Julieta Garcia Chirino | Wastewater treatment | Best Researcher Award

Dr. Julieta Garcia Chirino | Wastewater treatment | Best Researcher Award

PhD researcher at KU Leuven, Belgium

Julieta Garcia Chirino is a driven and results-oriented chemical engineer with a Ph.D. in Engineering Science from KU Leuven, Belgium, and a Master’s degree in Environmental Engineering from the National Autonomous University of Mexico. She has established herself in the field of environmental engineering through her expertise in sustainable technologies, membrane synthesis, water treatment, and waste valorization. Her career demonstrates a commitment to addressing environmental challenges through innovative research and real-world applications, including collaborations with industry. Julieta brings forward-thinking ideas to circular economy initiatives, heavy metal remediation, and the development of environmentally friendly engineering solutions.

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ORCID

EDUCATION

Julieta’s academic journey reflects a deep engagement with environmental sustainability. She earned her Ph.D. in Engineering Science, specializing in Chemical Engineering, from the Faculty of Engineering Science at KU Leuven (2020–2025). Her doctoral research focused on hybrid wastewater treatment technologies through waste valorization for heavy metal removal. Prior to her Ph.D., she obtained her Master’s degree in Environmental Engineering from the Engineering Institute at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (2016–2019), where she built a solid foundation in membrane-based separation processes and industrial waste applications. Her academic background is reinforced by complementary technical training and interdisciplinary coursework in chemistry and environmental risk management.

EXPERIENCE

With a strong professional background in both academic and industrial environments, Julieta has cultivated valuable experience in project management, research coordination, and environmental planning. At KU Leuven, she led laboratory efforts, designed experiments, and supervised five master’s students in research and thesis work. Previously, she worked as a project manager assistant at the Engineering Institute of UNAM, where she coordinated proposals and procurement for a biogas pilot plant, and oversaw strategic project planning. Earlier in her career, she served as an administrative assistant managing evaluations for academic promotions and projects. Throughout, she has demonstrated proficiency in organizing complex projects, conducting environmental assessments, and implementing life cycle analysis (LCA) to evaluate the sustainability of engineering processes.

RESEARCH INTEREST

Julieta’s research interests center around environmental engineering, particularly the development of sustainable separation technologies. She is deeply invested in membrane synthesis and characterization, waste valorization using industrial byproducts, and heavy metals remediation from contaminated water sources. Her work bridges laboratory innovation and practical application, integrating life cycle assessments and hazard evaluations into material development. Additional areas of focus include inorganic chemistry, analytical methods, and the exploration of circular economy models in environmental remediation. Her research continuously seeks to contribute to the advancement of green engineering and the reduction of industrial pollution.

AWARD

Julieta Garcia Chirino’s commitment to sustainable environmental engineering has led to her nomination for the Best Researcher Award. Her interdisciplinary work in wastewater treatment and waste-to-resource technologies exemplifies innovation and societal impact. She has served on the editorial board of the Process Newsletter and has been recognized for her role in mentoring emerging researchers. Her selection as a candidate for this award reflects her leadership in both research and collaboration, notably through her active involvement in scientific manuscript reviews and her strong publication record.

PUBLICATION

Julieta has published three peer-reviewed articles in recognized international journals, contributing to the fields of membrane technology and environmental remediation. Her 2021 article, “Hybrid Membrane Systems for Wastewater Valorization,” published in Journal of Membrane Science, has been cited by 18 scholarly articles. In 2022, she authored “Utilization of Steel Slag in Heavy Metal Removal” in the Chemical Engineering Journal, cited by 12 works. Most recently, in 2023, she published “Circular Economy Approaches in Wastewater Treatment” in Environmental Technology & Innovation, with 9 citations. These publications have significantly enhanced academic and industrial understanding of sustainable separation technologies.

CONCLUSION

Julieta Garcia Chirino exemplifies the qualities of a top-tier researcher—innovative, interdisciplinary, and impactful. Her academic excellence, hands-on research, mentorship, publication record, and sustainable focus collectively establish her as a highly suitable candidate for the Best Researcher Award. Her work is not only scientifically rigorous but also socially relevant, aligning perfectly with the criteria of excellence in research.

Zizun Wei | Water and Wastewater Treatment | Best Researcher Award

Mr. Zizun Wei | Water and Wastewater Treatment | Best Researcher Award

College of Computer Science and Software Engineering, Hohai University, China

Zizun Wei is a Master’s student at the College of Computer Science and Software Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing, China. At 24 years old, he is highly passionate about the intersection of artificial intelligence, computer vision, and water resources. Zizun has demonstrated a strong academic foundation, having completed his Bachelor’s degree in Network Engineering at Heilongjiang University, Harbin. His research interests include object detection, few-shot learning, and applying AI technologies to real-world challenges, particularly in environmental monitoring. Zizun has contributed significantly to scientific literature, with multiple published papers in respected journals and conferences. Additionally, his innovative work in the field has led to a patent in semantic segmentation for water body extraction. His work is at the forefront of AI’s application to environmental science, particularly focusing on river debris detection and crack segmentation in earth dams. Zizun’s drive to combine AI with practical solutions positions him as a promising researcher in his field.

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Google Scholar

Education

Zizun Wei is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Computer Science and Technology at Hohai University, Nanjing, from September 2022 to June 2025. His academic journey began with a Bachelor’s degree in Network Engineering from Heilongjiang University, Harbin, where he studied from September 2018 to June 2022. During his Bachelor’s, Zizun laid the groundwork for his research interests in artificial intelligence, network systems, and computer vision. At Hohai University, he is expanding his knowledge in computer science, with a focus on object detection, machine learning, and their application to environmental challenges, such as water resource management. Zizun has excelled in both practical and theoretical aspects of his education, participating in multiple research projects while refining his skills in data analysis and AI modeling. His academic path reflects a dedication to advancing technology in ways that contribute to society, particularly in the areas of environmental protection and resource management.

Experience

Zizun Wei has gained diverse research experience throughout his academic career, starting with his involvement in salient object detection during his Bachelor’s degree, where he worked on feature fusion and pixel loss weighting methods. His Master’s research has broadened to focus on few-shot object detection and river floating debris detection. He proposed a meta-feature extraction approach for few-shot object detection and worked on enhancing algorithms using generative fitting for real-world data. Zizun is also exploring text knowledge embedding techniques to enhance the performance of object detection models. His work on river floating debris detection aimed at improving feature enhancement methods, with a view to addressing environmental challenges in water bodies. Additionally, Zizun co-authored papers in top-tier journals and conferences, as well as a patent on semantic segmentation methods for water body extraction. His research not only advances the field of computer vision but also addresses practical environmental concerns, reflecting his interdisciplinary approach.

Research Focus

Zizun Wei’s research primarily revolves around computer vision and artificial intelligence, with a particular focus on object detection and few-shot learning. His work in object detection has been aimed at improving algorithms for complex, real-world applications such as detecting debris in rivers and cracks in earth dams. He is developing few-shot learning techniques that mimic human cognition and leverage transfer learning for more efficient detection in environments with limited labeled data. Zizun’s innovations include the use of meta-feature extraction and generative fitting methods to enhance detection performance, particularly in the context of environmental and water resources. He is also exploring the integration of text knowledge embeddings to further advance the performance of detection models. With an overarching goal of contributing to sustainable water resource management, his work combines cutting-edge AI techniques with real-world applications that can make significant environmental impacts.

Publication Top Notes

  1. L. Zhang, Z. Wei, Y. Shao, Z. Chen, Z. Luo, and Y. Dou, “A context feature enhancement and adaptive weighted fusion network for river floating debris detection,” Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence, Mar. 2025.
  2. L. Zhang, Z. Wei, and P. Jin, “DAMFE-Net: A Few-shot Crack Segmentation Model Based on Transfer Learning for Earth Dams,” IEEE 15th International Conference on Software Engineering and Service Science (ICSESS), 2024.
  3. Z. Wei and G. Zhu, “A Salient Object Detection Method Combining Multi-Scale Feature Fusion and Pixel Loss Weighting,” Journal of Natural Science of Heilongjiang University, 2022.
  4. G. Zhu, Z. Wei, and F. Lin, “An Object Detection Method Combining Multi-Level Feature Fusion and Region Channel Attention,” IEEE Access, 2021.
  5. Patent: “A Lightweight Dual-Prediction Branch Semantic Segmentation Deep Learning Method and System for Water Body Extraction.” CN117911701A. Co-inventors: Zhang Lili, Wei Zizun, Lu Yushi, Wang Huibin, Chen Jun, Chen Zhe. Publication Date: April 19, 2024.