Nicolas ROCHE (59), is Full Professor in Chemical Engineering at Aix-Marseille University (Aix-Marseille University Institute of Technology). He is Deputy-Director of the Research Federation ECCOREV, member of the Mediterranean Institute for Environmental Transition (ITEM-AMU) and the Carnot Institute Water & Environment (ICEE) and Affiliate Professor at the Mohamed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P, Morocco). He has been the coordinator of the Interdisciplinary and Intersectoral Research Pole (PR2I) "Environment" of Aix-Marseille University from 2013 to 2019,
He is Vice-President of the French Chemical Engineering Society (SFGP), member of the High Council of Public Health (HCSP), of the executive boards of the Global Competitiveness Clusters FRANCE WATER TEAM, AQUAVALLEY, and, of CRITT NOVACHIM (specialized cluster in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering). He is Chief Editor for the Euro-Mediterranean Journal for Environmental Integration (Springer ed.), and, member of the editorial board and referee for several peers reviewed journals in the field of water technology and environmental engineering, has been involved in the organization of numerous conferences.
His expertise is in the fields of waste and wastewater treatment processes, water reuse, sludge rheology characterization, circular economy and process modelling. He has been involved or PI of several international, national and regional collaborative research projects.
For 35 years, he has been working on the design, improvement and optimisation of wastewater treatment processes. Initially (1986-2000 period) to limit the impact of urban and industrial wastewater discharges into the environment and since 2000 on the integration of wastewater treatment into a circular economy approach, the reuse and valorisation of treated wastewater and the "smart use" of water in its use cycle, particularly adapted to the problems of emerging countries in terms of access to water and energy. This research work is also associated with the creation and development of university training courses and diplomas in the field of Process Engineering.
He received his PhD in 1989 and his HDR Research in 1997 from the National Polytechnic Institute of Lorraine in the field of Chemical Engineering applied to Wastewater Treatment and was Assistant-Professor from 1990 to 1999 at Nancy University Institute of Technology in the Chemical Engineering Science Laboratory.