Dr. Melita Menelaou, Department of Chemical Engineering, Cyprus University of Technology, 3603 Limassol, Cyprus
Interests: nanoparticles; aerogel synthesis; aerogel properties; materials synthesis; physicochemical characterization; crystallography; nanomaterials.

Biography

Dr Melita Menelaou is a Chemical Engineer, PhD educated. She received her Diploma (5-year Bsc) in 2004 and her PhD in 2009 from the School of Chemical Engineering in the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. Dr Menelaou enhanced her scientific knowledge and expertise as a member of respected research groups in Japan – Advanced Institute of Materials Research (WPI-AIMR), Tohoku University, Czechia – Central European Institute of Technology-Brno University of Technology (CEITEC-BUT), Spain – University of Barcelona, and Greece – School of Chemical Engineering, and School of Chemistry, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTh). Currently, she is working at the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Cyprus University of Technology (CUT) in Cyprus. Her research interests include the synthesis and characterization of advanced materials. Dr Menelaou gained working experience with different types of materials (superconductors, aerogels, ceramics, nanoparticles), employing state of the art chemical/physical techniques (sol-gel, supercritical drying, coating, evaporation, ...) and discovering principles (quantum spin liquid). In 2017 (Japan), her research work was published in Nature Chemistry (Vol 9, 635–643) for experimentally determining, for the first time, an example of the rare quantum spin liquid (QSL). The work was also highlighted as a Nature Chemistry News & Views commentary and featured on significant scientific websites, such as EurekAlert! and Nanowerk. In 2018, she received the Seal of Excellence from the European Commission for performing high-quality research on the demanding topic of the rare-earth zirconates and their potential use as thermal barrier coatings in the Aerospace and Automotive Industry.

E-mail : melita.menelaou@cut.ac.cy