Centre of Biological Engineering / Centro de Engenharia Biológica

A. Luís Amaral

Coordinator Professor

Research Line: Industrial Biotechnology and Bioengineering
Research Group: BIOSYSTEMS
lpamaral@deb.uminho.pt
https://www.ceb.uminho.pt/People/Profile/antonioamaral

Career

2007 - 2022: Assistant Professor, Instituto Politécnico de Coimbra
2002 - 2007: Lecturer of the 1st Triennium , Instituto Politécnico de Bragança

Qualifications

2017: Gestão - Ciência Aplicada à Decisão, Universidade de Coimbra
2003: PhD Program in Chemical and Biological Engineering, Universidade do Minho
1999: Master Program in Biological Engineering, Universidade do Minho
1996: Licenciatura em Engenharia Biológica, Universidade do Minho

Roles and Responsibilities

Since 2018: Member of Program Studies Steering Committee, Instituto Politécnico de Coimbra
2018 - 2020: Member of the Pedagogic Council, Instituto Politécnico de Coimbra
2018 - 2020: Program Director, Instituto Politécnico de Coimbra
2016 - 2018: Member of the Scientific Council, Instituto Politécnico de Coimbra
2015 - 2016: Program Director, Instituto Politécnico de Coimbra
2013 - 2017: Vice-Head of Department, Instituto Politécnico de Coimbra
2013 - 2015: Program Director, Instituto Politécnico de Coimbra
2009 - 2016: Member of the Pedagogic Council, Instituto Politécnico de Coimbra
2009 - 2012: Program Director, Instituto Politécnico de Coimbra
2009 - 2010: Member of Program Studies Steering Committee, Instituto Politécnico de Coimbra
2007 - 2008: Member of the Scientific Council, Instituto Politécnico de Coimbra
Since 2007: Member of the Scientific Steering Committee of Department, Instituto Politécnico de Coimbra
2006 - 2007: Member of the Scientific Council, Instituto Politécnico de Bragança
2005 - 2006: Member of the Pedagogic Council, Instituto Politécnico de Bragança

Honors and Awards

2009: Best Poster Award - Engineering School Week
2004: CUF Prize for the Best Chemical and Biological Engineering PhD thesis in Portugal (António Luís Amaral: Image Analysis in Biotechnological Processes: Applications to Wastewater Treatment)

2002 - 2007: Professor integrated in the subunit: Centre of Biological Engineering
1999 - 2003: Image analysis in biotechnological processes: applications to wastewater treatment
1997 - 1999: Development of Image Analysis Techniques for Application in Biotechnological Processes

Past Projects

Past Supervision of Researchers

Cristiano da Silva Leal - PhD Student
Daniela Patrícia Bernardino Mesquita - Doctoral Researcher
Daniela Patrícia Bernardino Mesquita - PhD Student

Recent Publications

1	Esperanço, Pedro; Egito, Rômulo; Oliveira, Verónica; Amaral, A. Luís; Rodrigues, Carla Influence of effluent quality parameters on Daphnia spp. overgrowth in an urban wastewater treatment plant: a multiyear case study analysis Processes, 13(4), 1164, 2025
2	Silva, Sérgio A.; Duarte, Maria Salomé; Amaral, A. Luís; Ferreira, Eugénio C.; Alves, M. Madalena; Mesquita, Daniela P. Monitoring the stability of aerobic granular sludge under increasing fractions of slowly biodegradable substrate using quantitative image analysis Chemosphere, 374(144233), 2025
3	Amaral, A. Luís; Martins, Rita; Dias, Luís C. Drivers of energy efficiency in the Portuguese water industry Environment, Development and Sustainability, (In Press), 2025
4	Melo, António; Costa, Joana; Quintelas, Cristina; Amaral, A. Luís; Ferreira, Eugénio C.; Mesquita, Daniela P. Quantitative image analysis for assessing extracellular polymeric substances in activated sludge under atrazine exposure Separation and Purification Technology, 349(127831), 2024
5	Roxo, Ivo; Amaral, A. Luís; Portugal, António; Trovão, João Draft genome sequence and comparative genomic analysis of Penicillium pancosmium MUM 23.27 isolated from raw honey Archives of Microbiology, 206(36), 2024
6	Roxo, Ivo; Amaral, A. Luís; Portugal, António; Trovão, João A preliminary metabarcoding analysis of Portuguese raw honeys Archives of Microbiology, 205(12), 386-386, 2023
7	Amaral, A. Luís; Martins, Rita; Dias, Luís C. Operational drivers of water reuse efficiency in Portuguese wastewater service providers Utilities Policy, 83(101591), 2023
8	Braga, Adelaide; Mesquita, Daniela P.; Cordeiro, Ana; Belo, Isabel; Ferreira, Eugénio C.; Amaral, A. Luís Monitoring biotechnological processes through quantitative image analysis: Application to 2-phenylethanol production by Yarrowia lipolytica Process Biochemistry, 129, 221-229, 2023
9	Quintelas, Cristina; Rodrigues, Cláudia; Sousa, Clara; Ferreira, Eugénio C.; Amaral, A. Luís Cookie composition analysis by Fourier transform near infrared spectroscopy coupled to chemometric analysis Food Chemistry, 435(137607), 2023
10	Amaral, A. Luís; Martins, Rita; Dias, Luís C. Drivers of water utilities’ operational performance – An analysis from the Portuguese case Journal of Cleaner Production, 389(136004), 2023
11	Amaral, A. Luís; Martins, Rita; Dias, Luís C. Efficiency benchmarking of wastewater service providers: An analysis based on the Portuguese case Journal of Environmental Management, 321(115914), 2022
12	Leal, Cristiano S.; Val del Río, Angeles; Mesquita, Daniela P.; Amaral, A. Luís; Ferreira, Eugénio C. Prediction of sludge settleability, density and suspended solids of aerobic granular sludge in the presence of pharmaceutically active compounds by quantitative image analysis and chemometric tools Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, 105(2), 107136, 2022
13	Costa, Joana; Paulo, Ana M.S.; Amorim, Catarina L.; Amaral, A. Luís; Castro, Paula M.L.; Ferreira, Eugénio C.; Mesquita, Daniela P. Quantitative image analysis as a robust tool to assess effluent quality from an aerobic granular sludge system treating industrial wastewater Chemosphere, 291, Part 2(132773), 2022
14	Silva, Sérgio A.; Val del Río, Angeles; Amaral, A. Luís; Ferreira, Eugénio C.; Alves, M. Madalena; Mesquita, Daniela P. Monitoring morphological changes from activated sludge to aerobic granular sludge under distinct organic loading rates and increasing minimal imposed sludge settling velocities through quantitative image analysis Chemosphere, 286, Part 2(131637), 2022
15	Leal, Cristiano S.; Val del Río, Angeles; Ferreira, Eugénio C.; Mesquita, Daniela P.; Amaral, A. Luís Validation of a quantitative image analysis methodology for the assessment of the morphology and structure of aerobic granular sludge in the presence of pharmaceutically active compounds Environmental Technology & Innovation, 23(101639), 2021
16	Leal, Cristiano S.; Lopes, Mariana; Val del Río, Angeles; Quintelas, Cristina; Castro, Paula M.L.; Ferreira, Eugénio C.; Amaral, A. Luís; Mesquita, Daniela P. Assessment of an aerobic granular sludge system in the presence of pharmaceutically active compounds by quantitative image analysis and chemometric techniques Journal of Environmental Management, 289(112474), 2021
17	Quintelas, Cristina; Melo, António; Costa, Mariana; Mesquita, Daniela P.; Ferreira, Eugénio C.; Amaral, A. Luís Environmentally-friendly technology for rapid identification and quantification of emerging pollutants from wastewater using infrared spectroscopy Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology, 80(103458), 2020
18	Leal, Cristiano S.; Val del Río, Angeles; Mesquita, Daniela P.; Amaral, A. Luís; Castro, Paula M.L.; Ferreira, Eugénio C. Sludge volume index and suspended solids estimation of mature aerobic granular sludge by quantitative image analysis and chemometric tools Separation and Purification Technology, 234(116049), 2020
19	Leal, Cristiano S.; Mesquita, Daniela P.; Amaral, A. Luís; Amaral, Almerinda M.; Ferreira, Eugénio C. Environmental impact and biological removal processes of pharmaceutically active compounds: The particular case of sulfonamides, anticonvulsants and steroid estrogens Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology, 50(7), 698-742, 2020
20	Quintelas, Cristina; Braga, Adelaide; Mesquita, Daniela P.; Amaral, A. Luís; Ferreira, Eugénio C.; Belo, Isabel NIR spectroscopy applied to the determination of 2‐Phenylethanol and L‐Phenylalanine concentrations in culture medium of Yarrowia lipolytica Journal of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology, 94(3), 812-818, 2019

Full List

A. Luís Amaral

Coordinator Professor

Career

Qualifications

Roles and Responsibilities

Honors and Awards

Past Projects

Past Supervision of Researchers

Recent Publications

Influence of effluent quality parameters on Daphnia spp. overgrowth in an urban wastewater treatment plant: a multiyear case study analysis

Monitoring the stability of aerobic granular sludge under increasing fractions of slowly biodegradable substrate using quantitative image analysis

Drivers of energy efficiency in the Portuguese water industry

Quantitative image analysis for assessing extracellular polymeric substances in activated sludge under atrazine exposure

Draft genome sequence and comparative genomic analysis of Penicillium pancosmium MUM 23.27 isolated from raw honey

A preliminary metabarcoding analysis of Portuguese raw honeys

Operational drivers of water reuse efficiency in Portuguese wastewater service providers

Monitoring biotechnological processes through quantitative image analysis: Application to 2-phenylethanol production by Yarrowia lipolytica

Cookie composition analysis by Fourier transform near infrared spectroscopy coupled to chemometric analysis

Drivers of water utilities’ operational performance – An analysis from the Portuguese case

Efficiency benchmarking of wastewater service providers: An analysis based on the Portuguese case

Prediction of sludge settleability, density and suspended solids of aerobic granular sludge in the presence of pharmaceutically active compounds by quantitative image analysis and chemometric tools

Quantitative image analysis as a robust tool to assess effluent quality from an aerobic granular sludge system treating industrial wastewater

Monitoring morphological changes from activated sludge to aerobic granular sludge under distinct organic loading rates and increasing minimal imposed sludge settling velocities through quantitative image analysis

Validation of a quantitative image analysis methodology for the assessment of the morphology and structure of aerobic granular sludge in the presence of pharmaceutically active compounds

Assessment of an aerobic granular sludge system in the presence of pharmaceutically active compounds by quantitative image analysis and chemometric techniques

Environmentally-friendly technology for rapid identification and quantification of emerging pollutants from wastewater using infrared spectroscopy

Sludge volume index and suspended solids estimation of mature aerobic granular sludge by quantitative image analysis and chemometric tools

Environmental impact and biological removal processes of pharmaceutically active compounds: The particular case of sulfonamides, anticonvulsants and steroid estrogens

NIR spectroscopy applied to the determination of 2‐Phenylethanol and L‐Phenylalanine concentrations in culture medium of Yarrowia lipolytica

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BIOSYSTEMS People

A. Luís Amaral

Coordinator Professor

Career

Qualifications

Roles and Responsibilities

Honors and Awards

Past Projects

Past Supervision of Researchers

Recent Publications

News

About

Research

Groups

Other Sites

Contact Us

Stay Connected