Sustainable Energy Transition,” Mechanical and Electrical Engineering Must Swing Together!

Prof. P.J. Costa Branco

Paulo José da Costa Branco is Associate Professor with Habilitation (IST) in Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), Universidade de Lisboa (UL). He graduated in 1992 in Electrical and Computer Engineering from IST. In the same year, he obtained his Master’s degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from IST, and on July 1998 he concluded a Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering also at IST. In the last 5 years, he was authored more than 45 peer-reviewed scientific papers published in JCR indexed journals and publications in conference proceedings.

He is currently focused on:

1. Photovoltaic (PV) systems operation and maintenance (PV O&M): multi-objective optimization to minimize the economic and energy costs over the life-cycle;
2. Operation of induction generators when isolated from the power grid and under variable speed in the pump as working turbines (PATs);
3. Criticality in the smart grid operation environment: definition of reliability models for both cyber and power equipment;
4. The use of bulk high-temperature superconducting materials inserted in the magnetic circuit of electromechanical systems to increase its power density.

Currently, 5 Ph.D. and 60 MSc dissertations have been completed under his supervision. He has participated in several projects, among them: European-Union funded projects: (2016/20) REDAWN; (2016/18) – Solar CPC PVT Production (program Eurostars), SAMBA – smart actuator and modular braking applications (program BRITE/EURAM iii), (1993/96) – EPICA – all-electric aircraft flight control actuation (program BRITE/EURAM ii- phase 2); (1990/1992) – all-electric aircraft flight control actuation (program BRITE/EURAM i-phase 1). He is currently a member of the IEEE Council on Superconductivity as the IEEE Power & Energy representative. In 2021, he started his functions as Assistant Coordinator of the Central Intelligent Systems in research center IDMEC/LAETA, covering the areas of Energy Conversion. In 2022 he was elected chair of IEEE Portugal Section of Power and Energy Society. In addition, he was considered the world’s top 2% researcher in Electrical Engineering by Stanford University.

Prof. João Fernandes

Prof. João Fernandes is an Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computers Engineering at Instituto Superior Técnico from the University of Lisbon, where his work aims to expand the current limits of electrical machines, using emerging advanced electromagnetic materials. He focus on developing new machines that integrate two characteristics: (a) higher efficiency to reduce energy consumption, and (b) high specific power/torque to reduce size and weight. In the last five years, he has 26 publications in international journals, such as IEEE trans. on Industrial Electronics, IEEE trans. on Energy Conversion, IEEE trans. on Magnetic, among others, and 19 publications in international conferences.

In 2017, he finished his Ph.D. in the development of a new topology of spherical machine with a new soft magnetic material. In 2017 under a postdoc, he began to focus on superconductor technologies as a possible solution for achieving high efficiency and power electrical machines. He became co-supervisor of two Ph.D. students for this work and, in 2018, he won a highly competitive international position as Assistant Professor at Instituto Superior Técnico. To broaden and complement his work in new advanced materials, he started researching cobalt-iron alloys, with a Ph.D. student funded by Foundation for Science and Technology. This resulted in two (2) journal publications, one (1) conference communication and the “Outstanding Paper Award”. His recent collaborations focus on “cryogenic and superconducting machines” with Politecnico di Torino and on “optimization of self-excited induction machines” with Universitat Politécnica de València. In 2022 he was elected secretary of IEEE Portugal Section of Power and Energy Society.

He also served as guest editor in three special issues at Energies: 1. “Electrical Machine Design 2020”, 2. “Electrical Machine Design 2021”, 3. “Advanced Manufacturing and Materials for Next Generation Electrical Machines 2021”.

Tesla Model S + Papel higiénico + TGVs + Aerogeneradores + Bombas hidráulicas + Alimentos para animales + Buques navales + Lavadoras de ropa, Bimby + Aviones, Levadura de Fleischmann: ¿Qué tienen en común? ¿Qué dicen sobre la «sostenibilidad energética»? ¿Por qué las citas y no una competición entre la mecánica y la electricidad? ¡Este es ya el mundo en el que vives! Cambiemos las ideas sobre estos temas. ¡Escuchemos TUS ideas!

Tesla Model S + Papel higiénico + TGVs + Aerogeneradores + Bombas hidráulicas + Alimentos para animales + Buques navales + Lavadoras de ropa, Bimby + Aviones, Levadura de Fleischmann: ¿Qué tienen en común? ¿Qué dicen sobre la «sostenibilidad energética»? ¿Por qué las citas y no una competición entre la mecánica y la electricidad? ¡Este es ya el mundo en el que vives! Cambiemos las ideas sobre estos temas. ¡Escuchemos TUS ideas!

Día: Jueves 28 de abril de 2022

Hora: 12:30

Lugar: Sala multiusos