About us

Eulogio Castro holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from University of Granada, Spain, where he also worked as a teacher in undergraduate and graduate studies in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. Since the foundation of the University of Jaén (1993) he served as a teacher and researcher and is currently Full Professor of Chemical Engineering. He was also Invited Researcher at the École Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Toulouse, France, and Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Florida, USA.

Dr. Castro´s main research interests are focused on the conversion of biomass into biofuels and other added-value products and the tecno-economic and environmental issues related to the development of the biorefinery concept. He has coauthored some 80 peer-reviewed papers and several book chapters. Also he has been the main researcher in about 20 research projects funded by public institutions or private companies.

Eulogio Castro holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from University of Granada, Spain, where he also worked as a teacher in undergraduate and graduate studies in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. Since the foundation of the University of Jaén (1993) he served as a teacher and researcher and is currently Full Professor of Chemical Engineering. He was also Invited Researcher at the École Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Toulouse, France, and Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Florida, USA.

Dr. Castro´s main research interests are focused on the conversion of biomass into biofuels and other added-value products and the tecno-economic and environmental issues related to the development of the biorefinery concept. He has coauthored some 80 peer-reviewed papers and several book chapters. Also he has been the main researcher in about 20 research projects funded by public institutions or private companies.

Dr. Pedro Pérez-Higueras, (h-index 23): professor at the University of Jaen (Spain)
and he researches since more than 20 years in the field of photovoltaic energy.
In the last ten years, he has worked in High Concentrator Photovoltaic Technology
and his research interest covers the developing, characterization and modelling of
concentrator photovoltaic devices and optimal design of power plants. He has
collaborated in more than 30 R&D projects with different companies and institutions
and he has published more than 100 papers in the most prestigious peer-review journals
and congresses related to solar energy. Pedro is the co-editor of the book “High
Concentrator Photovoltaics: Fundamentals, Engineering and Power Plants”, 2015,
for Springer Publishing.

Inmaculada Romero is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Chemical,Environmental and Materials Engineering, University of Jaén, Spain. She obtainedher degree in Industrial Chemical Engineering in 1989 at the University of Granada,Spain. She holds a degree in Chemistry in 1994 and her Ph.D. in 2003 at theUniversityof Jaén.Dr. Romero researches mainly about bioethanol production and other added-value productsfrom lignocellulosic residues (rapeseed straw, olive tree biomass or brewer’s spent grain).She has coauthored 27 research publications that include SCI articles and book chapters.She has coordinated 2 research projects from national and regional programs and she hastaken part in more than 10 research projects and contracts with companies.

Dr. Florencia Almonacid, (h-index 19): PhD. in Electronic Engineering from the University of Jaén, Spain (2009). She is currently associate professor in the Department of Electronic and Automatic Engineering of the University of Jaén. Her research interest covers the application of the artificial neural networks in the field of photovoltaic technology and also the characterization and modelling of conventional and concentrator photovoltaic devices and systems. She has published over 70 papers in the most highly ranked peer-review journals and conference proceedings and also participated in more than 10 projects with funding exceeding 5M euros within the last 5 years.

Catalina Rus Casas, had obtained a research grant and she had began working in the
research and development group on photovoltaic solar energy, where she also worked
as a teacher in undergraduate and graduate studies in electronic engineering. She
has a doctorate in electronic engineering from the University of Jaén, where he won
the Extraordinary Doctorate Award.
She has coauthored some peer-reviewed papers, these works was widely quoted and several
book chapters. Also she has been the researcher in about 15 research projects funded
by public institutions or private companies.

Cristóbal Cara holds the Degree in Chemistry in 1998 and the Ph.D. Degree in 2007 from
the University of Jaén, Spain. Dr Cristóbal Cara is an Associate Professor in the area
of Chemical Engineering at the Department of Chemical, Environmental and Materials
Engineering of the University of Jaen. His main research expertise is biomass
fractionation by different pretreatment technologies, as well as configurations
for enzyme hydrolysis and sugars fermentation to ethanol. He has coauthored 33
SCI publications and taken part in more than 10 research projects and contracts with
companies. He is also co-author of more than 50 communications in international
scientific congress. He has supervised 1 PhD Thesis and numerous final degree projects.
He has conducted research visits for postdoctoral training at Biofuels Unit, Energy
Department, CIEMAT, Madrid, at the Institute of Chemical Technology, ITQ, Valencia,
at the Department of Chemical Engineering of the USC, Santiago de Compostela, Spain,
and at the Biotechnology Department, LNEG, Lisbon, Portugal.

Dr. Antonio David Pozo-Vázquez holds a Ph. D in Atmospheric Science (2000) from
University of Granada (Andalusia, Spain) and B.S. in Applied Physics from the same
University (1994). He is on the Faculty of the Department of Physics of the University
of Jaén since 1998, where he is responsible for courses on meteorology and renewable
energy resources and leads the Solar Radiation and Atmosphere Modeling research group.
Dr. Pozo-Vazquez is interested in solar radiation forecasting and the evaluation of
solar and wind energy resources, including the analysis of the spatial and temporal
balancing between solar and wind energy resources at different spatial and temporal
scales. He has led several research projects on different aspects of the solar resources
evaluation and forecasting and renewable energy integration strategies. He participates
in the IEA Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme (PVPS) Task 16 on Solar resource for
high penetration and large scale applications (http://www.iea-pvps.org/index.php?id=389).
He has authored over 70 referred publications and bout 150 conference papers and technical
reports.

Dr. Eduardo F. Fernández, (h-index: 19): PhD. in Physics from the University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain (2012), best PhD Thesis award from the Faculty of Physical Sciences. Eduardo has more than 10 years of experience in the field of PV and CPV working in several prestigious Institutes, Universities and private companies, such as Amonix/Guascor Inc. (USA/Spain), Fraunhofer ISE CalLab (Germany) and the ESI of the University of Exeter (UK). He was also awarded with several grants such as the JdC-Formación (2013) and JdC-Incorporación (2015); the most prestigious grants for young researchers in Spain. His research interests cover the development, characterization and modelling of PV and CPV technology. He has published over 50 papers (Q1 of JCR) in the most highly ranked peer-review journals and also participated in more than 10 projects with funding exceeding 5M euros within the last 5 years. Eduardo is the co-editor of the book “High Concentrator Photovoltaics: Fundamentals, Engineering and Power Plants”, 2015, for Springer Publishing.

Emilio Muñoz Cerón is a Ph.D Industrial Engineer from the University of Jaén since 2014.
He has been researcher of the University of Jaen since 2008 and nowadays he is an
Assistant Professor of the Project Engineering Division. He is also an External Professor
at the Universidad Internacional de Andalucia and Visiting Professor at the Universidad
Nacional de Ingeniería (Perú).

Dr. Muñoz-Cerón´s main research interests are focused on the economic issues related to
the photovoltaic engineering together with the design and technical management of PV
plants. Lately, his research lines are close to energy efficiency and energy audits fields.

He has written more than 35 publications in peer-reviewed journals, conferences and books.
Regarding the Management of R&D projects, he has participated in the writing and follow-up
of R&D proposals in several national and international calls. Lately, he has participated
in the writing of proposals for the Solar-ERA.Net calls (2015 and 2017) and H2020 calls
(LCE31, EE02 and LCE10).

Encarnación Ruiz holds the Degree in Chemistry in 1996 and the Ph.D. Degree in 2004
from the University of Jaén, Spain. Dr. Encarnación Ruiz is an Associate Professor in
the area of Environmental Technologies at the Department of Chemical, Environmental
and Materials Engineering of the University of Jaén. Her scientific activity has been
mainly developed in the valorization of residual biomass for the production of bioethanol
and other bio-products of interest. She has been involved in 5 consecutive national
research projects funded by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) since
2006, the last of them as lead researcher (Ref. ENE2014-60090-C2-2-R).
She has also participated in 4 international projects funded by the Spanish Agency for
International Cooperation (AECI). In addition, she has worked in 7 research contracts
with different companies and agencies. Her research activities have resulted in 34
peer-reviewed papers (all belonging to SCI journals, 21 indexed in the first quartile).
She is also co-author of more than 80 communications in international scientific congress.
She has supervised 4 PhD Thesis. She has conducted research visits for postdoctoral
training at Biofuels Unit, Energy Department, CIEMAT, Madrid, at the Institute of Chemical
Technology, ITQ, Valencia, at the Department of Chemical Engineering of the USC, Santiago
de Compostela, Spain, and at the Biotechnology Department, LNEG, Lisbon, Portugal. She is
an Associate Editor of the journal BioMed Research International.

Eulogio Castro holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from University of Granada, Spain, where he also worked as a teacher in undergraduate and graduate studies in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. Since the foundation of the University of Jaén (1993) he served as a teacher and researcher and is currently Full Professor of Chemical Engineering. He was also Invited Researcher at the École Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Toulouse, France, and Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Florida, USA.

Dr. Castro´s main research interests are focused on the conversion of biomass into biofuels and other added-value products and the tecno-economic and environmental issues related to the development of the biorefinery concept. He has coauthored some 80 peer-reviewed papers and several book chapters. Also he has been the main researcher in about 20 research projects funded by public institutions or private companies.

Dr. Florencia Almonacid, (h-index 19): PhD. in Electronic Engineering from the University of Jaén, Spain (2009). She is currently associate professor in the Department of Electronic and Automatic Engineering of the University of Jaén. Her research interest covers the application of the artificial neural networks in the field of photovoltaic technology and also the characterization and modelling of conventional and concentrator photovoltaic devices and systems. She has published over 70 papers in the most highly ranked peer-review journals and conference proceedings and also participated in more than 10 projects with funding exceeding 5M euros within the last 5 years.

Francisco José Muñoz Rodríguez holds a Ph.D. in Electronic Engineering from University
of Jaén, Spain. He is a tenured associate professor at the Department of Electronics and
Control Engineering of Universidad de Jaén.

Dr. Muñoz-Rodriguez´s main research interests are focused on photovoltaics: stand-alone
photovoltaic systems, distributed generation and photovoltaic self-consumption.

He has coauthored some peer-reviewed papers and book chapters. He has participated in
several research projects focused on photovoltaics funded by public institutions or
private companies.

Francisco Jurado holds a Ph.D. Industrial Engineering from UNED, Spain. Since the foundation of the University of Jaén (1993) he served as a teacher and researcher and is currently Full Professor of Electric Engineering He is author of numerous publications in power systems and renewable energy: more than 150 papers in journals included in the Journal Citation Report (JCR), about 100 papers in the proceedings of prestigious International Conferences and 6 books. He has been involved in research projects of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Education and European Commission.

Gabino Almonacid holds a Ph.D. in Telecommunication Engineering from University
Polytechnic of Madrid, Spain. He has been a teacher and researcher at the University of
Granada from 1978 to 1993 and at the University of Jaén since its foundation in 1993.
Currently he is Full Professor at the University of Jaén. He has also fulfilled several
management positions in both universities: Head of Polytechnic School, Head of the
Technology Transfer Office, Head of Department of Electronic & Automatic Engineering
and Head of the Centre of Advanced Studies & Research in Renewable Energy.
G. Almonacid is also a Member of the Board of Directors of the company ELAND Private
Equity, regular contributor of the Spanish evaluation agencies ANEP and ANECA, Counselor
of the “Instituto de Estudios Giennenses” and was a member of the International
Scientific Committee commissioned to start up the ISFOC Centre (http://www.isfoc.net).

Dr. Almonacid main interest research are focused on the Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Energy,
mainly in all the process related with the applications and PV systems technology and
Concentration Photovoltaic (CPV), but also in solar electricity generation and management.

He has co-authored up to 35 peer-reviewed papers, more than a hundred contributions
presented in international conferences and several book chapters. Also he has participated
as researcher or main researcher in about 40 research projects funded by public
institutions or private companies.

Gustavo Nofuentes Garrido (Jaén, 1967) received his Bachelor’s Degree in
Telecommunications Engineering from the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid
(Madrid, Spain) in 1993. Then, he completed the doctoral program in PV Solar
Energy at the Solar Energy Institute -Instituto de Energía Solar- in this University,
from which he received his Ph. D. in 2001. He has been an associate professor with tenure
at the University of Jaén (Electronics Engineering and Automation Department) since 2003.
In July 2016 he qualified as Full Professor.

Dr. Nofuentes main fields of research include PV system engineering, PV module outdoor
behavior modelling and economic assessment of PV.

He has co-authored twenty eight peer-reviewed papers and several book chapters
and has led or taken part in over twenty research projects funded by European, Japanese,
Spanish and autonomous Andalusian bodies. Dr. Nofuentes has also led or taken part in
fourteen research contracts funded by public institutions or private companies.

Inmaculada Romero is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Chemical,Environmental and Materials Engineering, University of Jaén, Spain. She obtainedher degree in Industrial Chemical Engineering in 1989 at the University of Granada,Spain. She holds a degree in Chemistry in 1994 and her Ph.D. in 2003 at theUniversityof Jaén.Dr. Romero researches mainly about bioethanol production and other added-value productsfrom lignocellulosic residues (rapeseed straw, olive tree biomass or brewer’s spent grain).She has coauthored 27 research publications that include SCI articles and book chapters.She has coordinated 2 research projects from national and regional programs and she hastaken part in more than 10 research projects and contracts with companies.

Dr. Juan de la Casa received his Bachelor’s Degree (Technical Industrial Engineer Specialized in Electricity) in 1991 and he completed a Master of Electronics Engineering from the University of Granada (Spain) in 2002. He holds a Ph.D. in Engineering from the University of Jaén (Spain) since 2008. He serves as a teacher and researcher at the University of Jaén since 1992 and currently he is a tenured associate professor at the Electronics and Automation Engineering Department since 2009. He is also an External Professor at the Universidad Internacional de Andalucia and Visiting Professor at the Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería (Perú) and at the Universidad Nacional del Nordeste (Argentina).

Dr. de la Casa main research interests are focused on Photovoltaic systems engineering, especially in the fields related to the technical solutions for the integration of photovoltaic technology within buildings and isolated micro grids.

He is co-author of more than twenty nine papers or book chapters (sixteen registered in ISI Science JCR peer-reviewed journals) and he has led or being involved in approximately fifty research projects or contracts funded by European, Spanish and autonomous Andalusian bodies, public institutions or private companies. Besides, he is also the leader of several South American projects focused on the knowledge and technical transfer of solutions for the integration of renewables energies.

Leocadio Hontoria holds a Ph.D. in Physics from University of Jaén, Spain. He is Associate
Professor at Department of Engineering Electronics at University of Jaén. He teaches in
undergraduate and graduate studies in Engineering, mainly Electronics and Photovoltaic
Engineering.
He is also a Researcher at the IDEA Group of the University of Jaén. His main research
interest is focussed on the study of solar radiation for photovoltaic applications.
He has published 20 peer-reviewed papers and 7 book chapters. He has also published
around 35 communications in several congresses of photovoltaics. He has participated
as a researcher in more than 20 research projects funded by public institutions or private
companies. In the University of Jaén he has been the Director of the Department of
Engineering Electronics more than eight years.

Dr. Pedro Pérez-Higueras, (h-index 23): professor at the University of Jaen (Spain)
and he researches since more than 20 years in the field of photovoltaic energy.
In the last ten years, he has worked in High Concentrator Photovoltaic Technology
and his research interest covers the developing, characterization and modelling of
concentrator photovoltaic devices and optimal design of power plants. He has
collaborated in more than 30 R&D projects with different companies and institutions
and he has published more than 100 papers in the most prestigious peer-review journals
and congresses related to solar energy. Pedro is the co-editor of the book “High
Concentrator Photovoltaics: Fundamentals, Engineering and Power Plants”, 2015,
for Springer Publishing.

Pedro J. Rey holds a Ph.D. in Biology from University of Granada, Spain, where he also
taught in undergraduate and graduate studies in Biology and Zoology. He was a postdoctoral
fellow at the University of Florida, USA. Since the foundation of the University of Jaén
(1993) he served as a teacher and researcher and is currently Full Professor of Ecology.
Dr. Rey´s main research interests are focused on Plant and Animal biodiversity, conservation
and restoration. He holds also a research line on renewable energy based on oil-seeds
usage and development for biofuels. He leaders the research team PAIDI RNM-354 of Junta
de Andalucía. He has advised or co-advised 10 Ph.D. Thesis and is presently co-advising
3 Ph.D. students.
He has coauthored over 90 peer-reviewed papers and several book chapters. Also he has
been the main researcher in about 10 research projects funded by regional, national and
European public institutions.

Dr. Julio Terrados holds a Ph.D. in Engineering from the University of Jaén (Spain) since 2005, and Master Degrees both in Aeronautical Engineering (Madrid Polytechnics University, 1989) and in Business Administration MBA (IDEOR, 1994). He teaches and researches at University of Jaén since 1994 and serves currently as Tenured Senior Lecturer at Projects Department and also as Rector´s Delegate for Strategic Planning and Quality. He is also an External Professor at the Universidad Internacional de Andalucia and Visiting Professor at Universidad de Cartagena (Colombia).

Dr. Terrados main research interests are focused on sustainable energy planning, renewable resources assessment and strategic planning. He has co-authored twenty-five peer-reviewed papers and twenty-one books and chapters. Also he has been main researcher or participant in about twenty research projects funded by public institutions or private companies.

Carlos Martínez-Bazan is Professor of Fluid Mechanics at the University of Jaén, Spain, where he has been the Vice Chancellor for Information Technologies from May 2011 to April 2015. He served as a member of the local Committee of the ETMM10 and is currently a member of the scientific committee of the ICMF’09 and the 11^th European Fluid Mechanics Conference. He is the chairman of the Mechanical, Naval and Aerospace Engineering Division within the Spanish National Agency for Research Evaluation. His areas of expertise include experimental and numerical studies on bubbly flows (bubble formation mechanisms, generation of bubbles in coflowing flows, turbulent break-up and dispersion of bubbles and bubble wake instabilities). He is also investigating on the wake stability of bluff bodies with the aim at designing efficient passive control systems and drag reduction devices. He has published nearly 50 articles in refereed journals and about 70 papers in international conferences.

Blas Ogayar Fernandez  holds a Ph.D. from University of Jaén, Spain. Since the foundation of the University of Jaén (1993) he served as a teacher and researcher and is currently Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering of the University of Jaén.

He is author of numerous publications in renewable energy and he has been involved in research projects of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Education.

Dr.Ogayar´s main research interests are focused on the small hydropower plant: design,  tecno-economic and environmental.

​Manuel Moya holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from University of Granada, Spain, where he also worked as a teacher in undergraduate and graduate studies in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. Since the foundation of the University of Jaén (1993) he served as a teacher and researcher and is currently Professor of Chemical Engineering. His main research interests are economic enhance of biomass through the conversion to biofuels, other added-value products and energy. And the optimization of the process of olive oil production to increase industrial yields and oil quality and maximize their content in minority
compounds. He is co-author of more than 40 peer-reviewed papers and several book chapters. He has participated and participates in more than 20 projects funded by public institutions and has been
the main researcher of a project of excellence of the Junta de Andalucía.

Jesus de la Casa holds a Ph.D. Industrial Engineering from University of Sevilla, Spain. He is currently associate professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering of the University of Jaén. He is author of numerous publications in power systems and renewable energy: more than 40 papers in the most highly ranked peer-review journals and conference proceedings. He has been involved in research projects of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Education and European Commission.