Silmara Furtado da Silva

I hold a master's in Technology of Chemical and Biochemical Processes from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). As an undergraduate and postgraduate student and research assistant, I participated in three Petrobras R&D projects focusing on Green Chemistry and Biofuels university-company technology transfer.

The first two projects revolved around the scale-up of diesel-biodiesel fuel mixtures. They involved implementing storage, oxidation stability, and thermal stability methodologies of different biodiesel types using the Rancimat method. The third project was centred on producing olefins via alcohol chemistry in a PID Eng&Tech® multipurpose catalytic unit, focusing on proposing a process, optimizing the reaction conditions, and purifying the olefins using Aspen Hysys®.

In addition to my Chemical Engineering research, I have been deeply involved in Chemistry Education. From 2015 to 2020, I taught Chemistry in entrance exam preparatory courses at UFRJ and another course linked to the Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro (UNIRIO). I also served as a tutor for General Chemistry II for undergraduate students at UFRJ from 2016 to 2017.

I further contributed to the field of Chemistry Education by coordinating the Green Chemistry mentorship project for UFRJ School of Chemistry undergraduate courses from 2020 to 2022. In 2023, I joined Latin Hire as a Chemistry Expert, where I developed virtual tutoring activities for undergraduate students from the Hispanic community at American universities.

From 2018 to 2020, I was part of the UFRJ extension project "Catalyzing the Circular Economy." During this time, I integrated the authors' team of the digital books "Catalyzing the Circular Economy" and "Circular Economy: A New Mindset on Sustainable Development."

Currently, I am a PhD candidate in Chemical Engineering at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) and continue to contribute to the field of Chemistry Education. Additionally, I am chair of the ACS UFRJ Student Chapter, which is dedicated to developing teaching, learning, and research activities in Green Chemistry.

Over the years, my work has been recognized with seven awards from the American Chemical Society for developing Green Chemistry activities applied to various contexts such as schools, universities, companies, and industries.