Matías Álvarez Rodríguez

RESEARCHER

PhD from the University of Oviedo with the thesis Dynamic Thermal Behavior of Adaptive Envelopes with Macroencapsulated PCMs: Analysis and Design Methodology (2025), supervised by Prof. Mar Alonso Martínez and Prof. Inés María Suárez Ramón, and member of the Sustainable Construction, Simulation, and Testing Research Group (GICONSIME).

His research focuses on the development of adaptive building envelopes through the incorporation of phase change materials (PCM). This involves a combination of numerical modelling and experimental testing to analyse transient heat transfer in façade prototypes, mortars with PCM, and macroencapsulated PCMs, both at the material scale and as construction components.

He completed a three-month international research stay at Purdue University (USA), where he investigated the incorporation of PCMs into mortar specimens using vacuum techniques, in order to improve their thermal energy storage capacity.

He has contributed to projects on the incorporation of PCMs into lightweight concrete building envelopes. These projects aim at proposing passive measures to improve energy efficiency. 

In the teaching field, he delivers theoretical, practical, and laboratory sessions in the subjects of Thermal Engineering and Applied Heat Transfer, within the Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering at the Polytechnic School of Engineering of Gijón.