José-Ramón Ochoa-Gómez

Biography

Principal Researcher (Sustainable Chemistry Department) in the Energy and Environment Division of Tecnalia R&I. He holds a PhD in Chemistry (University of Basque Country, 1982), a Master in Environmental Technology (University of Basque Country-School of Industrial Organization, 1984) and a MBA (IE Businnes School, 1993). He held a position as an Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering and Environmental Sciences at University Alfonso X el Sabio from 1997 to 2012 and previously he worked in the Centers of Research of two large Spanish Companies, ERCROS and CEPSA, reaching the position of Head of Polymer Department in the Corporative Research Center of the former. Simultaneously to his position as a University Professor, he has been, as a Principal Researcher, in charge of several projects related to synthesis of biobased chemicals and biopolymers in TECNALIA R&I, and before in LEIA Technology Center where he held a position as Head of the R&D Department and Technology Manager from 2000 to 2009. He has been evaluator of R&D projects for The European Commission and The Spanish Government. He is an expert in chemical and electrochemical organic synthesis and separation procedures and has a wide experience in scaling-up: fermentations (1500 L), organic chemical reactions (up to 200 L), organic electrochemical processes (up to an electrode area of 0.4 m2, the industrial one), and very exothermic polymerization processes (up to 1500 L). He also has a long experience as consultant for chemical industries and was a member of the Chemical Observatory created by MITYC (Spanish Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce) in 2005 to assess the evolution of the Spanish Chemical Industry: 2005-2009. He was also a Founding Partner of SOLQUIMA (1994-2000), a consultancy company for chemical processes and pollution control technologies. He is author of 81 papers, 4 book chapters and 1 book (Electrosynthesis and Electrodialysis). He holds 29 patents and has supervised 6 Doctoral Thesis.