About Fernando Fischmann
FERNANDO FISCHMANN
Fernando is an influential scientist, innovator, and businessperson whose technologies are having a significant impact worldwide through his U.S. multinational water innovation firm, Crystal Lagoons.
As a scientist, Fernando has developed and patented several technologies that have changed people’s lifestyles worldwide, with a portfolio of more than 2,900 patents in 180 countries around the globe. Therefore, Economics Partners LLC has valued the intellectual property of Crystal Lagoons at US$ 4.1 billion.
After 15 years of revolutionizing the real estate world, Crystal Lagoons is now transforming city life with its Public Access Lagoons® projects, also known as PAL® developments. These monumental crystalline lagoons, surrounded by white sand beaches, are accessible to all through ticketed entry. Crystal Lagoons brings a piece of the ocean to the city, creating beach life in urban surroundings, much like an English architect did 200 years ago when he introduced small forests into the city of London, which we know as city parks.
PAL® projects are ideal for hosting events such as launches, trade shows, weddings, concerts, etc., in an idyllic environment and multiple set-ups. They also have vast gastronomy, retail stores, beach clubs, amphitheaters, and recreational and cultural activities. They are a totally new generation of urban recreational hubs, which set a new standard for any public place of entertainment, becoming the meeting point of the 21st century.
Fernando currently resides in the United States and is dedicated full-time to developing new innovations, including a set of applications of high environmental impact that could potentially help solve global issues, such as water and energy scarcity.
The first industrial application of these innovations was the sustainable cooling of industrial processes, providing a sustainable and low-cost alternative to currently used systems such as once-through cooling systems (which use the sea in an open system) and cooling towers (which consume high energy and water). The San Isidro Sustainable Cooling Lagoon was the first sustainable cooling lagoon in the world. It was part of a combined cycle power plant owned by Endesa (a subsidiary of Enel from Italy).
Furthermore, it is estimated that the residual heat produced by current power plants and other industrial facilities worldwide could be up to 10 times higher than the energy generated by renewable energy plants (such as photovoltaic and eolic plants). Through his company Crystal Lagoons, Fernando has developed a technology that allows for the residual thermal energy from industrial processes to be used to produce freshwater without additional energy and at a low cost, helping to solve one of the most pressing issues in the world today.
Other uses include solutions for air conditioning and heating applications (HVAC) that enable up to 50% energy savings compared to conventional HVAC systems. These technologies can also be used to maintain excellent water quality in pump storage systems, which provide stable electricity generation and continuity at renewable energy power plants.
Another technology refers to the sustainable pre-treatment of water for reverse osmosis desalination by generating an efficient and sustainable alternative to current pre-treatment processes for freshwater production while creating high-quality water reservoirs that can be used for recreational purposes. Furthermore, his seawater purification technology enables the sustainable construction and maintenance of seawater purification systems on a large scale and at a very low cost for mining and other purposes. This creates a high-quality water reservoir that can be used for recreational purposes, benefiting local communities.
Finally, his artificial aquifer recharge technology enables surface runoff water to be purified through a treatment lagoon at a very low cost. The water is collected during the rainy season, and once treated, it is rapidly infiltrated into underground aquifers through wells, which can be used during droughts or the dry season.
Fernando has been honored many times with prestigious international awards, such as the “WIPO Medal for Inventors” from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the “Champion of Champions” at the Green World Awards, British awards that recognize sustainable initiatives.
He has also been the only executive to receive awards for Entrepreneur of the Year, Innovator of the Year, and Businessman of the Year, as well as a series of other awards. Fernando was awarded two Gold Stevie® Awards (considered the Oscars of the Business World) as the “Innovator of the Year” and “Innovation of the Year,” an award that in previous years honored Steve Jobs and Jeff Bezos. In 2016, 2017, and 2021, he received the Green Apple Award at Britain’s House of Commons and the “Real Innovator Award”, conferred by the UK’s London Business School. Other recognitions include the Best New Business Award from the Great Miami Chamber of Commerce, two Guinness World Records for the largest crystalline lagoons in the world, and the National Environmental Award, to name just a few.
Fernando is the founder and chairman of Crystal Lagoons, a U.S. multinational water innovation company. His innovations have been covered by more than 10,000 publications all over the world, including significant international media outlets such as CNN, Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Forbes, BusinessWeek, Popular Mechanics, Travel Channel, Reader’s Digest, BBC, Reuters, Fuji, National Geographic, and Galileo TV, among others.
Fernando has had leading roles in different entities, such as the Director of the United States Chamber of Commerce, the Director of the Chilean National Innovation Council, the Director of Endeavor, and the Director of the Fraunhofer Institute. He is frequently invited to be a keynote speaker at high-profile universities such as Harvard, MIT, Babson, Berkeley, Duke, and UCLA, among others.