- The ceremony took place in the Graduation Hall of the Polytechnic School of Algeciras
- The Director of the Refinery Miguel Pérez de la Blanca, and the Vice Chancellor of the UCA, Francisco Javier Pérez, presided over the event
The mixed committee of the Cepsa Foundation Chair celebrated the award ceremony for the 2018 Cepsa Foundation Chair Awards, which recognized the research by: Marta Ferreiro González, Francisco Sánchez de la Flor, Juan Jesús Martínez Domínguez, Enrique González Rivera and María Nieves Fernández Zumaqero, all students and researchers from the University of Cadiz (UCA).
The presentation ceremony for these awards took place in the Graduation Hall of the Polytechnic School of Algeciras, which in addition to the winners, their family members and friends, was attended by Miguel Pérez de la Blanca, Director of the Gibraltar San Roque Refinery; Francisco Javier Pérez Fernández, Vice Chancellor of the UCA; Inmaculada Santiago, delegate of the Chancellor at the Bahía de Algeciras Campus; and Francisco Trujillo, Director of the Cepsa Foundation Chair.
During the award presentation ceremony, the winning students had the opportunity to publicly present their studies, which because of their innovation, originality, scientific-technological approach, importance and applicability have deserved recognition from the mixed committee of the Cepsa Foundation Chair, in one of the following categories: research papers, university theses, patents and publications related to energy, petroleum and the environment.
In the category of scientific articles, the winning article was titled Characterization of petroleum-based products in water samples by HS-MS by Marta Ferreiro González, while in the invention patent and useful models section, the winner was Francisco Sánchez de la Flor for his work, Portable thermal transmittance measurement device using infrared radiation and procedure of use.
This year, the quality of the papers submitted led the mixed committee to award three submissions in the category of university theses. The following students were recognized for their work: Juan Jesús Martínez Domínguez for his thesis Application of fragmenting with energetic integration in the Sulpholane Unit of the Cepsa Gibraltar-San Roque Refinery; ; Enrique González Rivera, for his submission titled Simulation and optimization of an average power organic rankine cycle (orc) (4 MW) for implementation in the crude unit i of the RGSR; and finally, María Nieves Fernández Zumaqero, for her work titled Qualitative analysis of refinery furnace flames.
Since its inception in 2005, the Cátedra Prize’s activity has focused on promoting and incentivizing aspects linked to education, research, outreach and the transfer of knowledge. The relationship between the University of Cadiz and Cepsa dates back to the founding of the Algeciras University School of Technical Industrial Engineering, and gained momentum when the School became the Higher Polytechnic School in 1988. Since then, the two institutions have collaborated on numerous occasions, and have signed a wide range of specific agreements.
The Cepsa partnerships in Andalusia
Cepsa is developing ever-closer relationships with universities. The partnerships sponsored by Fundamental Cepsa at the Universities of Huelva, Seville and Cadiz are continuing to develop, thanks to the contribution and commitment to the improvement of training, innovation and research by professionals from both organizations.
In Andalusia, these initiatives have allowed thousands of students to gain first-hand experience of a real working environment, while bringing university lecturers closer to the reality of industry in the region. The exchange of technicians and professors has allowed both to hone their skills and bring their new expertise to bear on their daily work. All of this makes Cepsa a valuable supporter of universities in Andalucia.