Manuel Palencia is a chemist from the Universidad de Córdoba (Montería, Colombia) and holds a PhD in Sciences, with a specialization in Chemistry, from the Universidad de Concepción (Concepción, Chile). He was a fellow at the Research Center for Advanced Polymer (CIPA, Chile) and of the Chilean National Commission for Science and Technology (CONICYT). He also completed a postdoctoral fellowship in nanotechnology funded by FONDECYT (Chile). Since 2011, he has been a Full Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Universidad del Valle, Colombia. He has served as Director of the Research Group in Science with Technological Applications since its creation and has also been Director of the Graduate Program in Chemical Sciences of the Faculty of Natural and Exact Sciences. In addition, he promoted and co-creator of the AFICAT initiative (Alliance for the Advancement of Scientific, Applied, and Technological Research) and has worked as a consultant, developing several outreach and knowledge-transfer activities with the productive and business sectors. Professor Palencia has supervised numerous research projects at the doctoral, master’s, and undergraduate levels. He is recognized as a Senior Researcher by Colombia’s Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation and has led several research projects. His research interests include basic and applied studies in polymers, membranes, soils, agriculture, nanotechnology, and environmental and analytical sciences.