educator researcher chemical engineer
Julio César Vargas Sáenz is Colombian. He completed his secondary education at the Instituto de Enseñanza Media Diversificada Carlos A. Torres in Tunja, Colombia, with an academic concentration in science and mathematics. His professional formation developed through chemical engineering and advanced research in catalytic processes, linking his academic career with research on hydrogen, biofuels, environmental remediation, and sustainable process technologies.
Vargas Sáenz completed his secondary education at the Instituto de Enseñanza Media Diversificada Carlos A. Torres in Tunja. He studied Chemical Engineering at the National University of Colombia in Bogotá and completed a master's degree in Chemical Engineering with an emphasis on catalytic processes. His master's research examined solid zeolite acid catalysts for the alkylation of isobutane with butenes. He subsequently earned a doctorate in Engineering, in the Chemical Engineering area, at the National University of Colombia, where his doctoral research investigated Ce-Zr-Co mixed oxides as catalysts for hydrogen production through ethanol reforming. He also earned a Doctor of Chemistry degree in heterogeneous catalysis from Université de Strasbourg I Louis Pasteur in France, with a dissertation on bioethanol steam reforming for hydrogen production over mixed-oxide catalysts.
Vargas Sáenz began his academic and research career at the National University of Colombia, where he served as an assistant professor and later as an associate professor. He also worked as a researcher at the Université catholique de Louvain in Belgium during the late 1990s. At the National University of Colombia, he developed a long-term research program in heterogeneous catalysis, catalytic materials, hydrogen production, biofuels, bior refining, environmental processes, and sustainable technologies. His research has included mixed cerium-zirconium-cobalt oxides for ethanol steam reforming, catalytic routes for hydrogen and renewable fuels, catalytic conversion of glycerol and palm oil, and materials for water remediation. He was a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at the University of Oklahoma from September 2011 to January 2012. He has continued his academic work in the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering at the National University of Colombia, where he has held the position of Professor Titular and has supervised graduate research, including doctoral work on sustainable technologies for surface-water remediation and smart materials.
Research on Ce-Zr-Co mixed oxides and related catalytic materials for ethanol reforming and hydrogen production.
Development and application of catalytic systems for biofuels, glycerol reforming, renewable diesel, and sustainable chemical processes.
Research and supervision concerning sustainable materials and technologies for surface-water remediation and environmental applications.
(Co-authored study examining the influence of gold on Ce-Z...)
2012(Co-authored study developing a mathematical model for oxy...)
2016(Co-authored review and research article concerning metall...)
2020(Co-authored research on the use of sustainable natural se...)
2025(Co-authored research on fluorite-type Ce-Zr-Co mixed oxid...)
2005(Co-authored study of immobilized lipases as catalysts for...)
Effect of the Active Metals on the Selective H2 Production in Glycerol Steam Reforming
(Co-authored research on Ce-Zr-Co and Ce-Zr-Co-Rh catalyst...)
2012(Co-authored research on the production of renewable diese...)
2019(Co-authored study of hydrogen donors for in situ catalyti...)
2020(Co-authored study of Au-Cu catalysts supported on Ce-Zr m...)
2019Vargas Sáenz has maintained academic and research collaborations with the National University of Colombia, Université de Strasbourg, the French National Centre for Scientific Research research environment associated with Strasbourg catalysis laboratories, the University of Oklahoma, and researchers working in catalytic materials, hydrogen production, renewable fuels, and environmental remediation.
