Seville, February 21, 2005. - Today, the Focus-Abengoa Foundation and the Social Council of the University of Seville presented the 2nd “Javier Benjumea Puigcerver” Research Prize to Professor Antonio Barrero Ripoll, a Doctor of Aeronautical Engineering, for his work entitled “The generation of complex structure nanoparticles by electro-hydrodynamics”.

The ceremony, held in the Central Hall of the University of Seville, was presided over by Miguel Florencio Lora, Rector of the University of Seville, Maria Luisa Garcia, Chairwoman of the Social Council of the University of Seville, and Javier and Felipe Benjumea, Chairmen of the Focus-Abengoa Foundation.

The award-winning work is an unprecedented experimental study on the design of multiple source, high density level, electro-hydrodynamic injectors, that enable flows of industrial interest to be atomized in mono-disperse drop sprays, with micro and nanometric sizes. The manufacturing of these injectors, which does not require recourse to micro-fabrication, is much simpler and more economic than those that employ needles. Finally, the use of a third electrode (extractor) eliminates the electric problems traditionally associated with the field screen effect caused by the load cloud that appears when work is being done with high-density injectors (number of sources per square centimeter raised).

Antonio Barrero Ripoll is a lecturer in Fluid Mechanics at the Superior College of Engineers of the University of Seville. Throughout his career, he has been responsible for aerospace, plasma physics, hydrodynamics, and electric and pneumatic atomization research projects. Furthermore, he has participated in studies on the electro-dynamic atomization of liquids, the techniques of fluid-dynamic nebulization, or the study of the stability, rupture and consolidation of Conic Vortices at High Vortex Reynolds Numbers.

As part of his research work, he has written two books on fluid mechanics, in collaboration with other researchers, as well as numerous articles for specialized magazines, and he has also participated in different congresses and seminars worldwide.

Editorial Line

During the prize-giving ceremony the work entitled The Light in biology. Applications of industrial and agricultural interest, by Professor Miguel Angel de la Rosa Acosta, Doctor of Physics at the University of Seville, and winner of the 1st edition of the Javier Benjumea Puigcerver Research Prize, was also presented. The publication is the result of the 1st edition of the Prize and it inaugurates an editorial line aimed at achieving maximum diffusion of a work that unifies scientific excellence and innovation for industrial and agricultural applications.

The 9,000 euro “Javier Benjumea Puigcerver” Research Prize, awarded annually, is open to Doctors, Graduates and Licentiates from the University of Seville and its aim is to recognize the applied research work carried out to solve problems of companies and public administrations in this field.

The idea of this prize was initiated by the Social Council of the University of Seville with the aim, of appraising, explaining and perpetuating the memory of a leading light of Sevillian society such as Javier Benjumea Puigcerver. The agreement between the University of Seville and the Focus-Abengoa Foundation was signed in the University’s central Hall, the same place where, on January 11, 1999, Javier Benjumea Puigcerver was invested Doctor Honoris Causa.

The Social Council of the University of Seville, society’s participating body in the University, promotes the suiting of the offer of university education and activities to the needs of Andalusia’s society. On the other hand, The Focus-Abengoa Foundation was established in 1982 as a consequence of the cultural activity initiated in 1972 by Abengoa with the publishing of the works “Sevillian Topics” and “Iconography of Seville”. During this same period a collection of documents, books and prints on Seville, or by Sevillian authors, was being put together. This initial cultural activity brought Abengoa’s Senior Management to see the importance of the company being seen outside its essential technological functions through an activity that would be of benefit to society as a whole, which led to the founding of the Fundación Fondo de Cultura de Sevilla.

The Focus-Abengoa Foundation’s activities have been ever-increasing, faithfully fulfilling its foundational aim of promoting culture in its diverse artistic and scientific manifestations. The major role-players in the life of the Focus-Abengoa Foundation have been education, painting, restoration and music, closely followed by conferences, the written word, and prints.