Maria Cândida Lobo Guerra Vilarinho is graduated in metallurgical engineering from the University of Porto and holds Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the University of Minho. She is Associate Professor and Director of the Doctoral Program in Waste Management and Treatment at the University of Minho. She is President of the organizing committee of the international conference WASTES. She has participated in more than 50 national and international projects and has been Principal Investigator in 24 of them.
Joana María Freitas Carvalho completed Ph.D. in chemical and biological engineering in 2007 at the University of Minho and obtained an M.B.A. from the Lisbon Business School in 2016. She has been working as RTD Manager at Center for Waste Valorization (CVR) since 2009, where she is responsible for the technical and scientific coordination of development and innovation activities. She has served as Principal Investigator in over 50 national and international projects. She has approximately 80 publications, including peer-reviewed scientific journals, specialized book chapters, among others.
Zlatina Genisheva finished food engineering from the University of Food Technologies, Plovdiv, Bulgaria. She finished a master course in bioprocess engineering and Ph.D. in biological and chemical engineering from the University of Minho, Braga, Portugal. Between 2013 and 2022 Zlatina was Integrated Member as Junior Researcher of the Centre of Biological Engineering from the University of Minho. In 2023, Zlatina joint the Centro para a Valorização de Resíduos as Senior Researcher. She is Team Member of different projects and has more than 50 articles all in Q1and Q2 journals.
Rui Caldeira is Principal Research Scientist and Chairman of the board at ARDITI. He holds a Ph.D. in ocean and applied marine sciences from UCLA (2002). He carried out postdoctoral research in Australia and Lisbon, later joining CIIMAR (U. Porto) with FCT Fellowship in 2009. Rui has published over 50 peer-reviewed papers and participated in 100+ international conferences. His main research focuses on island-induced wakes.
Elsa Fernandes is Associate Professor and Vice-Rector at the University of Madeira. She holds a Ph.D. in education-didactics of mathematics. She has participated in several national and European projects, related to educational innovation and collaborative research. Author of numerous articles in scientific journals, she has explored topics such as statistical literacy, critical thinking, and the use of robots in pedagogical contexts. With extensive experience in teaching and academic management, she has contributed to the internationalization and scientific development of the University of Madeira.
