Profile
Background:
Gianluca Li Puma is Professor of Chemical and Environmental Engineering at Loughborough University. His academic qualifications include: Laurea, Chemical Engineering (University of Palermo, Italy, 1992) MPhil, Chemical Engineering (University of Bath, 1993) PhD, Chemical Engineering (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 1996). This was followed by a three-year postdoctoral fellowship at HKUST on photocatalysis & photoreaction engineering research. From 2000-2010 he was Assistant and Associate Professor in the School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering at the University of Nottingham.
Professor Li Puma main research areas are (further details in Research Tab):
- Environmental Nanocatalysis and Heterogeneous Photocatalysis
- Photo/Microbial Electrosynthesis Systems and Solar Fuels
- Advanced Disinfection, Advanced Water Detoxification and Reuse
- Process Intensification and Photoreaction/Solar Engineering
- He has more than 370 scientific publications (Google Scholar h-index 46, > 6500 citations, > 122 journal papers, 2 books for the Royal Society of Chemistry, 5 book chapters) and 2 patents. He has managed an extensive portfolio of research grants and international consortia.
At Loughborough University he teaches undergraduate and postgraduate courses in the fields of (i) Chemical Reaction Engineering, (ii) Heterogeneous Catalysis (iii) Heat Transfer Integration (iv) Project Planning, (v) Process Design and (vi) Advanced Process Systems Engineering. He also supervises undergraduate and postgraduate taught students in the execution of design and R&D projects, and MPhil/PhD postgraduate research students
Qualifications:
- PhD Chemical Engineering - Hong Kong University of Science & Technology
- MPhil Chemical Engineering – University of Bath (UK)
- Laurea - Chemical Engineering - University of Palermo (Italy) summa cum laude
Honours and distinctions:
Professor Li Puma has achieved sustained evidence of research excellence and significant international standing and impact, research income, publications, editorial and committee membership presence.
He is Editor of “Applied Catalysis B: Environmental”, one of the most prestigious catalysis journals (Elsevier, Impact Factor 16.683) focusing on catalytic elimination of environmental contaminants, environmental catalysts, catalyst for clean energy, syngas production from sustainable sources, clean catalytic combustions and photocatalysis. Previously for 9 years, he has been Editor of the “Journal of Hazardous Materials” (Elsevier, Impact Factor 9.038) focusing on elimination of environmental contaminants. He is Member of the Editorial Boards of “Chemical Engineering Journal” (Elsevier, Impact Factor 10.652), “Chemical Engineering Journal Advances” (Elsevier), “Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering” (Elsevier), and “Chemistry in the Environment” (RSC).
He is/has been Guest Editor of 12 Journals Special Issues, Member of the Scientific/Organizing Committee of 75 international conferences in Water, Catalysis, Engineering and Environmental Science, Member of the review panel of the European Commission (Research Executive Agency H2020), UK (EPSRC), Australian (ARC), Chinese (NSFC), Dutch (NWO), Polish (FNP), Swiss (SNSF), Korean (NRF), Israeli (ISF), Finnish (RCNSE), Czech (GACR), Latvian (CFCA), Qatari (QNRF) Kazakh (NCSTE), Kuwaiti (KFAS), Hong Kong (ECF, NSFC/RGC JRS) and Singaporean (NRF) Research Councils and of 52 international refereed journals in Water, Energy, Catalysis and Environmental Chemistry.
He is member of the International Advisory Board of the Water Research Centres in Cyprus (NIREAS), the EPSRC Solar-Fuel Network (UK) and has chaired the ThinkThank4 of EU COST Action ES1205 on Applications and Implications of Nano-enabled Technologies for Water and Wastewater Treatment. He is UK Representative in the Management Committee of EU COST Actions: ES1403 on New and Emerging Challenges and Opportunities in Wastewater Reuse (NEREUS) and CA18225 on Taste and Odor in Early Diagnosis of Source and Drinking Water Problems (WATERTOP). He is founder member of the European Union PhD School on Advanced Oxidation Processes and has been nominated “Expert of International Standing” by the Australian Research Council College of Experts.
He was recipient of the CNPq and CAPES Distinguished Visiting Professorship at the Universidade Federal Santa Catarina (Brazil, 2017, 2019) and received the Distinguished Visiting Professorship Award by the Universitade the Cartagena (Colombia, 2017) for his contribution to raise the international profile of the Department of Chemical Engineering.
He has been 10 times Symposium Organiser and Presider for the Division of Environmental Chemistry of the American Chemical Society (San Diego 2012, New Orleans 2013, San Francisco 2014, Boston 2015, San Diego 2016, San Francisco 2017, Boston 2018, Orlando 2019, San Diego 2019, San Francisco 2020) and has chaired 8 consecutive International Conferences on Advanced Oxidation Technologies for Treatment of Water Air and Soil (Niagara Falls 2007, San Diego 2008, Niagara Falls 2009, San Diego 2010, San Diego 2011, Jacksonville 2012, San Diego 2013 and 2014).
He has delivered > 67 plenary/keynote/invited lectures at prominent international conferences organised by International Water Association (IWA), the American Chemical Society (ACS), and other international organisations, including Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (USA), NASA Stennis Space Center (USA), Rice University (USA), Dalian and Nanjing Universities (China), HKUST (Hong Kong SAR), POSTECH (South Korea), Leibniz University (Germany) and many other.
Key awards:
- Loughborough University Teaching Award as Best Teacher in Part B Chemical Engineering, 2018
- Distinguished Visiting Professor Award – University of Cartagena, Cartagena, Colombia, 14 Nov 2017
- E.ON AG Research Awards (2009) – E.ON Laureate – Award of 0.92 M Euro “Solar-Hydrogen” project, Dusseldorf, Germany, 28 Apr 2009
- Expert of International Standing nominated by the Australian Research Council College of Experts, 2007, 2008, 2010
- International Bechtel Incorporated Scholarship in Environmental Engineering, Hong Kong, 1994
- Erasmus Scholarship to study at Loughborough University of Technology, United Kingdom, 1991
- EniChem Spa Scholarship in Chemical Engineering – Palermo, Italy, 1991
- EniChem Spa Scholarship in Chemical Engineering – Palermo, Italy, 1988