MIGUEL MAURICIO IGLESIAS

Miguel Mauricio Iglesias is a Full Professor at the Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Santiago de Compostela (USC), affiliated with the Higher Technical School of Engineering and the Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Environmental Technologies (CRETUS). He leads the BIOGROUP Environmental Biotechnology research group. His academic journey includes a BSc in Chemical Engineering (USC, 2006), a PhD in Food Technology (University of Montpellier, 2009), and a postdoctoral fellowship at the Technical University of Denmark (2010–2014) before joining USC as a Marie Curie IEF fellow.

Research focuses on modeling-driven solutions for chemical and bioprocess engineering challenges, particularly waste-to-chemical conversion. Key areas include metabolic modeling for VFA (volatile fatty acid) production from organic waste, LCA-based efficiency assessments in wastewater treatment, and biorefinery design. His ENERWATER methodology became the European standard (CEN/TR 17614:2021) for energy efficiency in wastewater plants. He develops hybrid models for real-time process monitoring, such as in lignocellulosic ethanol fermentation, and explores microbial community dynamics in anaerobic systems.

Publications emphasize optimizing VFA production from diverse waste streams (fish canning, dairy, agricultural residues), bioplastics lifecycle analysis, and energy benchmarking frameworks. His work bridges computational tools with experimental validation to advance circular bioeconomy goals, including protein fermentation valorization and biofilm-based nitrogen removal systems.

Awards include the establishment of the ENERWATER European standard. His lab integrates metabolic models, stochastic optimization, and data analytics to address climate change impacts on the dairy sector and biorefinery scalability. Collaborations focus on active packaging design and industrial internship impacts on chemical engineering education.