Susana Arrechea, PhD

Dr. Susana Arrechea received her undergraduate degree in chemical engineering (2010) from the University of San Carlos in Guatemala (USAC), working in her early career as a physical chemistry assistant professor at USAC. In 2011 she was awarded a scholarship from Fundación Carolina to study a Masters and doctorate in Molecular Nanoscience and Nanotechnology at the University of Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM), Spain. She finished her PhD in 2015 with cum laude recognition. During those years, she also worked as a volunteer for the engineering faculty at USAC, developing nanotechnology academic activities.  Near the end of her doctoral study she was selected to become a Fulbright Nexus fellow, and from 2014 to 2016 generated renewable energy research, working as visiting researcher at the University of California-Berkeley in 2015-2016.

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Today Dr. Arrechea works as a research professor in the Technological Development and Innovation research area of ​​USAC’s School of Chemical Engineering, developing projects funded by national and international agencies. She has published 10 scientific articles and participated in 29 national and 10 international congresses, H index 5.

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She is directing young women as part of a researcher volunteer group and advises young women in undergraduate research projects on nanotechnology.

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Dr. Arrechea joined the Center for Biotechnology Studies (CEB) of the University of Valle de Guatemala in 2017 as a researcher and for one year carried out a research project on bio-nanomaterials with application in water treatment. During this time, she supervised female students from the chemistry department in a project to convert biological waste from an insect production facility into chitosan nanoparticles, an innovative strategy for water purification within the same production facility. She continues to collaborate with CEB on the chitosan project.

 

She has also recently been a collaborator in a pilot project developed by New Sun Road (a California renewable energy company) and funded by Microsoft.  Dr. Arrechea acts for this project as liaison with Guatemala’s Ministry of Education.  The project focuses on solar electrification and connectivity for rural community centers, with a March 2018 demonstration launch at a rural school called Aldea Llano Grande introducing 65 students in Guatemala to computers.

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Dr. Arrechea has been featured in several national magazine and television interviews, often around the topic of motivating girls to pursue STEM careers.  Dr. Arrechea has been a speaker and otherwise participated in several recent activities to motivate girls to pursue STEM careers, with more than 1,500 girls attending to date. She was the winner of a “Guatemaltecos Ilustres” (“Illustrious Guatemalans”) award for 2017 in the scientific category.  In the same year she won the prize for Young Scientists 2017, granted by the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS), and the National Secretariat of Science and Technology, Academy of Medical, Physical and Natural Sciences of Guatemala.

 

She is currently a member of the MATECSS UNESCO Materials Network, the Affordable Energy For All Global Change Initiative (AE4H), and the "José Roberto Leite" Nanotechnology Disclosure Network (Nanodyf). She is also a member of the Nanotechnology Network of Guatemala (NanoteG), the International Network of Scientists of Guatemala, and the Metropolitan Network of Women Scientists of Guatemala (SENACYT).  Other memberships include the Academy of Medical, Physical and Natural Sciences of Guatemala, the Organization of Woman in Science for Developing Countries (OWSD).