Computational Systems Biotechnology
Bioprocess and Biosystems Optimization
Statistical learning
Pedro Saa received his B.Sc. in Biological Engineering and his M.Eng.Sc. in Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering, both with maximum distinction, from the School of Engineering at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (PUC) in 2012. He was awarded the prizes for Best Master’s Thesis and Best Postgraduate Student in the department. From 2012 to 2013, he worked as a project engineer at Fraunhofer Chile Research’s Center of Systems Biotechnology and as a research scientist at the PUC’s Laboratory of Biotechnology. In 2013, he received the BECAS-CHILE and International Postgraduate Research scholarships to pursue a Ph.D. at the University of Queensland in Australia. In 2017, he received a Ph.D. in Systems Biology. In 2018, he was appointed Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering at PUC. From 2021, he holds also an appointment in the Institute for Mathematical and Computational Engineering at PUC as an Assistant Professor. Prof. Saa has been actively involved in developing novel mathematical frameworks to better understand cellular metabolism and biological systems. These frameworks have a wide range of applications, from metabolic engineering to personalized medicine. Since 2021, he is an Associate Investigator of the National Center for Artificial Intelligence (CENIA).
– Premio de Reconocimiento a la Excelencia Docente 2025, PUC.
– Premio Excelencia en Docencia 2023, Escuela de Ingeniería, PUC.
– Premio a la Innovación 2021, Escuela de Ingeniería, PUC.
– Metabolic Engineering XII Junior Researcher Grant 2018 (apoyo presentación investigación en ME-12, Munich).
– Premio Excelencia a la Docencia Profesores Jornada Parcial 2018, PUC.
– International Postgraduate Research Scholarship 2013, Australian Goverment (PhD).
– Beca de Doctorado Programa BECAS-CHILE 2013, Conicyt, Gobierno de Chile.