Instructions
Named in honor of Prof. Esteban A. Brignole, this award recognizes nominees who combine technical excellence with selfless service in promoting progress, innovation, and collaboration within our community. Candidates should be professionals working in South America, Central America, Portugal, or Spain — regardless of citizenship — in either the academic or industrial sector. The selection process is coordinated by the International Scientific Committee, and the winner will be invited as a guest speaker at EQUIFASE 2027, delivering the Esteban A. Brignole Lecture.
Rules
- Nominees to the award are expected to combine technical excellence with selfless service to promote progress, innovation, and collaboration.
- Regardless of their citizenship, candidates should be professionals working in South America, Central America, Portugal, or Spain, either in the academic or industrial sectors.
- Nominees should have attended at least one of the previous Equifase Conferences and must be aged 50 or less on December 31, 2027.
- Members of the Local Organizing Committee are not eligible for the Award. Self-nominations will not be considered. If a member of the International Committee is either nominated as a valid candidate for the Award, or listed as a reference for someone else's candidature, this person will not vote and will be excluded from any discussion related to the selection process.
- If you would like to nominate a colleague, please send an email to equifase2027@udec.cl.
ESTEBAN A. BRIGNOLE
Professor Esteban A. Brignole is recognized as the most prominent figure in the field of Applied Thermodynamics in Latin America. His major research contributions are the pioneering work on the molecular design of solvents and the novel integration of rigorous thermodynamic methods to process engineering, which have gained him international recognition.
The leitmotif of his 50-year-long career has been the development of Chemical Engineering in Iberoamerican countries, where he has contributed to the establishment of successful programs of industry/academy collaboration and international cooperation. His idea of organizing Equifase, while still in the early stages of his career, is an example of successful action to promote regional integration.
The most prominent characteristic of his personality is his passion for progress and innovation, following Professor Brignole’s favorite quote from George Bernard Shaw (in: Maxims for Revolutionists):
“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”
RECENT AWARDEES
Pedro Alcântara Pessoa
University of São Paulo, Brazil
Esteban Brignole Award — EQUIFASE 2015, Alicante, Spain
Pedro de Alcântara Pessoa Filho has been a professor at the University of São Paulo's Chemical Engineering Department since 2003, becoming full professor in 2014. Trained at UNICAMP, with postdoctoral stints in Germany and Berkeley, he researches Phase Equilibrium Thermodynamics, focusing on biomolecule purification and related applications
João Araújo Pereira Coutinho
University of Aveiro, Portugal
Esteban Brignole Award — EQUIFASE 2018, Córdoba, Argentina
João Manuel Costa de Araújo Pereira Coutinho has been a full professor at the University of Aveiro's Chemistry Department since 1997, currently vice-director of CICECO. Trained in Porto and Denmark, he leads research on green solvents, biorefinery separation processes, biofuels, non-conventional solvents, biodegradable polymers, biotechnology, and biosurfactants.
Selva Pereda
National University of the South, Argentina
Esteban Brignole Award — EQUIFASE 2022, Campinas, Brazil
Selva Pereda is Principal Researcher at CONICET and Associate Professor at Universidad Nacional del Sur, Argentina. Her research covers thermodynamic modeling for biorefinery design, phase equilibrium engineering, and pressure-intensified technologies with supercritical fluids, with internationally recognized contributions on near-supercritical and biorefinery-related mixtures.
Fèlix LLovell
University Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain
Esteban Brignole Award — EQUIFASE 2024, Evora, Portugal
Fèlix Llovell is Associate Professor at Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Spain, following posts at Imperial College London and IQS Barcelona. He leads research on multiscale thermodynamic modeling, applied notably to greenhouse gas treatment solvents, and directs URV's Chair on Energy Transition for Carbon Capture and Utilization.