Sofía Cintrón graduated cum laude from Universidad del Valle de Guatemala with a degree in Industrial Biotechnology Engineering. She currently works in product development and innovation at Cementos Progreso, the leading cement company in Central America. Her work focuses on applied research of local and innovative materials to produce cement and other construction products, aiming to improve process efficiency and reduce the environmental footprint of the industry. Her approach integrates technical, environmental, and local-context considerations to drive sustainable construction solutions using resources available in Guatemala and the surrounding region.
She has led research initiatives on the use of calcined clays and other pozzolanic materials as supplementary cementitious materials, assessing their technical viability from raw material characterization through to plant-scale implementation. Her experience includes developing analytical methodologies to evaluate pozzolanic reactivity and the physicochemical behavior of these materials.
She has also contributed to the design of high clinker-replacement formulations and validated their performance under real-world conditions, evaluating mechanical strength, durability, and compatibility with existing industrial processes