Dr Maria Papadaki is a Chemical Engineer and Professor of Environmental Processes and Chemistry (since 2009) at the Department of Agriculture (sinc 20220, and recently the Dean of the School of Agricultural Sciences of the University of Patras, Greece and a Research Associate of Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Center, Texas A&M University, USA (since 2004). Her key research interests include biofuels and agricultural waste valorization, process safety, reactive chemicals, catalytic processes, advanced oxidation methods, fluid mechanics. She worked at the Chemical Engineering Depatment of: (a) Imperial College, as a postdoctoral researcher (1991-1995) (b) Institute Quimic de Sarria, Spain, as a postdoctoral researcher (1995-1997) (c) University of Leeds, as a Faculty member (1998-2005) and then at the Department of Environmental and Natural Resources Management, University of Ioannina and Patras, and the Department of Environmental Engineering, University pf Patras at Agrinio (2005-2022) and afterwards at the Department of Agriculture, University of Patras.  Since early childhood she has been continuously working on small scale cultivations of a variety of crops.

Her PhD research at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and her postdoctoral research at Imperial College on the field of thermophysical properties has contributed to the accurate evaluation of viscosity and thermal conductivity of fluids and to the advancement of the kinetic theory of gases. Her subsequent research on reactive chemicals and inherently safer reactions and calorimetry (Institut Quimic de Sarria, Spain, University of Leeds, UK, University of Patras, Greece, TAMU, USA) opens the way for safer, environmentally sound processes with minimal energy and mass waste. Her research also engulfed advanced oxidation processes for wastewaters decontamination and subsequently the production of biofuels and waste valorization for added value products (University of Leeds, UK, University of Patras, Greece,). 

She has taught at undergraduate and postgraduate levels all key chemical engineering courses (amongst others, homogeneous and heterogeneous chemical reactors, transport phenomena, process design and economics, process safety, mass and energy balances) in Greece and UK and has delivered seminars and courses in Spain, Mexico, India, Bangladesh, France and USA. 

She has contributed either as a collaborator or as a principal investigator in many research projects and has over 150 research publications in high impact research journals and Conference Proceedings.