Professor Mercedes Maroto-Valer FRSE FRSC FIChemE FRSA FEI is Champion and Director of the UK Industrial Decarbonisation Research and Innovation Centre (IDRIC) focused on accelerating the transition to net zero of the UK largest industrial clusters and establishing the first world net-zero industrial cluster. Prof Maroto-Valer is Deputy Principal (Global Sustainability) at Heriot-Watt University, leading institutional and global changes in sustainability, making a significant impact on achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and working with partners to achieve global carbon reduction targets. She is also director of the Research Centre for Carbon Solutions (RCCS) at Heriot-Watt University, where she holds the Robert Buchan Chair in Sustainable Energy Engineering. RCCS that is a world leading multidisciplinary centre delivering innovation for the wider deployment of low-carbon energy systems required for meeting net-zero targets. Her internationally recognised track record covers energy systems, CCUS carbon dioxide capture and storage, integration of hydrogen technologies and low carbon fuels. Her work has been recognised through various prestigious awards and prizes, including the Philip Leverhulme Prize for Engineering in 2009.

Mercedes Maroto-Valer was elected as a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2015.

Prof Maroto-Valer is Fellow Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC, 2008), Fellow Institute of Chemical Engineers (FIChemE, 2013), Fellow Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE, 2015), Fellow Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (FRSA, 2016), Fellow Energy Institute (FEI, 2020).

She has received numerous international prizes and awards, including: