Martina Reisner is coursing a Degree in Eco-Energy Engineering at University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria.

Martina Reisner, student of Degree in Eco-Energy Engineering. She is from Austria and made her internship at IMDEA Water from April 3 to June 15.

Who are you? Where are you from? What is your training?

My name is Martina Reisner. I’m originally living close to Linz (Austria), the third-largest city of Austria and capital of the state of Upper Austria. It is located in the north centre of Austria, approximately 30 kilometres south of the Czech border, on both sides of the River Danube.

I am currently pursuing my B.Sc. Degree in Eco-Energy Engineering with an anticipated graduation date of July 2016. This degree programme is all about the efficient and sustainable production, storage and use of energy. Photovoltaics, solar heat, hydro- and wind power, biomass and the improvement of the efficiency of industrial processes, production plants and buildings are the focus of the degree programme. Ecological, energy-efficient building, heating and cooling complete the fields of study.

What does your job/research consist of?

The internship as well as the bachelor thesis aims to investigate porous titania coatings based on Snow Globe Coating, a novel coating method to be implemented and tested in a SOLWAT system to obtain porous titania coatings. The Snow Globe Coating method was invented by Dr. Angelika Basch, whereas the SOLWAT system was developed by Dr. Marta Vivar García. Three rounds of experiments were conducted at the rooftop facilities of IMDEA during my stay from April to June 2016. Relying on the water well close to IMDEA, colony forming units of Escherichia coli were used to analyse the photocatalytic activity of the different titanium dioxide layers.

Why did you choose IMDEA Water for an internship? In which period do you make your internship?

My university requires each student to complete an internship of fifty full-time working days to enhance the course of study by students working on and solving real problems, usually in the context of a project, in a relevant operational environment. My professor Dr. Angelika Basch knows Dr. Marta García Vivar form her stay at the Australian National University (ANU, Australia). Therefore, I was asked if I would like to apply for an internship at IMDEA to investigate titanium dioxide layers for SOLWAT. Fortunately, my application was accepted giving me the chance to work with experts in the field of water resources quality and (waste) water treatment while spending some time near the beautiful city of Madrid, practicing my Spanish.

To what extent does this internships helping you to advance in your research/training? Have you collaborated with other researchers from IMDEA Water Institute?

The internship was accompanied by Dr. Marta Vivar García and Natalia Pichel Mira. I was able to learn a lot on the topic solar disinfection and on laboratory work. I was also able to do microbiological analyses in the laboratory and to do some investigative work, which I never had done before. I’m confident that the topics I learned during my internship will be valuable for my future university career.