Loreto Valenzuela Roediger is dean of the Faculty of Engineering since 2022 and Associate Professor of the Department of Chemical Engineering and Bioprocesses.

She is an Industrial Civil Engineer with a Master’s in Engineering Sciences from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and Ph.D. from Rutgers University, United States, specializing in biomedical engineering. She is the founder of the startup FishExtend, an innovation that extends the shelf life of fresh fish using natural ingredients, reducing production losses due to spoilage.

As a researcher, her specialties are the characterization of polymeric materials, food applications (edible films and coatings), biomedical (scaffold design, manufacturing and characterization), magnetic nanoparticles and nanotechnology, as well as QSPR modeling and molecular dynamics of solute-solvent interaction.

During her career she has obtained various awards such as the Young Scientist Award at the 9th World Biomaterials Congress in Chengdu, China (2012), and the ICX Albion Farms & Fisheries award at the “Fish 2.0, global competition and network for sustainable seafood businesses” of Palo Alto, CA, USA (2017) for the development of FishExtend technology.

She has an extensive career leading research teams in innovation projects that led her to be recognized as one of the 100 Women Leaders 2019, a recognition given by El Mercurio and Women Entrepreneurs to outstanding women in various fields.

Professor Valenzuela was also vicedean of the Faculty of Engineering, responsible for the International Relations of the career, where she stood out for her contribution in the execution of CORFO’s Engineering 2030 project. In addition, she served as director of College UC between 2020 and 2022.