Catalysis and Process Integration: People

People

Meet the current and former members of the Catalysis and Process Integration (CaPI) group.

|Group leader

Professor Laura Torrente Murciano

Professor Laura Torrente Murciano is Professor of Reaction Engineering and Catalysis at the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology at the University of Cambridge.

Professor Torrente obtained her Bachelors and Masters degrees from Rey Juan Carlos Universidad in Madrid before completing her PhD at the University of Bath (2007). Her thesis is entitled ‘Feasibility of the tandem reaction of isomerisation-telomerization’

Research keywords

Reaction Engineering
Colloids
Nanoparticles
Heterogeneous catalysis
Catalysis
Green chemistry

|Group support

Diana El-Akkad

PERSONAL ASSISTANT

Diana El-Akkad is Professor Laura Torrente Murciano’s personal assistant. She provides administrative and team support to the Catalysis and Process Integration (CaPI) group.

|Postdoctoral research associates

Dr Hernan Mazzei

Dr Hernan Mazzei is a postdoctoral research associate in the Catalysis and Process Integration (CaPI) group. He joined the CaPI group in 2024.

He earned his PhD from Politecnico di Torino, Italy, with international collaborations at the University of Alberta, Canada, and Jagiellonian University, Poland, focusing on catalytic reactions and kinetic studies. His expertise includes thermodynamics, reaction kinetics, heterogeneous catalysis, transport phenomena, and material characterisation.

Dr Mazzei’s research focuses on developing sustainable catalytic processes to drive innovation and cost-effective technologies within the energy sector.

Dr Mahesh Nair

Dr Mahesh Nair is a postdoctoral research associate in the Catalysis and Process Integration (CaPI) group.

Dr Aleix Pubill-Rodriguez

Dr Aleix Pubill-Rodriguez is a postdoctoral research associate in the Catalysis and Process Integration (CaPI) group. He joined the group in 2025.

Dr Pubill-Rodriguez earned his PhD from the Université de Perpignan in France, where he began his research on solid-gas sorption of ammonia for use in refrigeration and thermal energy storage systems.

Since then, his work has focused on both experimental and modelling approaches in ammonia-based solid sorption systems, with particular attention to mass and heat transfer in porous and reactive media. He has contributed to various academic and industrial R&D projects.

Dr Collin Smith

Dr Collin Smith is a postdoctoral research associate in the Catalysis and Process Integration (CaPI) group. He joined the group in 2018.

He received his doctorate from the University of Cambridge for his thesis titled “Small-scale and flexible green ammonia production technology.” Previously, he worked on the Wind-to-Ammonia project at the University of Minnesota.

Collin’s work focuses on redefining the conventional and fossil-fuel-dependent Haber-Bosch process in order to produce green ammonia from renewable energy for both fertiliser and dense energy storage in the so-called hydrogen economy.

This is accomplished through a combination of novel process design, catalysis, separation, and optimisation to align conventionally static chemical processes with dynamic renewable energy.

Dr Jirui Zhang

Dr Jirui Zhang is a postdoctoral research associate in the Catalysis and Process Integration (CaPI) group.

|PhD students

Jack Burt

Jack Burt is a PhD student in the Catalysis and Process Integration (CaPI) group.

He joined the CaPI research group in 2024 after completing his MEng degree in Chemical Engineering via Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge.

Tariq Hussein

Tariq Hussein is a PhD student in the Catalysis and Process Integration (CaPI) group. His research interest is synthesis light-interacting particles

Luc Liedtke

Luc Liedtke is a PhD student in the Catalysis and Process Integration (CaPI) group.

He joined the CaPI research team in 2022 after completing his MEng degree in Chemical Engineering via Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge.

His research is focused on investigating absorbents and other separative processes for ammonia separation following synthesis via a flexible single vessel Haber-Bosch process.

Cameron Mumtaz-Wong

Cameron Mumtaz-Wong is a PhD student in the Catalysis and Process Integration (CaPI) group.

His research is in collaboration with the company Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy. His work is in the development of catalysts and reactors for the synthesis of green ammonia.

He obtained research experience in 2022 by working with the Structured Materials Group in Cambridge. Cameron joined the group in 2024 after completing his Bachelors and Masters degree in Chemical Engineering at the University of Cambridge.

Juan Luis Pinzon Ramirez

Juan Luiz Pinzon Ramirez is a PhD student in the Catalysis and Process Integration (CaPI) group.

He joined the CaPI group in 2022. He received his MPhil degree from the University of Cambridge while studying the absorption of water in metal halides with the CaPI group.

Juan’s research is focused on understanding the mechanisms and kinetics of the absorption of ammonia and water in metal halides. This will lead to improved processes of ammonia separation, storage, and heat integration.

Former members

Alumni

Former Postdoctoral Research Associates

Dr Aleix Pubill-Rodriguez (ended 2025)
Dr Vladimir Lomonosov (ended 2025)
Dr Bruno Pinho (ended 2024)
Dr Krishna Vadiraj Kinhal (ended 2024)
Dr Justin Tran (ended 2024)
Dr Joseph El Kadi (ended 2024)
Dr Julien Mahin (ended 2022)
Dr M. Reza Andalibi (ended 2020)
Dr Antonio Exposito Serrano (ended 2019)
Dr Zhigang Hu (ended 2019)
Dr Mauro Malizia (ended 2019)
Dr Hermenegildo Garcia Baldovi (ended 2019)
Dr Kejun Wu (ended 2018)

Former PhD students

Dr Anastasia Kappelou (ended 2025)
Dr Ruben Asiain (ended 2024)
Dr Marina Avena Maia (ended 2024)
Dr Jiratheep (Boom) Pruchyathamkor (ended 2023)
Dr Kaiwen Zhang (ended 2023)
Dr Elizabeth Hopper (ended 2023)
Dr Yunhu Gao (ended 2021)
Dr Sukanya Datta (ended 2020)
Dr Tamsin Bell (ended 2019)
Dr Rebecca Bamford (ended 2015)
Dr Alex Gilbank (ended 2015)
Dr Simon Bishopp (ended 2014)
Dr Alf Hill (ended 2014)

Former MPhil students

Oisin Castro (ended 2024)
Dina Haddad (ended 2021)
Faisal Hammad (ended 2021)
Lindsay Mark Williams (ended 2019)
Napatwasut (Mick) Rangsinaporn (ended 2019)
Nancy Perez Corona (ended 2018)
Yinan Yu (ended 2017)
Deborah Assuquo (ended 2017)
Hong Aik Tan (ended 2025)

Former research assistants

Callum Lyton (ended 2016)

Former visitors

Matthieu Darbord (ended 2025)
Saber Niazi (ended 2024)
Marina Pinzon-Gracia (ended 2023)
Dr Florian Mulks (ended 2020)
Dr Cintia Casado (ended 2020)
Dr Ebenezer Annan (ended 2018)
Hugo Lara (ended 2016)

Former Part IIBs

Achudha Selva Sathish (ended 2025)
Ryan Tam (ended 2025)
Finn Oldfield (ended 2025)
Han You Low (2023)
Huey Xin Loong (2023)
Niki Kotecha (ended 2022)
Suri Singhania (ended 2022)
Abbey Robins (ended 2022)
Michael Fletcher (ended 2022)
Gaia Ganzer (ended 2021)
Isaac Teng (ended 2021)
Max Orviss (ended 2021)

Former NanoDTC students

Robin Horton (ended 2022)