Enzymatic Reactors

Prof. F. Xavier Malcata earned a B.Sc. degree in Chemical Engineering by the College of Engineering of University of Porto (UP) – Porto (Portugal) in 1986 (with first class honors); a Ph.D. degree in Chemical Engineering (with a distributed minor in Food Science, Statistics and Biochemistry), by the University of Wisconsin (UW) – Madison (USA) in 1991; an equivalence Doctoral degree in Biotechnology – food science and technology, by the Portuguese Catholic University (UCP) – Porto (Portugal) in 1998; and a Habilitation degree in Food Science and Engineering, also by UCP, in 2004.

Prof. Malcata held academic appointments as: Teaching Assistant at UCP in 1985-87 and at UW in 1988; Lecturer at UW in 1989; Assistant Professor at UCP in 1991-98; Associate Professor at UCP in 1998-2004; and Full Professor at UCP in 2004-2010, Superior Institute of Maia (ISMAI) – Maia (Portugal) in 2010-2012 and UP from 2012 on. He also held professional appointments as: Dean of the College of Biotechnology of UCP in 1998-2008; President of the Portuguese Society of Biotechnology in 2003-2008; Coordinator of the Northern Chapter of Chemical Engineering of the Portuguese Engineering Accreditation Board in 2004-2009; Official Delegate, in 2002-13, of the Portuguese Government to the VI and VII Framework Programs held by the European Union – in such key areas as Food quality and safety, and Food, agriculture (including fisheries) and biotechnology, respectively; Chief Executive Officer of the University/Industry Extension (non-profit) Associations AESBUC in 1998-2008 and INTERVIR+ in 2006-2008; and Chief Executive Officer of the Entrepreneurial Biotechnological Support Associations CiDEB in 2005-2008 and INOVAR&CRESCER in 2006-2008.

Over the years, the author received numerous national and international public recognitions and awards.

Among his many scientific interests, Prof. Malcata has focused his research chiefly on four major areas: theoretical simulation and optimization of enzyme reactors; theoretical optimization of thermodynamically- and kinetically-controlled processes; production and immobilization of oxidoreductases and hydrolases for industrial applications; and design and optimization of bioreactors to produce and process edible oils.

To date, he has published more than 470 papers in peer reviewed international journals, he wrote 14 (single-authored) books and edited 5 (multi-authored) books.