ECOTECH is the Environmental Technologies Area at the Instituto de Investigación Tecnológica (IIT) of ICAI, dedicated to the development, evaluation, and implementation of sustainable technologies applied to the environment. With an interdisciplinary approach, it combines technical innovation, quantitative analysis, and a strong commitment to knowledge transfer to address the challenges of ecological transition and environmental safety.
Its mission is to research and promote advanced technological solutions that lead towards more sustainable, resilient, and safe environmental, energy, and urban systems through scientific tools, modeling, experimentation, and cross-sector collaboration.
ECOTECH actively collaborates with other research centers, universities, professional associations, and companies in the environmental, energy, agri-food, and safety sectors. Its goal is to generate synergies, promote technological innovation, and support the implementation of sustainable solutions in real environments.
Vallez Fernández, C.M., Contreras, D., Castro, M., "An interpretable generative probabilistic framework for demand characterization and consistency checking in dock-based bicycle-sharing systems: the case of BiciMad", Scientific Reports, Vol. 16, pp. 26735, 2026. [Online: June 2026] doi: 10.1038/s41598-026-56879-7
JCR-JIF: 4,900 Q1 (2025) - SJR: 0,893 Q1 (2025) Lumbreras, S., González-Moreno, A., "Standardizing Energy Policy Analysis: A Global Ontology of Factors and Research Questions for a Sustainable Transition", Sustainability, Vol. 18, nº. 13, pp. 6648, July 2026. [Online: July 2026] doi: 10.3390/su18136648
JCR-JIF: 4,100 Q2 (2025) - SJR: 0,750 Q1 (2025) Linares, J.I., Pérez-Domínguez, J.R., Arenas, E.M., Moratilla, B.Y., "Unlocking nuclear flexibility through hydrogen production", Energy Conversion and Management, Vol. 349, pp. 120934, February 2026. [Online: December 2025] doi: 10.1016/j.enconman.2025.120934
JCR-JIF: 11,800 Q1 (2025) - SJR: 2,600 Q1 (2025) Gómez, J.L., Marcoulaki, E., Cantizano, A., Konstantinidou, M., Caro, R., Castro, M., "Wildfire Mitigation in Small-to-Medium-Scale Industrial Hubs Using Cost-Effective Optimized Wireless Sensor Networks", Fire, Vol. 9, nº. 1, pp. 43, January 2026. [Online: January 2026] doi: 10.3390/fire9010043
JCR-JIF: 3,200 Q1 (2025) - SJR: 0,641 Q1 (2025) Gallén, A., Muñoz Biosca, J., Castro, M., Hernández-Machado, A., "Deformable bodies in a 3-dimensional viscous flow: Vorticity-stream vector formulation", Physics of Fluids, Vol. 38, nº. 1, pp. 013119, January 2026. [Online: January 2026] doi: 10.1063/5.0304652
JCR-JIF: 3,800 Q1 (2025) - SJR: 0,714 Q1 (2025) María del Mar Cledera Castro holds a PhD in Industrial Engineering and is an Associate Professor at Comillas Pontifical University (ICAI). She coordinates the Environmental Technologies Area at the Institute for Research in Technology (IIT) and the Emerging Contaminants and Resource Recovery Research Group. She is also Head of the Chemistry and Environment Laboratory and ICAI’s representative to the Integral Ecology Unit. Her research focuses on environmental technologies, water treatment, emerging contaminants, waste management and resource recovery, anaerobic digestion, and biogas and biomethane production. Her work also encompasses renewable energy, the energy transition, life cycle assessment, and sustainability assessment.
