Short Biography

Prof. Dr. Maria Founti is a Professor in the School of Mechanical Engineering of the National Technical University of Athens and Director of the Laboratory of Heterogeneous Mixtures and Combustion Systems. She holds a B.Sc. degree in Nuclear Engineering from the University of London, MSc. and D.I.C. in Heat Transfer Engineering, and Ph.D. in Combustion Technology from Imperial College London. She has worked as Research Associate at the Chair of Fluid Mechanics of the FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany. Her current interests focus on energy savings and storage in buildings combined with advanced energy systems and materials, combustion systems and processes and heterogeneous mixtures, fire engineering and compartment fires, multi-criteria assessment, and Life Cycle Analysis for techno-economic, social, and environmental impact of energy systems. She has 250 publications in international journals and conferences. She has participated in and coordinated 40 funded research projects.

Q&A

1. How did you become involved with Energies?

I was at first invited to act as a Guest Editor of an Energies Special Issue on “Energy Efficiency, Savings, and Storage in Buildings Combined with Advanced Energy Systems and Materials”. I liked the potential of bringing together different disciplines to create “win-win” cases for energy efficiency. It seems that several colleagues embrace this approach, and as a result, I decided to continue.

2. What impact do you hope that the journal will have in terms of the energy field?

The research topics of Energies are very close to the interests of the research community. I hope that the “Energy and Combustion Science” Section can contribute to the current transition towards the energy system decarbonization by shedding new knowledge on how our experience from the operating combustion systems can be “updated” and transferred to new systems for the benefit of society and the environment.

3. Who will be your main readers? Who should contribute to the journal, and what can the readers expect?

I would like to provide an opportunity for readers from diverse backgrounds to read high-quality and innovative papers. These can be young or experienced scientists, engineers or researchers working on combustion, or related applications and energy topics. The readers can expect to find new cross-sectoral ideas being developed and validated in peer-reviewed articles. Contributions can address basic thermo-chemical phenomena, technology development, engineering applications, and their techno-economic and environmental assessment.