Introducing our new scientific staff member Paraskevi Karka

Per 1st February 2022, Dr. Paraskevi Karka starts as a tenure-track Assistant Professor with education profile in Sustainable Process Design. Paraskevi will set up her research line in the Green Chemical Reaction Engineering (GCRE) group within the Engineering and Technology Institute Groningen (ENTEG). Paraskevi will also contribute to the development of sustainable process design learning lines in the tracks of Chemical Engineering and Industrial Engineering and Management programmes, enriching them with sustainability assessment approaches and appropriate pedagogical perspectives.

Paraskevi Karka graduated from the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), School of Chemical Engineering, in 2006. She holds a PhD degree in Chemical Engineering from NTUA in the field of process design and sustainability, titled “A computational systems framework to assess and support decisions on the sustainable development of biorefineries in early stages of design” (2018). She also holds two MSc degrees in the fields of Energy Production and Management (School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, NTUA) and in Industrial Management (School of Chemical Engineering, NTUA, and Department of Industrial Management of the University of Piraeus). During 2019-2020, she worked as a Postdoctoral Researcher in Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, focusing on modelling and sustainability assessment of biofuels production processes. During that period in Chalmers, she attended a teaching and learning program for development of communication and pedagogical skills in Higher Education which led to a Diploma of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. During 2021 she worked as a Senior Researcher at the School of Civil Engineering, NTUA, participating in projects related to circular economy and industrial symbiosis and as a visiting Researcher in Chalmers University of Technology. She has participated in various EU and national research projects in NTUA and Chalmers University of Technology. In both Universities, she has also participated in assisting teaching activities on undergraduate and MSc level courses and in supervising BSc and MSc theses.

Her research interests include modelling, process design and sustainability assessment (Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and technology assessment) of industrial processes, machine learning, industrial symbiosis, circular economy and technoeconomic assessment, with particular emphasis on the development of lignocellulosic biorefineries and the production or advanced biofuels and biobased chemicals.

We are looking forward collaborating with her!