Sigifredo Castro Diaz

Sigifredo Castro Diaz is a Teaching Associate Professor at the Department of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering, Kansas State University. His contact information includes the email address scastro@k-state.edu and office in Durland Hall (2005). Castro specializes in recovering valuable products from industrial waste streams through sustainable chemical processes.

• Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, Kansas State University (2003)
• M.S., Chemical Engineering, Kansas State University (2001)
• B.S., Chemical Engineering, Universidad Nacional de Colombia (1998)

Research interests focus on transforming industrial waste into valuable products like biogas, biodiesel, and magnesium phosphate fertilizers using chemical engineering principles. Key technologies include fluidized bed reactors and phosphate recovery systems from wastewater streams.

Castro's work has led to commercialized technologies through Kansas Environmental Management Associates (KEMA), including the patented PHRED® (phosphorus reduction) system. His research has been supported by grants from the Kansas Corn Commission, Kansas Soybean Commission, USDA, and NSF.

Scientific recognition includes:

• Top 150 Scientists in Kansas (2011)
• Sigma Xi Outstanding Junior Scientist Award (2007)
• Alliance for Hispanic Affairs Outstanding Leadership Award (2005)

Castro actively mentors chemical engineering students and serves as co-adviser for senior-level engineering design projects, though his current appointment focuses on teaching rather than funding graduate research assistants.