Ir. Julian Munoz Sierra

Julian completed his MSc (5 years diploma degree equivalent) in Chemical Engineering at the National University of Colombia, Medellin campus, with a two years track on Biotechnology.  In 2007, he completed his one-year thesis on the Water Technology section of the Bioprocess and Reactive Flows research group under the supervision of Prof.ir. DarĂ­o Gallego Suarez. His thesis entitled “Evaluation of an alkaline system applied to the upgrading of biogas to natural gas” was awarded as the best Chemical Engineering thesis from that year. After his graduation he worked in the sanitary engineering laboratory from the Faculty of Mines and also as a consultant on design, commissioning and start-up of two drinking water plants.

After, he worked for 2 years as project and R&D engineer at Tecniaguas®, one of the Colombian market leaders in the industry of water treatment processes. Projects involved turn-key drinking water and wastewater applications for food, chemical, biodiesel and petroleum companies. His duties ranged from doing research on emergent water and wastewater treatment technologies to process design, process control & automation, project management, plants assembly and commissioning supervision.

Subsequently, he returned to university to pursue a Professional Doctorate in Bioprocess Engineering at the department of Biotechnology in Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands. He decided to follow this program since it focuses on advanced applied techniques and bioprocess design to develop and offer innovative solutions to industry. He worked closely together with high-tech companies (DSM, Corbion, Siemens Water Technologies) and scientific advisors from BE-Basic partners in interdisciplinary design projects looking at novel and eco-efficient processes for the production of dicarboxylic acids and clean water. During his PDEng, Julian conducted his own research & design project at the Environmental Biotechnology group under the supervision of Prof. Mark van Loosdrecht and Dr.Ir. Cristian Picioreanu. He successfully implemented a phototrophic biofilm model in 2-dimensions using COMSOL Multiphysics to describe the microbial dynamics within the biofilm and along the reactor used for the design of a novel wastewater treatment system.

Julian Muñoz Sierra is currently a Ph.D. researcher on the BioXtreme-project, looking at a new niche for the application of Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactors treating chemical industrial wastewater streams under high salinity and high temperature. This project was granted in February 2014 by STW (NWO) after he wrote the project research proposal for the Watertech2013 call under the supervision of Dr.Ir. Henri Spanjers and Prof. Dr. Jules van Lier. The project partners involved are Evides Industry Water and Paques B.V.

Julian research interests lie in environmental biotechnology, industrial wastewater treatment, and water reuse. He is a very enthusiastic person who is always looking at new challenges, opportunities, and international cooperation.

Researchgate Website

PDEng.Ir. Julian Muñoz Sierra