Prof. Lourdes F. Vega is a Full Professor in Chemical Engineering, and Director and Founder of the Research and Innovation Center on CO2 and Hydrogen (RICH Center), focused on clean energy, decarbonization (CCUS), hydrogen and sustainable fuels, at Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
She has developed her career between academia and industry. She obtained her Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Seville, Spain (1992), in collaboration with the Chemical Engineering Department, University of Southern California, USA where she was a visiting scholar (1990-1992), from where she moved to Cornell University as a Postdoctoral Fellow (1992-1995), before joining Universitat Rovira I Virgili in Tarragona, Spain, where she held several positions in the Chemical Engineering Department and School of Chemical Engineering (1995-2003). In 2003 she moved to the National Research Council of Spain (CSIC), Materials Science Institute of Barcelona, as a Senior Research Scientist, until she joined Air Products in 2007, as the General Director of MATGAS, R&D Director of Carburos Metálicos and Technology Manager of Air Products and Chemicals for CO2, food and water treatment, also leading several projects related to hydrogen. She is the Founder and COE of Alya Technology & Innovation (Alyatech). In 2016 she joined the Petroleum Institute in Abu Dhabi, now part of Khalifa University of Science and Technology as the Joint Chair Professor of the Gas Research Center.
With more than 260 publications, 6 patents under exploitation and the launch of several commercial products, she is an internationally recognized expert in molecular thermodynamics, clean energy and sustainable products, focused on CO2 capture and utilization, hydrogen production, storage, transportation and utilization, sustainable cooling systems, and water treatment.
The impact of her work on bridging fundamental science to industrial applications focused on environmental applications, has been acknowledged by the reception of several prestigious awards, including, among others: the 2010 Physicist of Excellence Award, from Collegiate of Physicists of Spain, highlighting the work of physicists who have reached a level of excellence in their profession, the 2013 Award of the BBVA Foundation and Spanish Royal Society of Physics, in Physics, Innovation and Technology, granted by “the outstanding and original manner that she managed to bring physics to the industrial world”, the highly reputed Mohammed Bin Rashid Medal for Scientific Distinguishment in the UAE, received in 2020 for her contributions in clean energy and sustainable products, the election as a Fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) in 2021, awarded to members in recognition of significant professional accomplishments and contributions in engineering, the election of a Corresponding Academic at the Royal Society of Science of Spain in 2023, the election as one of TOP100 Women Leaders in Spain, in the category TOP10 Exterior, recognizing the leading role of Spanish females in other countries, in her case in Science and Research Abroad, in 2024, and the V60 recognition, selected as one of the 60 impactful Women in the Middle East driving sustainability in the region with science, innovation, and strategic actions, organized by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), also in 2024.
Prof. Vega is a Member of the Emirates Scientist Council, and the Lead of the Advisory Board on Engineering and Technology in the UAE. She is also a member of the Clean Hydrogen Mission Innovation, representing the UAE on the technical side.
She is an Independent Member of the Board of Directors of ERCROS, SA (chemical company), and Canal de Isabel II, SA (water company) in Spain, as well as the Chair of the International Advisory Board of the Hydrogen Integration for Accelerated Energy Transitions (HI-ACT), consortium of 27 academics from 10 UK universities funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences UK Research Council. She is also a Member of the Scientific Board of the EPSRC "Frontier Engineering" Centre for Nature Inspired Engineering (CNIE), in London, UK and of the Catalan Institute for Energy Research (IREC), in Barcelona, Spain. She served as the Coordinator of the Scientific Committee designing the strategic plan for the newly created National Center for Research in Energy Storage, (Cáceres, Spain). In addition, she is a member of the scientific advisory board of several high impact journals.
Prof. Vega is also one of the Founders and was the first President of the Association of Spanish Scientists and Researchers in the UAE (ACIEAU).
