Jorge González-Rodríguez

Assistant Professor

I hold a degree in Chemical Engineering from the Universidade de Santiago de Compostela (USC), where I was awarded the End of Degree Prize. Following that, I completed a Master’s in Chemical Engineering and Bioprocesses at the same institution. My research has primarily focused on wastewater treatment, specifically the removal of micropollutants from wastewaters through advanced photocatalytic methods. Techniques such as the photo-Fenton process and semiconductor-based photocatalysis offer promising solutions for the degradation of persistent contaminants in water, with high reaction rates and low selectivity. This research addresses key environmental challenges by developing more efficient and sustainable methods for wastewater treatment.
I have made my PhD at the BioGroup under the supervision of María Teresa Moreira and Gumersindo Feijoo and under the FPU fellowship, funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. My work was linked to the HP-NANOBIO, and SPOTLIGHT projects, focused on the use of magnetite-functionalized nanoparticles as catalysts for wastewater treatment purposes. As part of my doctoral work, I also designed a pilot plant to validate the lab-scale experiments. Both this fellowship and another one from Galician government enabled me to conduct two research stays of three months each one at RWTH Aachen University and the University of Porto, where I collaborated with internationally recognized research groups. These experiences significantly broadened my expertise and exposed me to different approaches and innovations in water treatment technologies.
Currently, I am a Substitute Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Universidade de Santiago de Compostela. In this role, I integrate my research activities with teaching responsibilities, guiding the next generation of chemical engineers.