Luis D. Virla

University of Calgary

Based in

Canada
North America

Dr. Luis D. Virla is an Assistant Professor in the Sustainable Systems Engineering program at the University of Calgary. He earned a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Calgary (2018) and a BSc. (2008) and MSc. (2013) in Chemical Engineering from the University of Zulia in Venezuela.

Luis has 15+ years of experience in research and development on chemicals, carbon management, and industrial decarbonization. He is also the acting CTO of Vortis Carbon Corp., a cleantech start-up focused on carbon capture, removal, and utilization, and co-founder of InnoLab space, an NGO focused on supporting community-led sustainability initiatives.
Before joining UCalgary, Luis held research fellowships at the Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU) – University of Sussex (UK, 2016-2018) and the Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management (TPM) – TU Delft (NL, 2020-2024), contributing to Horizon Europe projects focused on land-based mitigation strategies (LANDMARC), energy transitions (TRANSrisk), and climate policy (TIPPING+) in Canada, Europe and Latin America.