Team
Professors
Alexandre Presas
Director Associate Professor
Dr. Industrial Engineer and CDIF researcher, completed his Aeronautical and Mechanical Engineering studies. He earned his Ph.D. in 2014, specializing in fluid mechanics. Following a post-doc at Tsinghua University, he secured a Serra Húnter Lecturer position in 2018 and currently serves as an Associate Professor in the Fluid Mechanics department. His focus is on predicting stress and determining remaining useful life in hydraulic turbines using experimental techniques and AI. As CDIF director since 2023, he actively contributes to European and international research projects, guiding theses, and publishing in JCR papers.
David Valentín
Researcher Lecturer
Born in Barcelona, David Valentin Ruiz, a Dr. Industrial Engineer and Serra Húnter Lecturer at UPC's Fluid Mechanics Department, graduated in 2013. Awarded a special doctoral award in 2018, his research at CDIF focuses on fluid-structure interactions and dynamic behavior of hydraulic turbines. Recently appointed as a Lecturer, he teaches Fluid Mechanics and Hydraulic Machinery, actively contributing to research, directing Ph.D. theses, and publishing in JCR journals.
Mònica Egusquiza
Researcher Lecturer
Mònica Egusquiza, born in Barcelona native, earned her Mechanical Engineering degree in 2015 from UPC and TUWien. In 2020, she received her Ph.D. from UPC, conducting research at VOITH GmbH and EPFL. Currently, a researcher at CDIF, she lectures at UPC-ETSEIB, contributing to the XFLEX project and various industrial projects. Her research focuses on Pelton turbines, emphasizing dynamic behavior and damage detection. Engaged in international collaborations, she brings a multifaceted perspective to her work.
Alfredo Guardo
Researcher Associate Professor
Alfredo Guardo Zabaleta, born in Cartagena, Colombia, is an Associate Professor at the Fluid Mechanics Department, Barcelona School of Engineering. With a Ph.D. in Process Engineering from UPC, he lectures on Fluids and Thermal Engineering. His research applies Computational Fluid Dynamics to enhance thermal/energy efficiency, collaborating with UPC's Chair for Building Sustainability. Since 2007, he's contributed to numerous national and international research projects, technology transfer initiatives, PhD Thesis directions, and publications in JCR journals.
Víctor Fernández
Researcher Lecturer
Victor Fernandez Pacheco is a postdoctoral researcher at the CDIF-UPC and coordinates many tasks of the FLEXHYBAT project. His research career started in 2017 and in 2020 he obtained the “Severo Ochoa” grant. He obtained his PhD in Universidad de Oviedo, where he taught several courses. He did international stays in FEUP (Oporto, Portugal). Victor is an expert in CFD simulations and experimental fluid mechanics. During his PhD he published 7 papers related to hydrokinetic turbines and methods to estimate the distribution of PM10 particles in large-scale open spaces.
Esteve Jou
Researcher Associate Professor
Born in Barcelona. He is member of the Fluid Mechanics department in the UPC. He obtained the Industrial Engineer degree in ETSEIB in 1993. In 1999 he obtained the PhD title under the supervision of Prof. Eduard Egusquiza. He teaches compulsory subjects like Fluid Mechanics and Hydraulic Machines and other optional subjects like Aerodynamics in vehicles. He is responsible of different projects and he develops industrial services related with vibrational analysis and diagnosis in rotating machinery.
Staff
Carmina Morejudo
Administrative Assistant
She graduated in English Studies (2016, UB) and has a Master’s degree in Translation, Interpreting and Intercultural Studies (2017, UAB). She has experience in the fields of language teaching, administration and project coordination within the sectors of education and linguistic services. Her role at CDIF is to provide administrative support to research by covering tasks linked to project coordination and management, as well as to communication and social media.
Former directors
Eduard Egusquiza
Founder Professor Emeritus
Doctor of Industrial Engineering and Professor of Fluid Mechanics at ETSEIB (UPC). With a rich academic history, including a directorial role at the Department of Fluid Mechanics and international teaching experiences, he's made significant contributions to the field of hydraulic engineering. Specializing in unsteady flow and dynamic/vibratory behavior of hydraulic machines, he has led various research projects with companies, developed procedures for monitoring and maintenance systems in hydroelectric units, and authored numerous articles in international journals and conference papers. As a member of key committees and associations, such as IAHR and IMEKO, his impact extends beyond research into broader industry collaboration and standards development.
Carme Valero
Former Director Associate Professor
Carme Valero, affiliated with UPC's Fluid Mechanics department since 1989 and an Associate Professor since 1997, focused her research on the dynamic behavior of hydraulic machines. Engaging in international and national projects, including the EU-funded HYPERBOLE and HYDRODINA Phase II projects, her work resulted in doctoral theses and publications in top-tier journals. Leading the XFLEX-HYDRO project at the UPC, she served as the director of the Center for Industrial Diagnosis and Fluid Dynamic from September 2019 until her passing in March 2023. Carme Valero's contributions and leadership will be remembered. Rest in peace.
Postdocs
Greco Moraga
Researcher Postdoctoral Researcher
Greco Moraga González was born in Concepción, Chile. He graduated with a degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Concepción in 2019. In 2020, he began his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Alexandre Presas and Prof. Dr. Carme Valero, completing it in 2024. His research focuses on the experimental analysis of vibrating structures and fluid-structure interaction problems, with a focus in hydraulic machines. He is currently a Postdoctoral Researcher working within the framework of the European project STOR-HY and the Spanish project FLEXHYBAT.
Bhushan Ravindra Rode
Researcher Postdoctoral Researcher
Born in Kalmeshwar (Maharashtra, India), he earned a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from Nagpur University in 2017. In 2020, he obtained a Master's degree in Hydropower Engineering from Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology (Bhopal). Under the supervision of Prof. Arun Kumar, in March 2025 he finished his PhD in Pumped storage hydropower from the Hydro and Renewable Energy Department, IIT Roorkee (India). His research focuses on hydraulic instabilities caused by rotor-stator interaction and vortex rope in the draft tube of reversible pump-turbine.
PhD Students
Talha Ehsan
Researcher PhD Student
Talha Ehsan, born in Gujranwala, Pakistan, is a Ph.D. researcher working under the supervision of Prof. David Valentín at the CDIF Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC). He graduated as a Mathematician from the University of Management and Technology (UMT) in 2021 and started his doctoral studies at UPC in 2023. His research specialization lies in the domain of numerical analysis, specifically on vibrating structures and fluid-structure interaction problems, with a focus on hydraulic machines.
Directed by: David Valentín
Chenming Liu
Researcher PhD Student
Chengming Liu, born in Hebei, China. He is a Ph.D. Student under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Alexandre Presas at CDIF. He was graduated as Engineering master at China Agricultural University in 2023 and started his doctoral studies at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia in 2023. He works in the numerical analysis and fluid-structure interaction problems, with a focus on the Francis and Kaplan turbine.
Directed by: Alexandre Presas
Oriol López
Researcher PhD Student
GPhD Candidate in Fluid Mechanics at Universitat Politència de Catalunya (UPC) and Vak Kimsa since 2022 performing CFD simulations and R+D tasks, with 2 years of experience in the area and knowledge of CFD domain and R+D+i. Research Assistant at CDIF (Centre for Industrial Diagnostics and Fluid Dynamics) since 2022.
Directed by: David Valentín
Yonggang Lu
Researcher PhD Student
Yonggang Lu, born in Shandong, China, is Ph.D. student under the supervision of Prof. Alexandre Presas at CDIF Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC). He earned his first doctoral degree in 2019 and then pursued postdoctoral studies at Tsinghua University. He started his study in UPC since 2021 and he works in the field of multiphase flow and multi-field coupling in fluid machinery（Turbine, Pump turbine, Pump as turbine, Reactor coolant pump）. He has published over 10 papers as the first author indexed by SCI.
Directed by: Alexandre Presas
Weike Liao
Researcher PhD Student
I was born in Leiyang, China, and am currently a researcher at CDIF. After earning my Master’s degree in Research in Mechanical Engineering from UPC in 2024, I continued to pursue my Ph.D. at UPC under the supervision of Professor Alexandre Presas Batllo. My doctoral research focuses on the application of AI technology in hydraulic turbines, primarily developing neural network models for stress prediction and analysis in pump turbines.
Directed by: Alexandre Presas
ZiYi Mei
Researcher PhD Student
Ziyi Mei, born in Hubei, China, currently is a PhD student under supervision of Prof. Alexandre Presas at CDIF, Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC), since 2024. His doctoral research focuses on the modal analysis of pump-turbine, including numerical simulations and model/prototype experiments. He is also interested in signal analysis technology, committing in finding solutions for analyzing and processing complicated testing signals of pump-turbine.
Directed by: Alexandre Presas
Internship and visiting students
- Adrià Viñes (UPC): CFD simulation
- Michele Agueci (Università degli Studi di Palermo): Analysis of Tidal energy
- Gvidas Andzevicius (UPC): SIMSEN simulation
- Navam Shrivastava (NIT Warangal): CFD Pelton Turbines
Previous students
- Oriol Martínez (UPC): Data analyst and CFD (2025)
- Raphael Drommi (ELISA Aerospace): CFD aerodynamics (2025)
- Albert Muñoz (UPC): CFD simulation (2024)
- Jiamin Zou (JIANGSU UNIV): Numerical simulations Pump-Turbine (2024)
- Karim Khalfaoui (University of Stuttgart): Fluid added quantities (2024)
- Sara Iniesta (UPC): Artificial Intelligence (2024)
- Thomas Obrecht (EDF): Artificial Intelligence (2024)
- Yiming Chen (JIANGSU UNIV): Simulation of pumps (2024)
- Yuejian Han (JIANGSU UNIV): Signal analysis (2024)
- Ramon Bonet (UPC): Artificial Intelligence (2023)
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