Luca Alibardi

Italy

Dr Alibardi is research fellow at the Cranfield Water Science Institute of Cranfield University. He is Centre Manager for the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Water Infrastructure and Resilience (WIRe) and also PDRA for the EPSRC project PLEXUS.
Previously to this role, Dr Alibardi has been seconded for almost 4 years into the Innovation team of Severn Trent Water through the partnership between Cranfield University and Severn Trent Water to deliver research and development projects for the UK Water Sector. In this role, he provided technical lead, project management and project supervision to the Innovation team and has been involved in projects on FOG management and remediation in sewer systems at full scale, recovery of coagulants from water sludge for reuse in wastewater treatment processes, phosphorus removal at full scale as technical lead for the national phosphorus trial for Severn Trent.
Before joining Cranfield University, Dr Alibardi was research fellow at the University of Padova (Italy) and his research activities mainly focused in the field of biological hydrogen production from organic waste. He also worked on a project for the co-treatment of source segregated wastewater and organic waste (AquaNova concept) with a pilot installation in a mountain hut (EnergiaNova project). During his time at the University of Padova, Dr Alibardi developed expertise in the area of anaerobic digestion of organic waste, developed analytical capabilities and technical support for public bodies and private companies active in the field of anaerobic digestion of waste or agricultural products and residues.
He has been guest associate editor for the journal Waste Management (Elsevier) and scientific secretary for the Sardinia and Venice International symposia.
Since 2013 he is co-Leader of the Task Group on Waste Biorefinery of the International Waste Working Group (IWWG - www.iwwg.eu).
Dr Alibardi’s current research interests centre on the development of alternative technologies for solids removal in wastewater and water treatments. His research currently focuses on the use of cloth filtration as an alternative to conventional membranes to develop combined membrane-biological processes to sustain the production of added value products from waste materials. More broadly, Dr Alibardi focus on the extraction of added value from waste and residues and on the development of the concept of organic waste biorefinery.