Xavier Alexis Walter

Senior Scientist: wastewater management for the circular economy
Environmental and Biochemical Sciences
T: 01224395120
  •  Interested in elaborating solutions to mitigate human impacts on the environment by investigating how microbial systems can be tailored using bioelectrochemical means to develop environmental technologies, at the interface between Biology and Electronic Engineering
  • Microbiologist (PhD in Environmental Microbiology) experienced in conceiving, developing, and scaling up innovating bioelectrochemical wastewater treatment processes from lab prototypes to pilot-scale systems.
  • Developing low-cost and carbon-neutral bioelectrochemical reactors supporting the wastewater treatment sector meeting “Net-Zero” targets.

Past research

  • Develop and field tested pilot-scale autonomous and self-lit sanitation systems for decentralised and off-grid areas.
  • Develop novel sustainable water treatment systems to treat urine and extract bioelectricity from it (microbial fuel cell technology).
  • Create an bio-hybrid electrical analog summator using Slime mould (Physarum polycephalum) able to perform  computing operations with high repeatability, reproducibility and comparably low propagation delays.
  • Integrate photosynthesis in bioelectrochemical systems (bioenergy/biosensing)
  • Study the biological origin of early Banded Iron Formations: the microbial iron cycle in a ferruginous lake (anaerobic photo-ferrotrophy).
  • Study the correlation between the water chemistry and the microbial mats’ presence in an alpine wetland.