Zahara Martínez de Pedro

I am full-time professor (start date: September 2023) in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Autonoma University of Madrid (Spain). I graduated in Chemistry (2002) and finished my PhD degree (2007) with the distinction Cum Laude (Chemical Engineering and Food Science and Technology Program, UAM). The topic of my PhD thesis was the treatment of gaseous organochlorinated pollutants by catalytic hydrodechlorination. I did a pre-doctoral stay in St. Andrews University (2006, Scotland) working on characterization of several hydrodechlorination catalysts by TEM microscopy under the supervision of Prof. Richard T. Baker. During a postdoctoral research stay at Heriot Wat University (2008, Scotland), under the supervision of Prof. Mark A. Keane, I explored the application of hydrogenation reactions to obtain anilines from nitroarenes. My teaching and researching activities have always been linked to the field of Chemical and Environmental Engineering (Environmental Technologies and Water Resources), focused on the removal of priority and emerging pollutants as well as other non-biodegradable compounds (ionics liquids, cyanotoxins, several organohalogenated compounds) from gas, water and wastewater streams. In this field, I have explored the application of several advanced treatment technologies such as adsorption, catalytic hydrotreatment or advanced oxidation processes with particular emphasis on the development of highly efficient catalytic systems and the kinetic modelling for the reactor design. In 2019, I started a new line of research dealing with the removal of microplastics from water.
In the last 10 years I supervised 2 doctoral theses (all of them with international research papers published in journals indexed in JCR) and 4 more that are currently in progress, 9 Master Theses in Chemical Engineering, more than 25 Final Degree Projects (B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering and B.Sc in Environmental Sciences) and 7 internships in companies.
I hold a wide scientific expertise, as denoted by being author of more than 60 JCR publications (h-index 29 and > 2400 citations), most of them in the first quartile (>85%) of their category, 1 journal cover, 2 book chapters and more than 120 contributions to national and international congress. Moreover, I participated in 17 competitive research projects (1 Ibero-American, 7 National, 9 Regional). I am Principal Investigator of two competitive research proyect (National): MICROWATER (Programa Estatal de Investigación, Desarrollo e Innovación Orientada a los Retos de la Sociedad, PID2019-105079RB-I00) and REGENEDAR (Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación. Plan Nacional de I+D+I. Proyectos de Transición Ecológica y Digital 2021, TED2021-131380B-C21). During my research career, I have worked with different prestigious international research groups (USA, UK, Germany, Portugal, Argentina, Mexico, Chile and Perú) which have resulted in several publications in common, and I have participated in the organization of international scientific conferences where I have also been member of their scientific committees.
Regarding technology transfer, I am funding member of the start-up recognized as a Knowledge-Based Company, CAPTOPLASTIC S.L. which is focused on the development of a technology to remove microplastics from the aqueous media as well as to identify and quantify them. I am also the IP of 4 contracts (art.83 LOU) with the abovementioned spin-off and I am author of 9 patents (7 of them are already being exploited by CAPTOPLASTIC S.L.).
It is noteworthy to mention that I worked as project evaluator of national and regional public calls:
- Convocatoria de 2012 de Proyectos de Excelencia de la Consejería de Economía, Innovación, Ciencia y Empleo de la Junta de AndalucíaJ Extremadura.
- Ayudas atracción y retorno de talento investigador I+D+i 2018
- Ayudas para Personal Técnico de Apoyo 2018
- Programa Estatal Proyectos de I+D+i Retos Investigación Tipo B 2018
- U Cantabria. Ayudas para contratos posdoctorales Augusto González de Linares 20
- Ayudas para la formación de doctores en empresas "Doctorados Industriales" 2019
- Universidad del País Vasco Grupos de Investigación 2020 Proyecto
- G Cantabria Transferencia de conocimiento en inv. en la C. A de Cantabria 2021
- U País Vasco. Contratos predoctorales PIF Modalidad I y II 21 (MINECO)
- Programa Estatal Proyectos de I+D+i Retos Investigación JIN 2020 (MINECO)
- Miembro de la Comisión Técnica del área de CTM-TMA en la convocatoria 2020 de Retos de Investigación y Generación del Conocimiento (MINECO)
I acted as regular reviewer for a huge of international journals.
I am member of a Research Network REMTAVARES and EnviroPlaNet Thematic Network (RED2018-102345-T).
My teaching and research assessments have been positively recognized with three five-year teaching periods (2004-2008, 2009-2013, and 2014-2018) and two six-year research periods (2006-2011 and 2012-2017). I have contributed significantly to teaching at the Autonomous University of Madrid, accumulating over 3500 hours, primarily as a professor of various subjects related to environmental technology and reactor design.