Giovanni Rusconi talks about his research stay at IMDEA Water
Giovanni Rusconi, PhD student at the University of Milano, has completed his research stay at IMDEA Water
Who are you? Where do you come from? What is your educational background?
I am Giovanni Rusconi Clerici, a guy of 28 years old which had the opportunity to do a collaboration with the IMDEA Water Institute. I was born in Milano (10/06/93) and I studied at the University of Milano (Agrotechnology for Sustainability) and subsequently, I performed a Master degree in Biotechnology for Sustainability, at the university Nova de Lisboa at the ITQB research Institute
What does the work / research you do consist of?
I obtained a grant at the University of Milano entitled: “Electroactive biochar. Study of applications in circular economy technologies and life cycle analysis”. More in detailed, in collaboration with Bioe group I performed experiments using percolation column systems for the oxidation of a specific wastewater coming from an industry specialized in the production of lactic ferments. The main experimental objectives were:
- Evaluate the rate of COD oxidation of the column systems;
- Compare different types of electroactive materials;
- Compare different operation mode (Tidal vs Percolation);
- Enhance the columns aeration effect (aerobic electroconductive biofilters);
- Evaluate the nutrients recovery especially under the nitrogen forms.
Why did you choose IMDEA Water for an internship? In what period did you make your internship?
I have chosen IMDEA Agua because, Bioe group, as far as I know, it is the best group in this area. In addition, once I selected this internship, I thought, that due to iMETland there was the possibility to see or implement the research also on a real scale, something that has been always my focus.
My internship lasted from August 2021 until January 2022.
Has this stay been useful to you to advance your research / training? How much? Have you collaborated with other researchers at the IMDEA Water Institute?
During this period, I have been able to advance in my research considering that I improved the nutrients recovery from the wastewater stream compared to what I was able to achieve during my experiments in Italy. This nice result was achieved also through the support of my colleagues/researchers of Bioe group.
Last but not least I received also support and a warm welcome from researchers of the Ecotoxicology group.
