Ghent University

Prof. Erik Meers achieved his PhD in 2005 (Bioscience Engineering) and fulfilled an additional postdoc in Environmental Remediation in collaboration with Industry thereafter. In the period 2007-2012 he was national Business & Technology Developer for a multinational energy producer, specializing in biogas projects and associated R&D. In 2012-2016 he coordinated the regional biogas platform in Flanders, Belgium (Biogas-E npo). As of 2016, he returned to academia as professor (Ghent University, BE) where he developed a team in Bioresource Recovery, which grew quickly and is now counting 50 team members. One of the spearpoints in the research remains (naturally) to be biogas oriented. Over the course of his career he founded 8 SMEs and also set up science communication, scientific business Development and community platforms (www.biorefine.eu, www.re-source.bio,  www.nutricycle.vlaanderen, End-of-Waste).

R&D and Tech Transfer Project Manager | BETA TechnologicalCenter (Spain)

Mabel is a Senior Researcher with 10+ years of experience in applied environmental technologies design, development and implementation to manage organic waste streams and gaseous emissions. She holds dual degrees in Industrial and Chemical Engineering from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (2006 & 2009) and have further specialized through a MSc in Environmental Studies (2010) and a PhD in Environmental Technologies (2014), both focusing the improvement of biogas
purification biotechnologies. Her academic journey was enriched by secondments at leading research institutions, participation in numerous recognized international conferences, and the publication of 25+ scientific papers in collaboration with renowned researchers. She joined BETA in 2019 to contribute to the sustainable development of European rural areas, where She continues her research to this day.

EBA Executive Board Member - University of South Wales

Prof. Sandra Esteves is a Professor in Bioprocess Technology for Resource Recovery (Energy and Materials), directs the Wales Centre of Excellence for Anaerobic Digestion and has over 20 years’ experience in biotechnology research, development and full-scale deployment of anaerobic processes. Sandra earned a first class BSc (Hons) degree in Energy & Environmental Technology from the University of Glamorgan in 1996. Sandra read her PhD in 2002 from the University of Glamorgan (now University of South Wales) on the control of biotechnology processes using artificial intelligence techniques. Sandra has directed and co-investigated ~£12M of R&D projects. Her research has been funded by the EU, Innovate UK, BEIS and Research Councils as well as through private sector funding including TATA Steel, Wales & West Utilities, Welsh Water, Severn Trent, WRAP, Veolia and ARUP. Sandra is a member of the European Biogas Association’ Scientific Advisory Council, Member of the Internationl Advisory Group for the Swedish Biogas Research Centre & supports AD deployment internationally. She has provided technical services and R&D collaboration to over 200 companies and informs government on policy. Sandra’s research has focused in the areas of waste and wastewater recovery, in particular organics as well as C1 (CO2, CO and CH4) gases, bioprocess conversions design, monitoring, modelling and control, the production of novel anaerobic and aerobic processes and products, microbial ecology, profiling and enrichment and the evaluation of metabolic performance of microbial cultures for the production of energy gases, chemicals and biopolymers. She has successfully supervised 10 PhD graduates (and over 50 MSc Students), managed/mentored 15 post-doctoral fellows and is currently supervising 7 PhD students. Sandra is the co-inventor of 2 patents, 5 trademarks in addition to over 70 scientific publications with an h-index of 24. The impact of her work has been felt within academic and industrial sectors.