COORDINATING ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES: DAVID SERRANO (1999-2001)

Knowledge area

Chemical engineering.

Short biography

Professor of Chemical Engineering at the Rey Juan Carlos University (since 2002) and Director of the IMDEA Energy Institute (since 2007).

Graduate in Chemical Sciences (UCM, 1985) and Doctor in Industrial Chemistry (UCM, 1990) with Extraordinary Prize. He is a visiting researcher at CALTECH (1991) and at the University of California at Santa Barbara (2006). Full Professor at the UCM (1990), then moving to the URJC (1999), where he has held different academic positions: Coordinator of the Environmental Sciences Area (1999-2001), Vice-Rector for Research and Technological Innovation (2001-2002 ) and Director of the Department of Chemical, Environmental and Materials Technology (2002-2007). His teaching activity has focused on typical subjects of Chemical Engineering, Environmental Engineering and Energy Engineering.

He has participated in approximately 85 research projects funded by public and private entities. He has been Coordinator of the European project CASCATBEL (2013 – 2017). He has received a prestigious “Advanced Grant” from the European Research Council (ERC) for the development of the TODENZE project (2021 – 2026). He is currently Scientific Director of the María de Maeztu Program of Research Excellence Units, awarded to the IMDEA Energy Institute (2020 – 2024). He is the author of 260 publications in scientific journals (h = 67, SCOPUS) and more than 360 communications at scientific conferences and meetings. He has been director of 29 Doctoral Theses.

For his scientific career, the Community of Madrid has recently awarded him the “Miguel Catalán” Research Prize.

Origin of the degree at the URJC Why Environmental Sciences?

The URJC's commitment to a degree in Environmental Sciences has been carried out practically since the creation of the university, with Professor Guillermo Calleja being Rector. The study plan was developed over the years 1998-1999, and was sent to the Council of Universities for approval in March 1999. Despite the tight schedule, academic activities were managed to begin in the 1999 academic year - 2000.

The decision to implement this degree at the URJC was motivated by two main reasons. Firstly, the area of ​​environment was identified as an emerging field in which many job opportunities were foreseen for graduates who had a global vision of environmental problems and technical knowledge of the different existing options for their prevention and/or remediation. . On the other hand, a very young university, such as the URJC was at that time, could not afford to begin its journey without a strong commitment to the environment and sustainability.

Challenges and achievements during the years he was coordinator, strengths and weaknesses of the degree during this stage

The first challenge was to develop a study plan that would be attractive to the students and that would enhance the professional opportunities of they graduate@s. To do this, we carried out an exhaustive analysis of the curricula of all the Spanish universities that at that time already offered a degree in Environmental Sciences, also using as a reference prestigious foreign universities that taught in the field of the environment. The result was a modern and balanced study plan, which included three clearly differentiated itineraries (Conservation and Restoration of the Natural Environment, Environmental Technology and Environmental Management), in addition to a 9-credit practical subject.

In parallel to the development of the study plan, I had the responsibility of participating in the search and incorporation of teachers in those areas that did not yet exist at the URJC and that had important teaching in the degree. This was the case in several of the areas of Biology/Ecology and Geology. Being an experimental degree, the “signing” of new teacher@s was immediately followed by the definition and acquisition of the material that was going to be necessary in the corresponding laboratory practices.

They were years of a lot of effort (and a lot of stress), but also of great enthusiasm, and which in the short-medium term were rewarded by the success of the Environmental Sciences degree in terms of the demand for places by the students.

One of the most important challenges they had to face the teacher@s was to design the content of the subjects, especially those with a greater weight in mathematics, calculations and engineering concepts, to a set of students with very different origins and previous training but who shared the same class. This problem was resolved, at least in part, through reinforcement activities in some subjects, although it was also necessary to redefine the subject programs in successive years.

Personal opinion on the impact of the degree on society

In the specific case of the URJC, almost 25 years have passed since the first course in which Environmental Sciences studies were offered (first, as a 5-year degree and later as a 4-year degree). This implies that, in round numbers, in this time about 20 classes have completed their studies at our university, that is, hundreds of graduates have entered the job market. Although there is no statistical study on where these graduates practice their profession, it is not unreasonable to say that their impact on society, and also on companies, in administration and in the academic world, has been very relevant.

I am totally convinced that they graduate@s in Environmental Sciences have been a key factor in recent years to raise awareness in Spanish society about environmental problems, and also to energize the business world regarding the imperative need to align their strategic plans with the protection of the environment, fight against climate change and sustainability.

As the years go by, from time to time, one is pleasantly reunited with the past. This is what happened to me recently, during a visit to IMDEA Energía by several people from a local council in the area. It turned out that the environmental technician had completed a degree in Environmental Sciences at the URJC in one of the first classes and had been my student in the subject of Bases of Environmental Engineering. The satisfaction on my part was double when I found that I had very pleasant memories of the degree (including my subject) and that, in addition, I had managed to develop as a professional in a job directly related to the studies of Environmental Sciences.