Paola Lettieri

Paola graduated in Mechanical Engineering from Sapienza University of Rome in 1994 and since then broadened her interest into Chemical Engineering working at BP Chemicals Sunbury for five years. She was awarded a PhD in Chemical Engineering from UCL in 1999. She joined the Chemical Engineering department at UCL in 2001 as a Research Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering; she is currently a Reader. 

Paola has 18 years’ experience in Particle Technology and Fluidization spanning applications across the chemical, petrochemical, nuclear and energy-from-waste sector. She has built a strong and continuing collaboration with industry with projects funded by BP, Huntsman, Dow Corning, Advanced Plasma Power, the Nuclear National Lab and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. Her research activities encompass experimental, mathematical modelling, rheology, X-ray imaging, bridging the engineering scale-up and design of fluidized bed processes with sustainability principles through life cycle assessment. She leads the LCA effort on two major projects: the £12M UK Catalysis Hub and the £5M Centre for Nature Inspired Engineering.

She has recently been awarded a prestigious Royal Academy of Engineering/The Leverhulme Trust Senior Research Fellowship to develop a Life Cycle Approah for Nuclear Waste Management. She has published over 140 refereed articles and has contributed to 6 book chapters. She is a Fellow of the IChemE and Chartered Engineer. She is Deputy Chair of the IChemE Particle Technology Subject Group and committee member of the IChemE Sustainability Subject Group. She is member of the International Expert Group on LCA for Waste Management.