Dr. Fuertez joined IBRL in April 2023. He is working to develop a quantitative test at the laboratory scale for determining how well corn is steeped and how that relates to its wet milling performance with the collaboration of Archer Daniels Midland Co. Corn kernel steep research is performed with the aim of a method that can be implemented by industry corn wet milling plants.
He has a B.S and M.S in Chemical Engineering from the National University of Colombia, Medellin campus. He received his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Utah. His previous research projects involved the pretreatment and bioprocessing of lignocellulosic biomass for ethanol production. As well as the modeling and optimization of methane production from coal and complex organic matter, and topics concerning to food security.
Dr. Fuertez received a PhD Scholarship Postgraduate Study Abroad-Francisco Jose de Caldas (2009), three consecutive grants as a Young and Innovator Researcher (2007-2009), and one grant as Postdoctoral Researcher (2017) from the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation of Colombia (Minciencias). Also, he was awarded a Ph.D Tuition Waiver Scholarship (2011) and belonged to the Tuition Benefit Program (2015) from the University of Utah. Currently, he is member of the Golden Key International Honour Society (2012) and the Honor Society (2014).