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1111/1751-7915.14052
Valdés, E., Gabriel, D., González, D., Munz, G., Polizzi, C. Integrating thermodynamics and mathematical modelling to investigate the stoichiometry and kinetics of sulphide oxidation-nitrate reduction with a special focus on partial autotrophic denitrification. Chemosphere. Volume 339, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.139605