Where are you now?
Every month INESC TEC sends highly qualified individuals into the market. These individuals often then go on to occupy important positions in some of the best national and international companies or they opt to form spin-offs. As the best way to perform technology transfer is through individuals, this section is dedicated to collaborators that trained at INESC TEC and now star in other companies and institutions.
Jorge Alves, EDP Distribuição, HV Grid Operator
- Year when you began working at INESC TEC and when you left: 2010 -2013
- Centres at INESC Porto where you worked: CPES
- Name(s) of the project(s) you were involved in: DOPF – Distribution Optimal Power Flow
Explain your experience since leaving INESC TEC
The work I do today is similar to the work I did at INESC TEC, but now I am on the other side of the barricade. While at INESC TEC I programmed electrical distribution system tools to be incorporated in SCADA systems. Now I use the SCADA system to work as a distribution systems operator.
At INESC TEC I grew both personally and professionally after I graduated. In my opinion, the informal and yet demanding environment is perfect for any recent graduate entering the labour force. At INESC TEC we find the best of both worlds: we can not only contact with companies, which gives researchers a perspective of the client and results, but also with the academic world.
I think that since I left, the INESC TEC structure became more flexible, allowing Centres to collaborate more easily. INESC TEC also has new research groups, which made its areas of expertise more diverse.
INESC TEC is unquestionably an institution of reference, both nationally and internationally. It is with great pride that I see that we have several projects in partnership with INESC TEC.
Miguel Gomes, EDP Distribuição, Engineer
- Year when you began working at INESC TEC and when you left: 2011-2013
- Centres at INESC TEC where you worked: CPES
- Name(s) of the project(s) you were involved in: COORDSEM – Efficient Methodology to Optimally Coordinate Directional Overcurrent Relays in Meshed Power Systems.
Explain your experience since leaving INESC TEC
I have been working at EDP Distribuição’s Dispatch and Conduction Department. After a period of integration and training, I started at the Medium Voltage Department, which is responsible for managing the medium voltage grid in the districts of Coimbra, Castelo Branco, Viana do Castelo and Bragança.
My experience at INESC TEC, more specifically in the project I was involved in, allowed me to consolidate my knowledge on power grids, and that experience has been fundamental for my current position.
Now that I have left INESC TEC, I know what happens at the institute by reading BIP. The main change, I think, is the new names of the Units, which are now called Centres.
Luís Moura Pereira, EDP Distribuição, Production Manager
- Year when you began working at INESC TEC and when you left: 2010 - 2012
- Centres at INESC TEC where you worked: CPES
- Name(s) of project(s) you were involved in: INOVGRID, Reive, Merge, Transient Stability and Voltage Control in the National Transport Network (RNT), Horizon 2014; Study on the impact of increasing renewables in the island of S. Miguel and Flores.
Explain your experience since leaving INESC TEC
I started working at INESC Porto (now INESC TEC) in September 2010 after concluding my master’s degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering at FEUP.
Two years after the INOVGRID started, in February 2012, I had the opportunity to embrace a new challenge and I started working at EDP Distribuição. At EDP Distribuição I manage the connections of producers to the national distribution grid in special and regular scheme, and I follow up the entire life-cycle of these “grid clients” (deep down, energy producers and consumers are clients with their own specificities). Furthermore, we are responsible for managing the relation with governmental organizations, such as the DGEG, and producer associations such as APREN or COGEN.
INESC TEC, as an institute of excellence, has its own DNA and a culture that is transmitted to collaborators from day one. Work methods, technical knowledge and an orientation towards results and objectives are some of the intrinsic features of any collaborator in this institution. The most important pillar for the success of any company is the quality of its employees and INESC TEC’s success is made possible by the quality work of its employees.
It is with great satisfaction that I see INESC TEC has signed protocols with the EDP group, ad that the institution is investing on science and technology geared towards industry. That is the way to go! Moreover, INESC TEC has grown! When I left, the new building was still being built, and so I didn’t get to see the new facilities. The Laboratory of Smart Grids and Electric Vehicles and the result of the FCT evaluation are something to be proud.
I am always proud when I hear about the work developed at INESC TEC. To conclude, I would like to congratulate INESC TEC for its 30th anniversary.
