Dr Claudio Avila

I am an experienced Research Chemical Engineer, working at the interface between science and technology. I completed my bachelor degree in Civil-Chemical Engineering at the University of Concepcion (Chile, 2007), followed by a PhD in Chemical Engineering at Nottingham University (UK, 2012), developing industrial image analysis methods to identify materials prone to self-oxidation and spontaneous combustion. After this, I worked for BP (downstream, petrochemicals) developing instrumentation for online monitoring of reacting streams from which I filled my first patent (US 20160258904), deploying the technology in three industrial applications across different BP business. In 2016 I joined Leeds University (UK), providing technical expertise for the EU-funded ProPAT project. For this project, a range of novel miniaturised near-infrared (NIR) sensors were validated and integrated into a larger software platform for monitoring the high temperature production of saturated polyester resins (Megara resins, Greece), and online monitoring of moisture content during the drying of pharmaceutical granules (GlaxoSmithKline, UK). After this role, I joined AstraZeneca in January 2019 to develop automated routes for compound library synthesis using self-optimisation methods and flow chemistry. This post-doctoral project is a collaboration between Leeds University and AstraZeneca, under the academic supervision of Richard Bourne (Leeds) and Clive Green (AstraZeneca, Discovery Sciences). I am interested in the smart use of hardware (analytical instrumentation and processing equipment) through the development of efficient algorithms (software) for acquiring and analysing experimental data, controlling chemical processes, and integrating intelligent feedback loops. Hence, I normally spent half of my time in the lab running chemical experiments and the other half programming (LabVIEW and Matlab).     

Publications

  1. DE OLIVEIRA, R. R.; AVILA, C.; BOURNE, R.; MULLER, F.; DE JUAN, A. Data fusion strategies to combine sensor and multivariate model outputs for multivariate statistical process control. Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, v. 412, p. 2151-2163, 2020.

  2. LESTER, E.; AVILA, C.; PANG, C. H.; WILLIAMS, O.; PERKINS, J.; GADDIPATTI, S.; TUCKER, G.; BARRAZA, J. M.; TRUJILLO-URIBE M. P.; WU, T. A proposed biomass char classification system. Fuel, v. 232, p. 845-854, 2018.

  3. AVILA, C.; WU, T.; LESTER, E. Petrographic characterization of coals as a tool to detect spontaneous combustion potential. Fuel, v. 125, p. 173-182, 2014.

  4. AVILA, C.; WU, T.; LESTER, E. Estimating the spontaneous combustion potential of coals using thermogravimetric analysis. Energy & Fuels, v. 28, p. 1765-1773, 2014.

  5. AVILA, C.; PANG, C. H.; WU, T.; LESTER, E. Morphology and reactivity characteristics of char biomass particles. Bioresource Technology, v. 102, p. 5237-5243, 2011.

  6. KUMAR, H.; LESTER, E.; KINGMAN, S.; BOURNE, R.; AVILA, C.; JONES, A.; ROBINSON, J.; HALLECK, P. M.; MATHEWS, J. P. Inducing fractures and increasing cleat apertures in a bituminous coal under isotropic stress via application of microwave energy. International Journal of Coal Geology, v. 88, p. 75-82, 2011.

  7. AVILA, C.; RIVELA CARBALLAL, B.; MENDEZ PAMPIN, R.; MOREIRA, M. T.; FEIJOO, G. Comportamiento, modelizacion e impacto ambiental de los lixiviados de vertedero. Technologia del agua, v. 28, p. 48-57, 2008.