In a ceremony held on October 10^th, Professor Alírio Rodrigues, Emeritus Professor at FEUP and member of ALiCE and LSRE-LCM, received the title of Professor Honoris Causa by the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE). The honour was granted by the rector Alfredo Gomes, in a ceremony held at the Rector's Office. The honour committee, including distinguished figures from the academic community, recognized Professor Alírio’s significant contributions to the field of Chemical Engineering and his lost-standing collaboration with UFPE.

The honour committee comprised Professor Maurício Alves da Motta Sobrinho, coordinator of the Chemical Engineering course and representative of the Centre for Technology and Geosciences (CTG); Carol Leandro, the dean of Postgraduate Studies (Propg); UFPE Professor Emeritus César Abreu; Jorge Cavalcanti, the head of the Chemical Engineering Department; Professor Mohand Benachour; Professor Nelson Medeiros; and Professor Augusto Knoelchman. Professor Alírio's wife, Maria Cândida, and Professor Laísse Maranhão were also present.

The Honoris Causa title is granted to professors or scientists of notable recognition, not belonging to UFPE, and who have provided relevant services to the institution or to the development of teaching, science, technology, or culture. Professor Alírio Rodrigues thus sees his role as a reference in his area of expertise and his long cooperation with the Department of Chemical Engineering at UFPE, in research projects and in the guidance of master's and doctoral students, recognized.

Follow the link to access the full article, published in Portuguese by the Federal University of Pernambuco.

The project BlueWWater – “Controlo, tratamento e redução de microplásticos e poluentes emergentes nas águas residuais urbanas e no ambiente costeiro transfronteiriço” was accepted for financing of 1 M€ by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), within the scope of the Interreg VI Spain – Portugal Cooperation Program (POCTEP) 2021-2027. With funding of 139,684.68 euros, the work on BlueWWater to be developed at FEUP will be coordinated by Vítor Vilar, Principal Researcher at LSRE-LCM.

The BlueWWater project aims to improve the quality of river, transitional and coastal water bodies, through the control, monitoring and evaluation of emissions of microplastics and contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) into the aquatic environment, through the study of the efficiency of the urban wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) in both regions and of the environmental risk of these pollutants, thus guaranteeing a sustainable use of water resources and contributing to the implementation of community regulations.

BlueWWater brings together several entities from north Portugal and Galicia, with CETMAR - Fundación Centro Tecnológico del Mar as project leader, and the institutional partners USC - Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, CIIMAR - Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental, FEUP - Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto, FCUP - Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, INTECMAR - Instituto Tecnológico para el Control del Medio Marino de Galicia, CMVC - Câmara Municipal de Viana do Castelo, Aquamuseu do Rio Minho do Municipio Vila Nova de Cerveira, CMPEAE - Empresa de Águas e Energia do Município do Porto, Centro Oceanografico de Vigo do Instituto Español de Oceanografia e CETAQUA Galicia - Fundación Centro Gallego de Investigaciones del Agua.