Solvay

Steering Solvay towards innovation and sustainability while laying the groundwork for future executive leadership.

• Transforming and shaping the innovation portfolio to align with long-term business goals, promoting growth, sustainability, and reinforcing industry leadership.

• Implementing Generative AI solutions within the Business Unit, enabling a surge in speed and efficiency in our R&D operations.

• Catapulted innovative technology improvements, operational excellence, and energy transition, achieving a colossal >40% reduction in CO2 emissions since 2018. This propelled us towards carbon neutrality.

• Overhauled lab specifications and standardization, providing critical analytical services. Boosted Solvay’s licensing business, generating €2 million annually.

• Coordinated global network of 18 labs, ensuring integrity and reliability of €200 million chemical assets, bolstering key business operations and quality standards.

Process Innovation Manager (R&I) - GBU Peroxides

Propelled operational excellence and strategic alignment, setting the stage for subsequent leadership roles.

• Spearheaded procedural optimization across 18 global chemical plants, bolstering annual turnover of €1 billion.

• Coordinated with technical teams, facilitated industrialization and start-up of new production units. Implemented technology improvement programs, ensuring efficient ramp-up to full capacity.

• Championed the implementation of Industry 4.0 technologies, driving significant efficiency and productivity gains across all operations.

GBU Peroxides Technology Engineer & Digital Champion

Managed process engineering, production, utilities, and laboratory services while also overseeing demolition operations to improve site layout. Ensured strict adherence to safety and quality standards, customer satisfaction, and regulatory compliance.

• Transformed energy efficiency in the sodium chlorate unit, achieving a 4% improvement. This resulted in significant cost savings and a reduced environmental impact, demonstrating my commitment to sustainability and cost control.

• Directed the ISO 17025 laboratory, supervising the lab team to ensure strict quality control of our products while also delivering external analytical services (waste waters).

• Led team, executed safe demolition of deactivated plants, revamped layout, achieving complex operation with zero incidents.

Production Engineer & Analytical Services Manager

Ensured compliance and spearheaded improvement projects in environmental areas, fostering a culture of safety.

• Guided strategic environmental decisions through technical evaluations, improving company’s sustainability compliance with 30% decrease in TSS and 50% reduction in N-NH4.

• Maintained and strengthened positive relations with Portuguese authorities, enhancing cross-functional team leadership and stakeholder management.

• Prepared and submitted comprehensive environmental reports, demonstrating strong analytical skills and attention to detail.

Deputy HSE Manager

APQuímica - Associação Portuguesa da Química, Petroquímica e Refinação

Key contributor in APQuímica's advocacy and regulatory affairs, aligning the Portuguese chemical industry with EU directives. Instrumental in engaging with authorities and associations, advancing industry interests in critical legislations like IPPC, REACH, and ETS.

• Served as a key liaison between the chemical industry and public authorities for IPPC, REACH, and ETS, achieving recognition as the Portuguese expert in Cefic’s REACH Experts Network.

• Instrumental in shaping industry responses and compliance strategies regarding critical EU regulations, demonstrating strong stakeholder management and regulatory standards expertise.

• Cultivated and leveraged extensive expertise in EU environmental and safety regulations, providing invaluable guidance to member companies, facilitating effective compliance strategies.

Technical Advisor for Responsible Care

In a world where innovation intersects with sustainability, my career is driven by a profound vision to champion sustainable innovation for a better world.

I am Nuno, a senior innovation leader with over 18 years of experience in the chemical industry. My expertise spans plant operations, lab management, global R&D leadership, and innovation management. Starting my career in engineering roles in Portugal and advancing to strategic leadership positions in Belgium, I have consistently prioritized merging innovative strategies with sustainable practices.

As Process Innovation Manager at Solvay's GBU Peroxides, I led initiatives that resulted in a significant reduction of CO2 emissions by over 40% since 2018. This achievement highlights the successful integration of sustainability into our core business operations. Beyond environmental impact, I have refined licensing business models by providing analytical services to Solvay's licensees, generating over €2M annually.

My leadership extends to building strategic partnerships with universities, research institutes, and other external stakeholders, securing €20 million in grants for innovative and sustainable solutions. I am committed to mentoring the next generation of professionals and actively collaborate with educational institutions to promote STEM and R&D partnerships, aiming to inspire sustainable future advancements.

Looking ahead, my focus is on leveraging technology, innovation, and sustainability as foundational drivers of growth and corporate responsibility within large organizations or international institutions. My goal is to guide these efforts, ensuring that innovative and sustainable solutions achieve significant societal, environmental, and economic benefits.

I am eager to connect with organizations and individuals that prioritize visionary leadership and pragmatic approaches to innovation and sustainability. Together, we can create pathways that harness these strengths, driving progress that benefits our businesses and the broader world.

Let us unite our efforts towards a future that is as innovative as it is sustainable.

Nuno Formiga

Prophecy Labs

Data Scientist

Sunthetics

Business Developer

UGent

Senior FWO PostDoctoral Researcher

President of the PostDoc Community

Research Focus: Synthesis of new heterogeneous and homogeneous catalysts for CO2 activation.

Postdoctoral Researcher

New York University

Visiting Scholar

RWTH Aachen University

Research Focus: Synthesis of new immobilized triphos derivatives for their use in the continuous flow hydrogenation of esters. 

Member of the SYNFLOW project, an EU-funded research grant designed to develop synthesis in continuous-flow processes for sustainable chemical production, involving 13 universities and seven companies across Europe.

Supervised a Bachelor student and two chemical technicians.

University of St Andrews

Thesis: Design and synthesis of ruthenium indenylidene-based catalysts for Olefin metathesis 

Worked as Student Coordinator of the FP7 EUMET project, an EU-funded research project, for the design, development, utilization and commercialization of olefin metathesis catalysts involving six universities and three companies across Europe. Acted as session discussion leader for students meetings held every six months, and as coordinator for bimonthly Skype meetings.  

In collaboration with UMICORE, developed a scalable synthetic route for the industrial production and commercialization of three metathesis catalysts M20, M23 and M31.

Collaborated with Janssen Pharmaceuticals in the development of a suitable catalyst for the synthesis of OLYSIO® (simeprevir), a prescription medicine to treat chronic hepatitis C infection.

Studied reaction mechanism employing advanced NMR techniques and in collaboration with computational chemist.

PHD Student

In charge selecting plenary speakers, finding sponsorships and website design.

Chair

ICIQ

Graduate research student under supervision of Prof. Steven P. Nolan

Researcher

Istituto di Chimica dei Composti OrganoMetallici (ICCOM-CNR)

Worked under supervision of Prof. Maurizio Peruzzini on the Synthesis of Iridium-based water soluble complexes.

Undergraduate Research Student

With over 10 years of experience in R&D, I have a strong background in chemistry, especially in olefin metathesis, CO2 Chemistry, Catalysis, and Machine Learning optimization of chemical processes. 

Currently, I work as a business developer at Sunthetics, a startup that develops sustainable and efficient chemical processes using artificial intelligence. I also work as a data scientist at Prophecy Labs, a consulting firm that helps companies leverage machine learning and AI to optimize their operations and products. I am passionate about finding new ways to do things and coming up with original solutions that combine efficiency, sustainability, and economic feasibility. I love learning and adapting to any situation, and working in teams to achieve a common goal. My ultimate goal is to lead a research team creating new technologies and products that make a positive impact on the world.

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The Battle

Nuno Formiga

César A. Urbina-Blanco

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