ALBERTE REGUEIRA LOPEZ

Alberte Regueira López is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Chemical Engineering, Higher Technical School of Engineering, University of Santiago de Compostela. He holds a Doctorate in Chemical Engineering from the same institution, completing his thesis on Mechanistic understanding of mixed-culture fermentations by metabolic modeling in 2020, supervised by Dr. Juan Manuel Lema Rodicio and Dr. Miguel Mauricio Iglesias. His research focuses on environmental biotechnology, metabolic engineering, and biorefinery design, with an emphasis on microbial fermentation systems for the production of valuable chemicals from waste streams.

Key research interests include metabolic modeling of mixed microbial cultures, optimization of biorefinery processes for organic waste valorization, and development of targeted production systems for volatile fatty acids (VFAs). He leads the BIOGROUP research team, investigating the synergistic interactions in microbial communities and applying systems biology approaches to improve bioconversion efficiency.

His recent work explores the use of Clostridium species for gas fermentation, hollow fiber membrane biofilm reactors, and the integration of metabolic models with stochastic optimization for biorefinery design. He has pioneered methods to steer microbial production of isobutyric/n-butyric acids and lactic acid through process parameters like pH and substrate composition, while also advancing in-situ product removal strategies for bioreactor systems.

Notable contributions include defining protein composition effects on microbial fermentation pathways, developing kinetic models for protein-to-VFA conversion, and applying superstructure optimization techniques for bioprocess design. His work bridges fundamental microbiology with applied engineering solutions for sustainable chemical production.