GWR Scientific Team

The GWR - Greywater treatment and reuse project team is composed of seven researchers with PhD degrees, belonging to the three universities that make up the initiative (Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Universidad Andrés Bello and Universidad del Bío-Bío), with Usach predominating in its academic links.
It is a team with members with extensive experience and recognition in their field of specialization (according to the different R&D requirements of this project).

Esteban Quijada

PhD. in Chemical Engineering from the Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands.
Professor of Chemical Engineering and Bioprocesses at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Santiago de Chile (Usach).
Head of the Separation Process Integration Laboratory - SPI, specialized in design and implementation of green solvents in hydrometallurgy and other separation processes.
He has carried out dozens of research projects, especially in the area of hydrometallurgy and in the development of new techniques for the capture of contaminants, highlighting concepts of Green Chemistry.
In addition to being the author of numerous scientific publications, he has been a speaker at international conferences and president of the Sixth Iberoamerican Meeting of Ionic Liquids, IMIL 2021.

Ricardo Abejón Elías

PhD. in Chemistry and Process Engineering from the University of Cantabria, Santander, Spain.
Academic assistant in Design, Modeling, Simulation and Optimization of Sustainable Processes, Faculty of Engineering at Usach.
He has conducted numerous postdoctoral research for the universities of Cantabria, Spain; Hiroshima, Japan, and the Institut Europeén des Membranes, Montpellier, France.
His international academic career also includes experience as a visiting researcher at the University of the Republic, Montevideo, Uruguay, and at the Solvay Innovation and Development Center, Brussels, Belgium.
Within the GWR team, he is responsible for R&D in Life Cycle Assessment and Environmental Impact (LCA&EI).

Alejandra Torres Mediano

PhD in Food Science and Technology, Universidad de Santiago de Chile.
She is currently an Associate Professor at the Department of Food Science and Technology, Faculty of Technology, Usach.
Her main lines of research are functionalized polymers, active packaging, nanotechnology and mass transfer processes.
Within the GWR team, she is responsible for R&D in Membrane Materials and Processes (MatPro).

Roxana Arce Escobar

PhD in Chemistry from the Universidad de Santiago de Chile (Usach).
Academic of the Department of Chemical Sciences, Faculty of Exact Sciences, Universidad Andrés Bello. Previously she worked as a professor at Universidad San Sebastián and Usach.
Her preferred lines of research are electrochemistry, electrocatalysis and ionic liquids.
Within the GWR team, she is responsible for R&D in Electrochemical Greywater Treatment (Echem).

Camila Burgos Leiva

PhD in Technology of Architecture, Building and Urbanism, Universidad Politécnica de Cataluña, Spain.
Head of the Construction Technology Career, Faculty of Technology, Universidad de Santiago de Chile.
She worked as a Research Architect at the Catalan Institute of Wood Incafust, between 2009 and 2013.
She has dedicated the last few years to the construction of the technological house (Casa Tecno), which will be modified for the testing of home graywater treatment systems, so her contribution to the GWR project is essential.

Claudia Muñoz Sanguinetti

PhD in Architecture and Urbanism, Universidad del Bío-Bío, Chile.
Academic of the Department of Construction Sciences, Faculty of Architecture, Construction and Design (Farcodi), Universidad del Bío-Bío (UBB).
Associate Researcher at the Center for Research in Construction Technologies CITEC-UBB and editor of the journal Hábitat Sustentable of Farcodi.
She has developed numerous research projects in sustainable construction and energy efficiency.
Within the GWR team, she is responsible for R&D in Domestic Greywater Treatment Systems (HSys).

Julio Romero Figueroa

PhD in Process Engineering, University of Montpellier, France.
Until August 2022 he served as Academic Vice Rector of the University of Santiago de Chile (Usach) and previously held the position of Vice Rector of Research, Development and Innovation at the same university.
He has published nearly a hundred publications in international journals, being recognized as an expert in membrane technologies, supercritical fluids and ionic liquids, with more than 2800 citations. In this field, he leads the research of the Membrane Separation Processes Laboratory at Usach.