Víctor Vilarrasa Riaño (Principal Investigator)

Biography

I am a tenured scientist at the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC). I am Civil Engineer by training. I got my degree in Barcelona, at the Technical University of Catalonia (UPC). I did my master thesis at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm. After two-year professional experience in the construction sector, I decided to pursue my career in academy. I did my PhD in Civil Engineering at the UPC on geologic carbon storage, during which I did a short stay at Stanford University. My PhD thesis dissertation was awarded with honors “Cum Laude” and I received the Special Doctoral Award of the UPC to the most outstanding doctoral theses defended during the academic year 2011-12. I have postdoctoral experience at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), where I was awarded with the competitive “EPFL Fellows” Fellowship co-funded by Marie Curie.

I was honoured with the MIT Technology Review Award to Innovators Under 35, Spain Edition 2014, for the proposal to inject CO2 in liquid state as an energetically efficient and geomechanically stable injection concept for geologic carbon storage. As a recognition to my scientific trajectory, I received the Alfons Bayó Award to Young Researchers from the International Association of Hydrogeologists – Spanish Group in 2015; and in 2018, the Outstanding Early Career Scientist Award of the Energy, Resources and the Environment (ERE) Division of the European Geoscience Union (EGU).

My motivation for my research is to provide solutions for a successful transition from the current energy market, to one with no CO2 emissions. To achieve this objective, my research deals with geo-energy applications, especially geologic carbon storage, geothermal energy and the related induced seismicity. Recently, I have been granted with an ERC Starting Grant to develop predictive models of fluid injection-induced seismicity.

 

Publications

Researcher ID: A-1700-2016
Google Scholar: link
ORCID iD: 0000-0003-1169-4469

 

Expertise

Induced seismicity; Coupled processes; Geomechanics; Hydrogeology; Fractures and faults; Numerical modeling; Geologic carbon storage; Geothermal energy

 

Education

2012 PhD (thesis defended with honors “cum laude” on 20th July, 2012) at the Technical University of Catalonia (UPC), Spain
2009 Short (two months) stay during PhD studies at Stanford University, California
2006 MSc in Civil Engineering at the UPC, Spain, with the master thesis developed at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Sweden

 

Experience

2017 - 

Researcher at the Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research, Spanish National Research Council (IDAEA-CSIC), Barcelona, Spain

2014 - 2016

Postdoc at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland (“EPFL Fellows” Fellowship co-funded by Marie Curie)

2013 - 2014

Postdoc at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), California

2008 - 2012

PhD at the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) (Formación de Profesorado Universitario (FPU) Scholarship)

2007 - 2008

Scientific hydrogeological consultancy for the construction of the Spanish High Speed Train (AVE) in its arrival to Barcelona, for the construction company Sacyr

2006 - 2007

Head of Production, construction of the Catalan Railways stations of Sant Gervasi and Plaça Molina, Barcelona, in the company COMSA

2005 - 2006

Head of Quality and Environment in the Technical Assistance of the construction of the Spanish High Speed Train (AVE) in its arrival to Barcelona - Stretch Hospitalet - La Torrassa, in the company CYGSA