The Industrial University of Santander (UIS), through its School of Chemical Engineering, welcomed three French students from CPE Lyon during the 2025-2 academic semester: Clélia Monnier, Dorine Mallet, and Candice Cuenot, who are doing their internships in different research groups at the institution.
The young women, who are studying chemical engineering and process engineering, are participating in projects with high scientific and technological impact that strengthen UIS’s international academic cooperation.
Clélia Monnier is doing her internship at the Center for Catalysis Research (CICAT), a group specializing in catalysis research and materials design, focused on developing more sustainable and efficient processes. For her, being at the UIS has been “a very beautiful and large university; I like the Spanish language, Colombia, and I want to learn a lot from the people here, because they are very friendly, so I hope to learn a lot”; she also highlighted that “in chemistry I have a lot to learn in the laboratories, because in France we don’t go into it in depth, so with the researchers here in chemistry I can learn a lot.”
Dorine Mallet is spending her stay with the Interfase group – Technologies for the Valorization of Waste and Agricultural and Industrial Sources for Energy Sustainability, where she is participating in a project to assess the risks of acidification in the co-digestion of coffee waste with cattle manure in tubular biodigesters. “I came here to discover a new culture, to find out how people who have learned different things from me work, and to exchange new knowledge, Colombian knowledge, and I will try to pass on French knowledge to the Colombians here,” she said.
Finally, Candice Cuenot joins the Interfacial Phenomena, Rheology, and Transport Simulation (FIRST) group, which focuses on researching the interfacial rheology of solutions to optimize oil extraction processes through the injection of surfactants. Candice says that the internship “will allow me to discover another way of working, other teams, and other chemistry instruments that I am not familiar with at the moment, but which I hope to learn about.”
The presence of these students reflects the UIS’s commitment to consolidating international knowledge networks and promoting academic mobility, strengthening the training of researchers capable of facing the scientific and technological challenges of the future.
