Collaborative Research and Education:
Team building between the University of Porto (FEUP),
INESC Porto and Iowa State University (ISU)
Por Gerald Bernard Sheblé*
Universities are one of the main national entities to
provide direction in the new global economy. The global
economy is increasing and accelerating the need for improved
techniques to provide better information. The increasing use
of energy is stretching the capability of modern economies.
Our national demand is to maintain our quality of living and
to extend the quality of living to other countries. Electric
energy has provided a high quality of life as it enables our
societies to support endeavors that are more abstract
without jeopardizing our ability to provide for fundamental
human needs. Electric energy has enabled exchange of
information, development of new technologies, as well as
assessment new technologies based on information evaluated
at national and global levels.
ISU and INESC Porto are committed to the development and
deployment of new energy technologies. These new
technologies include: wind energy; combined cycle plants
based on natural gas, methane gas and other bio-fuels; fuel
cells based on hydrogen energy, natural gas, and bio-fuels;
and other sources of generation as well as transmission and
distribution. These technologies require modern, efficient,
and transparent applications of information technology to
optimize the decision-making process by the most recent
advances in probability analysis for proper economic
investment.
Collaboration
Industrial approaches to problem formulation and
solution have shown that a team response provides a greater
approach to product or to services development and
deployment than individual contributions. Universities have
been and some remain based on the contribution of each
individual faculty member.
Mission
The progression to a sustainable economic development
requires the availability of a flexible, yet large, amount
of energy. Flexible energy supplies are presently fossil
sources (i.e., coal, oil, and natural gas). The mitigation
of greenhouse effects, and the pending depletion of fossil
fuels, depends, in part, on the promotion of renewable and
clean energy systems. Our global economy requires a
significant penetration of renewable generation resources,
as well as more efficient end use devices.
Specific developments of energy devices and information
technologies are our main mission. Our common goal is to
assess, to design and to implement the introduction of new
and clean technologies into the integrated energy system.
Particular energy end use industries (e.g. heating, air
conditioning, cooking, transporting, etc.) can make a
significant contribution to the efficient use of energy for
our societies. Demand side management is increasing in
importance to improve energy efficiency and consumption
behaviors through a trade-off between investments in end-use
and supply-side technologies. The mix of technologies, in
the long-term, are evolved on the historical growth from
technology choices. These processes are evolving due to the
political trend to use energy markets and due to our
societies requiring safer and more environmentally friendly
systems.
ISU, FEUP, through research and teaching activities,
contribute to the development of sustainable and secure
energy systems in industrialized countries as well as in
developing and emerging countries.
Knowledge Transfer
The collaboration of services and scientific assistance
that flow between ISU and INESC Porto are directly coupled
with their research activities. Each brings its expertise in
very specific areas: energy management systems, system
planning, distribution planning, numerical analysis,
experimental simulations, controller development for
wind-generation, etc.
The impact of this collaboration is demonstrable. The
continued success of this interchange is in the best
interest of both universities. The technology transfer at
the faculty and student level has been documented and highly
valued by all stakeholders in the university systems. I am
honored to be a member of this collaboration.
*
Professor da Iowa State University
