This recognition is offered to the best doctoral thesis or research work in the field of engineering sciences.
The Institut d’Estudis Catalans (IEC) has awarded the Rafael Campalans Prize for Engineering Sciences to Natàlia Blázquez Pallí, research technician in the R&D&I department and risk analyst at LITOCLEAN, for the work carried out during her doctoral thesis entitled “Evaluation of the viability of bioremediation strategies in aquifers contaminated with chlorinated solvents”. This recognition is offered to the best doctoral thesis or research work in the field of engineering sciences.
The IEC is an academic, scientific and cultural corporation that covers the Catalan-speaking territory and aims to promote high scientific research, mainly of all elements of Catalan culture. The 2021 award is the 15th edition of this prize instituted in 1982 and recognizes the work of individuals and institutions that contribute to the same purpose.
Natàlia Blázquez Pallí’s doctoral thesis was carried out within the framework of the Industrial Doctorate Plan of the Generalitat de Catalunya between LITOCLEAN and the BioremUAB research group of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, with the collaboration of the MAiMA group of the Universitat de Barcelona, and obtained the qualification of outstanding cum laude.
The award winner emphasizes that the prize is “a recognition of the fantastic work done and highlights the importance of knowledge transfer and research collaborations between companies and universities”. She also remarks that “the results obtained demonstrate the in situ efficiency of well-designed bioremediation strategies”, a soil and groundwater decontamination technology that LITOCLEAN is strongly committed to and has already implemented in several decontamination projects.
After receiving the award, Blázquez Pallí will write a review text on the content of his research that will be published in one of the publications of the IEC’s Science and Technology Section.
