Academic Credentials
  • Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, University of Notre Dame, 2025
  • B.S., Chemical Engineering, University of Puerto Rico, 2019
Professional Honors
  • Edison Innovation Fellowship for Entrepreneurship and Deep-Tech Commercialization.
  • Graduate School Professional Development Award – University of Notre Dame.
  • GEM (Graduate Education for Minority Students) Fellow
  • Kinesis-Fernandez Richards Family Endowed Fellowship.
  • Chemical Engineering Honor Roll Award – University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez.
Professional Affiliations
  • American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE)
  • National Association of Fire Investigators (NAFI)
  • National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)

Gerardo Rivera is a chemical engineer that applies his expertise in a diverse slate of topics, including chemistry, energy and sustainability, and oil and gas to provide consulting services to address different challenges. His areas of focus include analysis, investigation and safety of chemical processes, natural gas and LNG, fires, explosions, toxic releases, industrial equipment and consumer products. Additionally, Gerardo is fluent in Spanish.

Prior to joining Exponent, Gerardo Rivera obtained his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Puerto Rico — Mayaguez and completed his Ph.D. studies in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Notre Dame. During his doctoral studies, Gerardo focused on processes for converting natural gas into value-added liquid fuels using unconventional approaches. His experimental research included catalyst synthesis, material characterization, reaction engineering and kinetics, and plasma physics. This work enhanced his expertise in a variety of areas in chemical engineering, including reaction engineering, transport phenomena, and thermodynamics. Additionally, during his doctoral studies, Gerardo participated in a series of courses for process commercialization, submitting two patent applications related to natural gas conversion technologies.