MIT Portugal 2006-2011 VOL II

2006-2011 VOLUME 2

2006-2011 VOLUME 2

A network of advanced studies involving Portuguese Universities and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Bioengineering Systems

Sustainable Energy Systems

Transportation Systems

Engineering Design and Advanced Manufacturing

A PROGRAM SPONSORED BY THE PORTUGUESE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOUNDATION AND A PROGRAM OF INDUSTRIAL AFFILIATES

MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011

VOLUME 2

A network of advanced studies involving Portuguese Universities and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Advanced Training Programs Bioengineering Systems Sustainable Energy Systems Transportation Systems Engineering Design and Advanced Manufacturing

Degree awarding institutions New University of Lisbon (Faculty of Sciences and Technology) Technical University of Lisbon (IST and ISEG) University of Coimbra (Faculty of Sciences and Technology and Faculty of Economy University of Lisbon (Faculty of Sciences) University of Minho (School of Engineering) University of Porto (Faculty of Engineering)

September, 2011

Executive summary

A unique post-graduate education network of intense and wide ranging collaboration between Portuguese Universities, research institutions, companies, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has been funded by the Portuguese Science Foundation (FCT) for the period 2006-2011. The network offers Portugal a truly international education program serving as a model for the intersection of engineering education, research, innovation and entrepreneurship.

A total of 6 Portuguese universities, 28 Portuguese research centers and national laboratories, together with 25 MIT departments, and all 5 Schools within MIT are involved in this ongoing partnership. Seven Doctoral, Master’s of Business Engineering and Master’s of Science programs have been created in the areas of Bioengineering, Sustainable Energy and Transportation Systems, and Engineering Design and Advanced Manufacturing. These programs host currently 350 PhD and 64 Master’s students, from over 28 countries. And there are already 119 Master’s graduates and 3 PhD graduates. Program applicants include graduates from some of the leading schools in Europe, Asia and the Americas. Both the number and quality of the applicants has increased each year.

This advanced studies network is dedicated to achieving a major goal: to create a new generation of leaders with unique knowledge and a global perspective, who can assume key positions in industry and research in order to make a critical contribution to Portugal’s future economic growth and reach into international markets. This approach was developed by bringing together a dynamic consortium of universities across Portugal (Fig. 1), with the best of MIT educational and research expertise, creating high quality teaching and research.

The program has developed national degrees where leading engineering schools working with schools of economics offer shared globally competitive world class academic programs.

Students frequently rotate between Portuguese universities for different parts of their curriculum and receive joint degrees awarded in association by all the Portuguese participating universities.

The Bioengineering Systems (BIO) PhD program provides teaching and training at the intersection between engineering, life sciences, and innovation, and aims at educating a new generation of leaders in bioengineering, with a strong emphasis in technical innovation, leadership and systems thinking.

Twenty-two students of the first two classes of the program (started in 2007 and 2008) have already spent, or are currently spending extended time at MIT conducting a very important part of their research work plan jointly with Portuguese and MIT faculty supervision. The main PhD research areas are: a) Stem Cell Bioengineering and Regenerative Medicine; b) Bioprocess and Biomolecular Engineering; c) Biosystems Innovation, Management and Policy; d) Computational Bioengineering, Genomics, Systems and Synthetic Biology; e) Biomedical Devices and Technologies: Hybrid Human–Machine Systems; f) Neurosciences (Molecular to Systems Neurobiology and Brain Diseases).

During their first year students are involved in extended innovation and entrepreneurship activities (BioTeams course), where they work in teams on building go-to-market strategies for selected emerging breakthrough technologies. This innovation hands-on approach course creates an entrepreneurship drive, skills and

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

gusto in the students who have already originated two start-ups: ‘Cell2B’ (three students) and ‘SilicoLife’ (two students). Another student has already an international patent licensed by a Portuguese biotech company.

The Engineering Design and Advanced Manufacturing (EDAM) area offers a PhD program, Leaders for Technical Industries (LTI), and a Master’s of Business Engineering, Technology Management Enterprise (TME), which focus on product and process innovation and complex decision making, taking into account economics, management and social aspects.

The programs are designed to be in close connection with technically advanced industries. All LTI students complete an internship in an industrial environment where they develop business integrated research. TME students are usually professionals from industry and they do their thesis research in a topic related to their professional activity at the company where they work.

The target industrial sectors are the automotive, aerospace and medical devices industries. This selection takes into account the current Portuguese industrial profile, and the industrial sectors in which a higher innovative potential is expected over the coming years. The scope and associated proposals for the PhD program are defined and prepared in collaboration between the program’s faculty and industry leaders.

As a result, all the PhD research themes are industry oriented. PhD students research can be grouped in three main areas: a) Engineering Design and Innovation, b) Engineering Design Management, c) Manufacturing Technologies and Industrial Management.

A wide range of Portuguese and international engineering and technology industries have received LTI students, including Rolls Royce (UK), General Motors (USA), Continental-Mabor (PT), Volkswagen-AutoEuropa (PT), Hovione (PT), TMGAutomotive (PT), Iber-Oleff (PT), and Celoplas (PT). Students are also encouraged to carry out part of their research at MIT. The Sustainable Energy Systems (SES) area has created integrated educational initiatives for both a PhD and a Master’s of Business Engineering in Sustainable Energy Systems. Each program challenges students to apply a systems approach to energy research with the ultimate objective of creating and applying knowledge for the design and implementation of sustainable energy systems.

These programs focus in core areas of energy systems within a multidisciplinary engineering systems framework.They include engineering, economics, policy, technology, control and management solutions necessary to design and implement alternative energy strategies, utilizing energy systems analysis and design. Students have the opportunity to learn about the practical application of energy strategies through real-world research case studies conducted in collaboration with industry partners. Two research test beds, which integrate many of the PhD student’s research theses, are developed in the context of a) isolated systems: ‘Green Islands’ and b) urban systems: ‘Sustainable Urban Energy Systems.’ The Green Islands Project focuses on developing advanced energy systems models to maximize the integration of renewable energies in a sustainable energy future for the Azores archipelago, and the Sustainable Urban Energy Systems topic analyzes the many dimensions of efficiently managing the Lisbon and Porto urban systems, from the urban metabolism to sustainable mobility. The ultimate goal of the SES programs is to train a new generation of professionals to play leadership roles in implementing sustainable 3

energy policies, and in developing new business opportunities in the area of clean energy. These projects involve companies like Electricidade de Portugal (EDP), Electricidade dos Açores (EDA), EFACEC, GALP Energia and Novabase.

The Transportation Systems area offers two degrees: PhD and MSc. The overall aim of these educational programs is the development of a cadre of transportation researchers and professionals who are trained at the system level in the design and management of a technology-intensive, intermodal transportation system.

The doctoral program in Transportation Systems (DPTS) covers all transport systems topics, from transport policy and planning to infrastructure design and maintenance, at various spatial levels (from international to local), and for the various modes (air, rail, road, etc.). Up to now, the main focus areas have been: a) air transport systems; b) high speed rail systems; c) land-use/transport systems; d) innovative urban transport modes/services; e) intelligent transport systems; and f) traveler information systems.

The Master’s in Complex Transport Infrastructure Systems (CTIS) builds on three key domains: engineering and project management, financing and contracts, and policy and institutions. This formula grants its graduates an advantageous position when seeking jobs in complex settings. A unique feature of the CTIS Master’s program has been the industrial affiliation with com-panies that every year sponsor five scholarships, which fully cover student’s tuition fees. The major international companies sponsoring scholarships for this program are BRISA, Mota-Engil, Siemens, Odebrecht and RAVE/REFER. Student surveys and faculty interviews indicate that MIT Portugal is successful in attracting an excellent student cohort. MIT Portugal students are reported to show a greater degree of independence in their work, more precise goals, and often a stronger commitment to achieve these goals. They also have a more significant background in industry, and are more prone to work in industry and become entrepreneurs after graduating. Faculty feels that their own teaching style has become significantly more geared towards innovation and management as a result of participating in MIT Portugal. The faculty recruits are benefiting greatly from participating in this network, receiving a noticeable “boost” in their career, increasing their career opportunities, experiencing a rapid expansion of their professional networks, and enjoying important new input into their research work.

Students describe their visit to MIT as extremely positive and highly influential, with strong gains in new methodological approaches or areas of interest, all of which improves their research. Portuguese junior faculty state that visits to MIT are proving highly influential for their teaching practice.

The conclusion from the whole student evaluation exercise (including alumni) is one of high levels of satisfaction with the quality of the network overall, with the level of supervision, with the range of skills on offer, and with the general administration and structuring of the research and learning processes.

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Engineering Design and Advanced Manufacturing Consortium Awarding Degree

FCUL -

Technical University of Lisbon: Instituto Superior Técnico - IST University of Minho: School of Engineering - EEUM University of Porto: Faculty of Engeneering - FEUP

FCT -

UM FEUP

FEUNL -

UC Bioengineering Systems Consortium

FEUP -

Awarding Degree New University of Lisbon: Faculty of Science and Technology - FCTUNL Technical University of Lisbon: Instituto Superior Técnico - IST University of Minho: School of Engineering - EEUM

ISEG -

ITQB INSTITUTO DE TECNOLOGIA QUÍMICA E BIOLÓGICA /UNL

Partner University of Coimbra - UC University of Algarve - UAlg Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica - ITQB Nova School of Businees & Economics - FEUNL

IST FCUL ISEG UNL

IST -

UAlg -

UAlg UC -

Sustainable Energy Systems Consortium Awarding Degree

UM -

Technical University of Lisbon: Instituto Superior Técnico - IST Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão - ISEG University of Lisbon: Faculty of Sciences - FCUL University of Coimbra: Faculty of Sciences and Technology - FCTUC Faculty of Economy – FEUC University of Porto: Faculty of Engeneering - FEUP

Transportation Systems Consortium Awarding Degree University of Coimbra: Faculty of Sciences and Technology - FCTUC Technical University of Lisbon: Instituto Superior Técnico - IST University of Porto: Faculty of Engeneering - FEUP

Figure 1: Consortium of universities and its respective schools involved in the network of advanced studies.

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Table of Contents Executive summary ................................................................................................................. 2

1. Introduction: A network of advanced studies throughout Portuguese Universities and MIT 9 2. Educational programs in numbers ..................................................................................... 11 2.1. Doctoral programs .......................................................................................................... 11 2.1.1. Applications ................................................................................................................. 11 2.1.2. Students ...................................................................................................................... 12 2.1.3. Scholarships ............................................................................................................... 14 2.1.4. Selectivity ................................................................................................................... 15 2.2. Master’s programs ........................................................................................................ 15 2.2.1. Applications ................................................................................................................ 15 2.2.2. Students ...................................................................................................................... 17 2.2.3. Selectivity .................................................................................................................... 19 2.3. MIT Research assistants (RAs) ...................................................................................... 19 3. Doctoral programs ............................................................................................................. 20 3.1. Bioengineering Systems ................................................................................................. 20 3.1.1. Overview ..................................................................................................................... 20 3.1.2. Structure ...................................................................................................................... 23 3.1.3. New courses and faculty involved ............................................................................... 24 3.1.4. Use of open-source community-based tools for learning ........................................... 24 3.1.5. Benchmarking ............................................................................................................. 25 3.1.6. Student highlights ........................................................................................................ 26 3.1.7. Educational initiatives .................................................................................................. 27 3.1.8. PhD theses.................................................................................................................. 28 3.2. Leaders for Technical Industries ................................................................................... 71 3.2.1. Overview ..................................................................................................................... 71 3.2.2. Structure ..................................................................................................................... 74 3.2.3. Student highlights ........................................................................................................ 75 3.2.4. New courses and faculty involved ............................................................................... 76 3.2.5. Use of open-source community-based tools for learning ........................................... 76 3.2.6. Benchmarking ............................................................................................................. 76 3.2.7. Educational initiatives ................................................................................................... 80

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

3.2.8. PhD theses ................................................................................................................... 81 3.3. Sustainable Energy Systems .......................................................................................... 113 3.3.1. Overview ...................................................................................................................... 113 3.3.2. Structure ...................................................................................................................... 116 3.3.3. Student highlights ........................................................................................................ 120 3.3.4. New courses and faculty involved ............................................................................... 121 3.3.5. Use of open-source community-based tools for learning .......................................... 121 3.3.6. Benchmarking .............................................................................................................. 122 3.3.7. Educational initiatives .................................................................................................. 126 3.3.8. PhD theses................................................................................................................... 129 3.4. Transportation Systems .................................................................................................. 178 3.4.1. Overview ...................................................................................................................... 178 3.4.2. Structure ...................................................................................................................... 179 3.4.3. New courses and faculty involved ............................................................................... 180 3.4.4. Use of open-source community-based tools for learning .......................................... 181 3.4.5. Benchmarking .............................................................................................................. 181 3.4.6. PhD theses .................................................................................................................. 188 4. Master’s of Science (MSc) and Master’s of Business Engineering (MBE) Programs ....... 208 4.1. Complex Infrastructure Transportation Systems MSc .................................................... 208 4.1.1. Overview ...................................................................................................................... 208 4.1.2. Structure ...................................................................................................................... 209 4.1.3. New courses and faculty involved ............................................................................... 210 4.1.4. Use of open-source community-based tools for learning .......................................... 210 4.1.5. Sponsors ..................................................................................................................... 210 4.1.6. Benchmarking .............................................................................................................. 210 4.1.7. Educational initiatives .................................................................................................. 212 4.1.8. Alumni profile ............................................................................................................... 217 4.2. Sustainable Energy Systems .......................................................................................... 220 4.2.1. Overview ...................................................................................................................... 220 4.2.2. Structure ...................................................................................................................... 221 4.2.3. Student highlights ........................................................................................................ 224

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4.2.4. Alumni profiles ............................................................................................................. 225 4.3. Technology Management Enterprise .............................................................................. 229 4.3.1. Overview ...................................................................................................................... 229 4.3.2. Structure ...................................................................................................................... 231 4.3.3. Student’s highlights ..................................................................................................... 232 4.3.4. Alumni profiles ............................................................................................................. 233 5. Faculty exchange: training the trainers ....................................................................... 235 5.1. Overview ........................................................................................................................ 235 5.2. Lessons learnt by junior faculty ...................................................................................... 241 5.3. Course design and teaching training .............................................................................. 242 5.4. Project based learning .................................................................................................... 349 6. Assessment of educational programs .......................................................................... 251 6.1. Evaluating achievements ................................................................................................ 251 6.1.1. Overview ...................................................................................................................... 251 6.1.2. Re-designing engineering curricula and building human resources in innovation and entrepreneurship ............................................................................................... 251

6.1.3. Attracting a strong, international cohort ...................................................................... 252 6.1.4. Mobility and networking .............................................................................................. 253 6.1.5. I-teams ......................................................................................................................... 254 6.2. Student’s evaluation of educational programs ............................................................... 256 6.3. Student’s evaluation of the network ............................................................................... 258 6.3.1. Overview ...................................................................................................................... 258 6.3.2. Alumni survey .............................................................................................................. 258 6.3.3. Doctoral student survey .............................................................................................. 259 6.3.4. Entering student survey ............................................................................................... 259 6.3.5. Exiting student survey ................................................................................................. 260 7. Lessons learnt and perspectives for the future ............................................................ 260 APPENDICES ...................................................................................................................... 263

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

1. Introduction: A network of advanced studies throughout Portuguese Universities and MIT

The MIT Portugal Program promotes a unique post-graduate network of intense and wide ranging collaboration between Portuguese Universities, research institutions, companies, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), funded by the Portuguese Science Foundation (FCT).

The focus areas of this network are: Bioengineering Systems, Sustainable Energy and Transportation Systems, and Engineering Design and Advanced Manufacturing.

This post-graduate network was developed by bringing students from all over the world to study and conduct research in Portuguese universities. This partnership has succeeded in enhancing the international dimension of Portugal’s higher education system in these domains. The seven Doctoral, Master’s of Business Engineering and Master’s of Science programs host currently 350 PhD and 64 master’s students, from over 28 countries. And we have already graduated 119 students from the Master’s degrees and 3 from the PhD degrees.

The efforts to create this educational platform are dedicated to achieving a major goal: to create a new generation of leaders with unique knowledge and a global perspective, who can assume key positions in industry and research in order to make a critical contribution to Portugal’s future economic growth and reach into international markets. The educational network reflects these drives, and aims to be an open international platform which generates a network of multidisciplinary and international knowledge that focuses on people, creating value through the development and demonstration of new ideas in Portugal, and promoting scalable living laboratories to develop and test emerging technologies and systems, which our partners, including Portuguese companies, may continuously develop, explore and export worldwide.

The network has brought together a dynamic consortium of universities across Portugal, with the best of MIT educational and research expertise, to create high quality teaching and research. A total of 6 Portuguese universities, 28 Portuguese research centers and national laboratories, together with 25 MIT departments, and all 5 Schools within MIT are involved in this partnership. Altogether 71 new courses have been developed for teaching in the various educational programs, many of which introduce curricular elements novel to Portuguese and to international engineering education. In total, 270 faculty in Portugal and 70 faculty in MIT are involved in this network, which has attracted 536 postgraduate students from 28 countries during its 5 years of existence.

The educational programs provide world class learning opportunities, which address some of today’s most pressing scientific, environmental, and socioeconomic challenges. This new approach to post-graduate training goes well beyond conventional natural science or engineering domains. Innovative educational approaches in research and learning enable young participants in this network to explore and understand the economic, social and technical issues that are intrinsic to any management roles they will undertake should they enter industry, and widen the scope of their research and education should they choose academia as their profession.

9

The global marketplace in which these new leaders will operate is characterized by growing differences between countries and regions, with an increasing importance of markets in newly industrializing economies, and new powers of knowledge in speciďŹ c areas. The increasing speed with which goods circulate and market forces evolve has allowed rapid rises in prosperity, but also exposes the global economy to new forms of vulnerability, shocks and crises. For nations to prosper in such a dynamic environment, they should both continually adjust, and also commit themselves to local values and skills—that is, to People, Knowledge, Ideas and Institutions—by connecting themselves to the network of nations and peoples that is shaping the future. This constitutes the major motivation for any international partnership and is the main drive of the MIT Portugal educational network.

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

2. Educational programs in numbers 2.1. Doctoral programs 2.1.1. Applications In its five editions the doctoral programs have attracted a total of 1583 applicants.

As shown in Figure 2, this number has been progressively increasing and it reached its peak in the 2010 edition. The number of international applicants has dramatically increased since the first edition in 2007 (Fig. 3). This year (2011) 64% of the applications came from candidates from 52 different countries other than Portugal (Fig.4).

Applications to doctoral programs 400 350

N.applications

300 250 200 150 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

100 50 0

BIO

LTI

SES

TR SYS

Figure 2: Number of applications to doctoral programs over the past 5 years.

Overall

International applications to doctoral programs

International applications (%)

100

80

60

40 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

20

0

BIO

LTI

SES

TR SYS

Figure 3: Proportion of international applications to doctoral programs over the past 5 years.

Overall

11

BIO

LTI Portugal Portugal

Middle East

Middle East

Latin America

Europe

Europe

Asia

Asia

Africa

Africa

Portugal

SES

Figure 4: Geographical origin of PhD candidates in 2011 for each PhD program.

West Indies

.

Portugal

TR SYS

West Indies

North America

North America

Middle East

Middle East

Latin America

Latin America

Europe

Europe

Asia

Asia

Africa

Africa

2.1.2. Students Currently the network has a total of 350 doctoral students of which 25% are international (Fig. 5 and 6). The international number of admitted students has been increasing progressively over the years and this year (2011/12) 30% of the admitted students are from outside Portugal. Students come from 28 different countries and 4 continents (Fig. 7). The Transportation Systems PhD is the program with a higher proportion of international students (43% overall, 75% in 2011/12).

Doctoral students

100

Total number of students = 350

N. students

80

60

40 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

20 Figure 5: Number of current doctoral students per year of admittance and program.

12

0

BIO

LTI

SES

TR SYS

Overall

MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

International doctoral students

80

International students (%)

70 60 50 40 30 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

20 10 0

BIO

LTI

SES

TR SYS

Figure 6: Proportion of international doctoral students.

Overall

This multicultural and vibrant working environment enhances professional networking and collaboration, while also enriching the personal development of the PhD students.

Portugal West Indies North America Middle East Latin America Europe Asia

.

Africa

Figure 7: Geographical origin of doctoral students.

13

2.1.3. Scholarships The total number of scholarships awarded directly by FCT to the top candidates of the doctoral programs was 204. Figure 8 shows the ďŹ gures for each academic year and per doctoral program. Other admitted students have applied, individually, to the national FCT PhD scholarship call and a total of 34 of them have obtained funding for attending the MIT Portugal PhD programs during the past 5 years (Fig. 9).

FCT scholarships through MIT Portugal

60

58 54 50

N. of FCT scholarships

50

42

40 30 20

TR SYS SES

18 14 10

10

Figure 8: Number of FCT scholarships awarded

14

13 1212 6

7

9

11 8

9 9 8 9

LTI

9 9 8 9

through the MIT Portugal network over the past 5

BIO

years for each program.

0

20

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

Individual FCT scholarships

Figure 9: Number of individual FCT scholarships

N. FCT scholarships

15

TR SYS

10

SES 5 LTI

awarded for each program. These scholarships were obtained through the FCT national PHD scholarship’s call.

14

BIO 0

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

2.1.4. Selectivity Students are selected through a rigorous admissions process. On average, only 32% of those who apply are admitted (Fig. 10). Many of the students come from world leading academic institutions such as MIT, University of California Berkeley, Imperial College London, University of Michigan and ETH Zurich, and some also bring prior experience in international organizations, e.g. Volvo Sweden, PricewaterhouseCoopers, the Office of the Prime Minister of France, and the World Resources Institute.

Selectivity of doctoral programs

50

Accepted applications (%)

45 40 35

Overall

30 TR SYS

25 20

SES

15 LTI

10 5

BIO

0 2007

2008

2009

Figure 10: Proportion of candidates admitted to each doctoral program over the past 5 years.

2010

2011

2.2. Master’s programs 2.2.1. Applications In its five editions the Master’s programs have attracted a total of 471 applicants, with a progressively higher number of applicants over the years (Fig. 11). The proportion of international applications for the CTIS Master’s has been significantly higher than for all the other Master’s programs, on average: CTIS - 74%; SES - 28%; TME - 44% (see Fig. 12) Applicants are from all continents, from 36 different countries other than Portugal (Fig. 13).

15

Applications master's programs

150

N. applications

120

90

60 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

30 Figure 11: Number of applications to Master’s programs over the past years.

0

CTIS

SES

TME

Overall

International applications master's programs

100

International applications (%)

90

100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 1 0 0

Figure 12: Proportion of international applications to Master’s programs over the past 5 years.

16

80 70 60 50 40 30

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

20 10 0

CTIS

SES

TME

Overall

MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

TME

CTIS US South America

South America

Portugal

Portugal

Middle East

Middle East

Europe

Europe

Central America

Asia

Asia

Africa

Africa

SES South America Portugal Middle East Europe US Australia Asia

Figure 13: Geographical origin of the Master’s

Africa

applicants (2011).

2.2.2. Students There are currently 64 Master’s students. In the last three years the Sustainable Energy Systems program has been admitting a significantly higher number of students than its peer programs in this network (Fig. 14).

Master's students

50

N. Master's students

40

30

20 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

10

0

CTIS

SES

TME

Figure 14: Number of students participating in the Master’s programs over the past 5 years.

Overall

17

The overall proportion of international students is 32% (Fig. 15). Since its first edition the CTIS Master’s has got 50% or more of international students. At present 67% of the CTIS Master’s students are international. The equivalent figure for the SES and TME Master’s is 5% and 6%, respectively. The students come from 5 continents, from 14 different countries (Fig. 16).

International master's students

80

Figure 15: Proportion of international students admitted in each Master’s program over the past

International students (%)

70 60 50 40 30 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

20 10

5 years.

0

CTIS

SES

TME

Overall

West Indies Portugal North America Middle East Latin America Europe Asia

Figure 16: Geographical origin of the Master’s current students.

Africa

The 2011 admitted students come from Portuguese companies such as Galp Energia, EDP, Ericsson, Colep and Petrotec.

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

2.2.3. Selectivity Around 55% of the candidates get admitted to the Master’s programs. The overall degree of selectivity has progressively increased since the first year’s edition (Fig. 17).

Selectivity of master's programs 100 90

Accepted candidates (%)

80 70 60

Overall

50 TME

40 30

SES

20 CTIS

10 0

Figure 17: Proportion of candidates admitted to the master’s programs over the past 5 years.

2007

2008

2009 Class year

2010

2011

.

2.3. MIT Research assistants (RAs) There have been 300 research assistants (RAs) working on the MIT Portugal research projects at MIT over the past 5 years, an average of 60 RAs per year (Fig. 18).

MIT RAs

30

N. of RAs

25 20

Eng Systems

15

Transportation

10

Energy EDAM

5

Figure 18: Number of research assistants (RAs) at MIT over the past 5 years for each of the research

.

0

BioEng Year1

Year2

Year3

Year4

areas.

Year5

19

3. Doctoral programs 3.1. Bioengineering Systems 3.1.1. Overview The Bioengineering Systems Doctoral program was designed as an innovative joint Program between MIT and three Portuguese Universities: Nova, the New University of Lisbon; the University of Minho; and the Technical University of Lisbon/IST. The University of Coimbra has later joined the Program. This program provides teaching and training at the intersection between engineering, life sciences, and innovation. It aims at educating a new generation of leaders in bioengineering, with a strong emphasis in technical innovation, leadership and systems thinking.

The doctoral program consists of a 1st Year Advanced Studies program, followed by three years of research. The first year is dedicated to educational courses in Innovation of Technological Systems, Bioprocess Engineering, Computational Biosystems, Cell and Tissue Engineering, Nanobiotechnology, Neurosciences, Drug Development Principles and Biomedical Devices and Technologies. These courses were created and are taught jointly by top quality faculty in both Portugal and MIT and were purposely designed to be innovative in content and in collaboration. During the second semester, the students are involved in extended innovation and entrepreneurship activities (BioTeams course) and two nine-week laboratory research rotations, where they initially consider potential bioengineering research areas for their PhD project.

As part of the holistic curriculum, the students travel as a group throughout the Portuguese Universities and live locally to attend the various courses. Bringing faculty and students in contact from across the country serves an integrating function, building strong interactions that lead to more productive and interactive collaborations. Co-teaching provides students with an international view of science, engineering, and research and builds stronger collaborations that are essential for co-supervised thesis projects and collaborative research. The BioTeams projects are taught by Portuguese faculty who were trained at MIT for two to six months through a “teach-the-teacher” model. Nine Portuguese faculty members have been at MIT for this purpose (while also developing research collaboration projects with MIT Faculty).

The remaining three years of each student’s doctoral program are dedicated to the development of his/her research work plan within a personal PhD project. A majority of the students choose research projects that are jointly proposed by MIT and Portuguese faculty, and they are hosted by MIT for twelve to eighteen months as visiting students performing their collaborative PhD thesis research. While students of the class enrolled in September 2010 are still choosing their research topic, and those of the third class (2009) are now getting their research programs going, twenty two students of the first two classes of the program (started in 2007 and 2008) have already spent or are currently spending extended time at MIT, and the PhD research areas that were covered together with examples of on-going projects are mentioned below:

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

A. Stem Cell Bioengineering and Regenerative Medicine: 8 students Regenerative Medicine aims at improving the length and quality of life by restoring, maintaining, or enhancing tissue and organ function. It merges stem cell research, biomaterials development, and tissue engineering. Some projects in this area aim to demonstrate the feasibility of using human mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) as a source of skeletal muscle cells. The ex vivo expansion of these cells, followed by differentiation into skeletal muscle cells and their implantation in vivo, represents a promising strategy in clinical settings such as urinary incontinence treatment. Other projects are concerned with the process of cell development, which is tightly regulated and integrates physical and chemical cues from the pluripotent cell to the developed organism. Knowledge of these cues will allow designing Regenerative Medicine approaches to disease. On the tissue engineering/biomaterials development ďŹ eld, the main projects are focused in strategies for controlling the stem cell response to biodegradable polymers through the design of innovative micro/nano-engineered structures and surfaces. Other projects are concerned with the development of modular biosensing platforms (with biocompatible microbeads) to both modulate cell mechanical microenvironment and monitor extracellular proteases.

B. Bioprocess and Biomolecular Engineering: 3 students This research area includes the development and optimization of bioreactors for the production of recombinant proteins by mammalian and/or stem cells, on the upstream and downstream processes associated with large scale production of plasmid vectors using high-density cell cultures, and on the production of biofuels by fermentation processes. More speciďŹ cally, the goal of one project is to rationally engineer and test an Escherichia coli strain adapted to thrive in high density cell cultures and synthesize the large amounts of supercoiled pDNA required to push the development of pDNA biopharmaceuticals. Another project is focused on the establishment and validation of perfusion bioreactors for cell culture, namely longterm primary culture of alginate encapsulated functional hepatocyte aggregates.

C. Biosystems Innovation, Management and Policy: 3 students One project in this area addresses the problem of reconciling the needs of product development in tissue engineering with the practices of innovation in healthcare. It is devoted to understanding why tissue engineering research and the breadth of solutions explored so far have had limited success in capturing value. It analyzes innovation practices in tissue engineering in order to guide cell-based therapy companies. Another project studies healthcare systems in a hospital environment. It addresses the current opportunities and challenges that computational tools (such as soft computing predictive models) may have in healthcare delivery at Intensive Care Units (ICU), to ultimately predict the outcome of patients under a critical condition, such as septic shock. It is using data from a large Portuguese medical center (Hospital da Luz) in order to validate the analyses and research that are being conducted at the moment.

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D. Computational Bioengineering, Genomics, Systems and Synthetic Biology: 2 students Systems and Synthetic biology are expected to bring major benefits to industrial biotechnology especially in the development of efficient cell factories. A set of mathematical and computational techniques are developed and applied to the problem of designing efficient and informative experiments. In this research area, one current project aims at the optimization of industrial biotechnology processes by identification of kinetic models representing metabolic reactions. It develops a framework for structural reduction and kinetic inference for metabolic networks, which is a promising approach for the construction of dynamic models at the genome scale.

Another project is related to the possibility of understanding and controlling stem cell behavior, specifically the problem of generating stem cells from adult somatic cells.

The mechanism and role of stochastic effects in that process is studied by building a model of reprogramming at the molecular level.

E. Biomedical Devices and Technologies: Hybrid Human - Machine Systems: 4 students Hybrid Human–Machine studies are motivated by a desire to better quantify and model human and human–machine performance. Biomedical devices, such as powered ankle-foot prostheses, musculoskeletal loading suits and exoskeletons, and wearable brain sensors, hold promise for medical applications. Two main fields can be defined: one is related to the powered ankle–foot prostheses to help locomotion in patients with neuromuscular disabilities. In this research field, one of the PhD projects aims at the creation of an active ankle–foot orthosis for which the problem of portability is no longer an issue. Another project is primarily to design and validate a medical device to support locomotion in individuals with neuromuscular disabilities, through the use of Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES), multi-body dynamics methodologies and control strategies.

The other main field is concerned with wearable devices that are used to record several physiological signals, providing unobtrusive and continuous monitoring. The main challenge in these systems is to develop new recording sensors specially envisioning bioelectric activity detection. One of the PhD Projects proposes to develop an electro– optical fiber-based sensor for bioelectric acquisition specially envisioned for wearable devices. Another one is dedicated to the detection of dysplasia, since it is essential for managing certain types of cancer. Development of a miniaturized spectroscopy system that can be integrated within an endoscopic capsule is underway.

F. Neurosciences (Molecular to Systems Neurobiology and Brain Diseases): 2 students This research area is related to research mainly in brain diseases, with a close relation to neurobiology and structural biochemistry. One of the projects intends to study the central hypothesis that the molecule cyclin-dependent kinase 5 is a major effector of the NMDA amino acid receptor. Identification of substrates and interactions should help understand the signaling network, whereby neuronal connectivity and brain circuits are regulated. Another project focus on the metabotrobic glutamate receptordependent long-term depression process at excitatory synapses, which is rapidly becoming recognized as an important form of neuroplasticity in hippocampus, cerebellum, and visual cortex (neural diseases). The studies are performed on a Flailer mouse as a model.

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Coordinators of the Bioengineering Systems doctoral program Bruce Tidor, Department of Electrical Engineering-Computer Science, MIT (PhD director) Dava Newman, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, MIT Joaquim Cabral, IST, Technical University of Lisbon Manuel Mota, School of Engineering, University of Minho Manuel Nunes da Ponte, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, New University of Lisbon (PhD director)

3.1.2. Structure The structure of the doctoral program in Bioengineering Systems is shown in the table below:

Structure of the doctoral program in Bioengineering Systems Courses

ECTS

Mandatory/Optional

Semester

Innovation in Technological Systems

6

Mandatory

Bioprocess Engineering

6

Mandatory

1st 1st

Cell & Tissue Engineering

6

Mandatory

1st

Computational Biosystems Science & Engineering

6

Mandatory

1st

Leadership

1

Mandatory

1st

Biomedical Devices and Technologies

6

Optional

1st

Nanobiotechnology and Biomaterials

6

Optional

1st

and Brain Diseases

6

Optional

1st

Principles and Practice of Drug Development

6

Optional

1st

Laboratory rotation I

9

Mandatory

2nd

Laboratory rotation II

9

Mandatory

2nd

Bio-innovation teams with seminar

6

Mandatory

2nd

Neuroscience: Molecular to Systems Neurobiology

Each student in the first year follows six curricular courses (two weeks each, intensive). Four of these courses are mandatory, while the two remaining requirements are electives from a selection of four courses, which may change from year to year.

In addition to the curricular courses the students follow two short-term crosscutting courses (Leadership and Systems thinking), two laboratory placements (nine weeks each) and the Bio-innovation team’s seminar.

To complete the first year successfully, the PhD student must obtain for each course a grade higher than 10 (in the 0-20 scale) and a yearly GPA average higher than 14 (out of 20).

At the end of the first semester students may choose from a number of defined research projects, their particular PhD project. The selection process is conducted by the Coordination of Bioengineering in collaboration with the supervisors and the PIs involved from Portugal and MIT. If a student is not willing to choose from any of 23

the projects offered, the student must first contact a PT Faculty Professor/Researcher of the research area of his/her interest, to elaborate a PhD Project to be approved by the Coordination team by the end of the semester.

By September/October (early part of the 2nd Year of the doctoral studies) the student must submit a thesis research plan defined in close collaboration with his/her thesis supervisor. The research plan should provide a brief summary of the context and objectives of the thesis, as well as of the state of the art, hypothesis, research methodology, strategy for the completion of the research and provisional time schedule/tasks calendar. This plan will be considered as part of the formal acceptance process of the student’s continuation in the program.

Each qualified PhD student will be assigned a PhD Committee. This committee is responsible for monitoring and guiding the student’s progress through his/her research activities. Students should meet with the PhD Committee at least once per semester. Students planning to undertake research at MIT will be required to have an MIT Faculty member on their PhD committee.

During their research work students will be involved in the Doctoral Seminar series presenting their on-going research work.

At the completion of year 2, PhD candidates shall produce a Thesis Progress Report that will be presented both to the Bioengineering Coordination and to the Thesis Committee. If the PhD Committee determines that the student is not making enough progress on his/her research, this will be discussed with the student, and next steps will be determined for further re-evaluation of the thesis working plan.

3.1.3. New courses and faculty involved For the Bioengineering doctoral program ten new courses have been specially designed. These courses are taught by fifty-three faculty members from seven different Portuguese schools and associate laboratories and by fifteen faculty members from MIT. MIT faculty ensures eighteen percent of the teaching (academic year 2010/11).

3.1.4. Use of open-source community-based tools for learning The students are given access to a website (usually the intranet of one of the home institutions) where most of the class materials are available (syllabus, schedule, PowerPoint presentations, bibliography, home assignments, etc.). The class materials are usually available to students three to five days before each course begins. In some courses, where there are guest speakers, the coordinators/responsible faculty supply the class materials by email. Students use Skype and email to communicate with each other and with faculty.

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

3.1.5. Benchmarking This section presents program information from selected Bioengineering PhD programs in the US and abroad. Bioengineering and related doctoral degree programs can be found under a number of headings, with related but varied goals: Bioengineering; Biological systems engineering; Biological chemical engineering; Biomedical engineering; Biomedical and health systems engineering; Biotechnology; and Synthetic Biology. A wide range of programs was scanned for relevant elements. Bioengineering and Biomedical Engineering programs, often listed in the same reviews, were found to be most similar to the Bioengineering Systems program. However, Biomedical programs differed significantly from Bioengineering Systems in their emphasis on basic medical research. Only one other program, a Master’s Degree offered at the University of Melbourne, was found under the designation Bioengineering Systems.

The top twenty rankings of two lists (US News and World Report and PhDs.org), were reviewed for this document. In the review were included also top rank Universities outside US, e.g., University of Toronto, Imperial College, ETH, EPFL, TUDelft, among others. Most bioengineering programs have a wide range of choice in elective courses, generally included in Master’s Programs curricula, and a narrower focus in specialization. Amongst the programs analyzed, only 3: Georgia Tech; Dresden/Max Planck; and MIT Portgual Program, request students to meet specific core course requirements.

Several of the programs are typically longer than the Bioengineering Systems PhD, five to seven years, however most of them mention the Master’s Program as included in the Graduation Program. Some are four to five years, engaging various strategies towards this economy of time: a Predoc course; preliminary lab rotations; successful completion of a Research Aptitude Exam; and a requirement for prior completion of a Master’s degree in bioengineering.

Given the interdisciplinary nature of bioengineering, programs generally involve several departments or schools, or are administered between two universities (San Francisco/Berkeley, Harvard/MIT, Rice/Texas Medical Center, etc.).

Concerning extended networking between several Universities, two other programs (at Master’s level) were detected. The first one involves a network between the Universities of Delft, Leiden, Amsterdam and Rotterdam, in the Netherlands. As stated in program webpage “The program also benefits from the clinical input provided by three teaching hospitals (Leiden, Rotterdam, Amsterdam).” In the same line goes the statement of another network, the Erasmus Mundus Common European Masters Course in Biomedical Engineering, gathering Aachen, Dublin, Ghent, Brussels, Groningen and Prague. The program webpage states: “For a single university it is difficult to have enough knowledge of all specializations in Biomedical Engineering to teach their students on an adequate level.” Nevertheless, in none of the previous examples there is collaboration with a University overseas. One distinctive feature of the MIT Portugal Bioengineering Systems program stems from offering resources of collaboration amongst several Portuguese universities, exactly to meet the need for a wide variety of expertise, together with an international collaboration with MIT, including the opportunity to do research at MIT. Regarding innovation and leadership, apart from the University of Washington Department of Bioengineering program, which states: “We invent, patent, license and commercialize at a high rate,” apparently there is no other program concerned with innovation, or at least, it is not mentioned, save for the MIT Portugal program.

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Very few universities in the United States, Europe, or Asia offer graduate degree programs that provide at the same time expertise in bioengineering as well as systems understanding and experiences. No peer programs in bioengineering systems were found with courses and structure comparable to this one. None has the same implicit curriculum focus on innovation and leadership, a global view of the field, and industry interface (though opportunities for these areas of development are available). The structure of the Bioengineering Systems PhD, combining the first year courses, BioTeams, and second semester laboratory placements, is a rather distinctive feature.

The MIT Portugal network was initiated in the context of several state-level and Europewide initiatives to link reform of university education to modernization of Europe’s economies. Several of the features of this network are highlighted in these initiatives: the improvement of quality in university teaching; the development of a strong knowledge and innovation sector; the strengthening of interdisciplinary university-based research; the promotion of national and international collaboration; fostering research, industry and government interfaces.

In this context of reform, the vision, scope, and successes of the post-graduate education network are striking. The results are already evident in the development of a research/industry/government interface. In order to build an evidence-based approach to linking university reform with economic modernization, development of benchmarks for state-level, as well as program-level, initiatives, is worthy of consideration.

Understanding this context of reform also helps to distinguish the goals and unique features of the Bioengineering Systems doctoral program from other Bioengineering post-graduate degree programs.

3.1.6. Student highlights Daniela Couto, David Malta and Pedro Andrade, PhD students of the class of 2007/2011, have recently launched the start-up Cell2B. In their web site, the new company is described as: “Cell2B aims to establish itself has a biotechnology company dedicated to the development of a new line of healthcare therapies to prevent and treat organ rejection in patients undergoing organ or tissue transplants. Our therapy has the potential to impact the lives of more than 175,000 patients per year in Europe and the USA.” Daniela Couto was awarded this year “National Women Entrepreneur Start” by the Portuguese Association of Young Entrepreneurs (ANJE).

Pedro Evangelista and Paulo Maia da Silva, PhD students of the class of 2009/2013, are team members of SilicoLife, a start-up “devoted to accelerate strain and bioprocess optimization in Industrial Biotechnology by the use of proprietary computational and modelling tools.”

Daniela and David had extended stays at MIT during the last three years, while Pedro and Paulo have so far performed their research work mostly in Portugal. Although their PhD projects are very different, they all acquired their entrepreneurship drive, skills and gusto during their innovation-oriented hands-on approach BioTeam course in their first year of the Bioengineering program.

26

MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Eunice Costa enrolled in the bioengineering program in 2007. Her PhD project aims at the development of a modular biosensing platform to both modulate cell mechanical microenvironment and monitor extracellular proteases. Eunice has traveled frequently between Lisbon and Boston, dividing her work almost equally between labs at MIT and New University of Lisbon. She was recently interviewed for the Chronicle of Higher Education. She stated that she was attracted by a program that "helps you make contacts overseas while letting you keep a foot in your own country."

Cristiana Paulo, PHD student of the class of 2007/2011, developed a non-leaching antimicrobial platform for biomedical devices. Her platform has got an international patent, which was licensed by Matera, a spin-off company of Biocant (Biotechnology park located in Cantanhede, Portugal). She is motivated to “contributing for the next generation of functional biomaterials that might have impact in human lives.” Her work was recently awarded at the international conference in Nanotechnology TNT2010.

3.1.7. Educational initiatives Curriculum development All the courses were designed in close cooperation between Portuguese and MIT Faculty. And the courses are co-taught: most of the MIT Faculty professors were in Portugal to teach courses , while a few taught through videoconference.

Training faculty Fifteen Portuguese faculty members stayed for long visiting periods at MIT (two to six months) where they established research cooperation agreements; and nine of those, while at MIT, attended the i-Teams course in order to be able to develop/implement the BioTeams course and also to engage/interact with the MIT teaching delivery mode.

Special seminars Each teaching course has a significant number of special seminars (on average around five seminars) offered by external faculty from other institutions, or by experts/specialists from industrial affiliates or from other sources, giving our students a broad view of state-of-the-art in the research field, as well as a different view from the industrial and entrepreneurship perspective, that complements the regular educational curriculum.

Workshops Every year, the Leadership Development course is taught in order to develop/create the leadership skills that this Doctoral Program would like to implement within the students. So far, four Leadership Development annual offerings have taken place in Gerês (north of Portugal) with successful feedback from students. Four BusinessGovernment-Academia workshops were organized as annual events that many students attended. The themes covered were: “Emerging Issues and Opportunities in Biopharmaceuticals” (INFARMED, Lisbon; June 11-12, 2007); “Biomedical Devices 27

for 2020” (Braga, May 30-31, 2008); “Challenges in Cell and Gene Therapies” (Coimbra, June 1- 2, 2009); “Personalized Medicine” (Coimbra, June 18, 2010).

Students’ general data Currently there are seventy-five doctoral students enrolled in Bioengineering Systems, of which fifty of them are already involved in the research work regarding their individual PhD Project. Two students have just finished their PhD and twenty other are expected to finalize their doctoral studies in 2011, and some will present their thesis in the final quarter of the current year. Of these students, thirteen have had extended research experience at MIT (ranging from six to eighteen months). Their PhD Projects include a strong and valuable cooperation between the Portuguese collaborating institutions and MIT. Since the start of the Program and until February, we have had twenty-two visiting students at MIT in total, conducting a very important part of their research work plan jointly with Portuguese and MIT faculty supervision and advising.

3.1.8. PhD theses This section shows the profiles of several students.

The home institution of each student is indicated on the first line as: IST – Instituto Superior Técnico – Technical University of Lisbon FCTUNL – Faculty of Sciences and Technology – New University of Lisbon UMinho – School of Engineering – University of Minho

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Ana Carina da Silva, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2007 PhD program: BIO Year of PhD: 4th Estimated date of Completion: 03/2012

Title of the thesis Acoustic Biosensors for Biomedical and Biotechnology Applications – The quartz crystal microbalance as a platform for mammalian cell studies Supervisors in Portugal: Guilherme N.M. Ferreira (University of Algarve), Cláudia Lobato da Silva (IST) Main Publication Ferreira, G.N.M., Da-Silva, A.C., Tomé, B., (2009). Acoustic wave biosensors: physical models and biological applications of quartz crystal microbalance. Trends in Biotechnology 27 (12), 689-697.

Research progress and major scientific contributions The study of cell adhesion to surfaces has become a scientific field with increasing importance once cell-surface interactions are key aspects for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications.

Cell-substrate interaction appears as a major concern when studying the compatibility of surfaces for the growth of living cells.

We intend to demonstrate that the quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) could be a powerful low-cost technique for the label free and non-invasive monitoring of cell attachment and spreading in real time, with high sensitivity and specificity. We are developing methodologies to use QCM devices to study different aspects of cell biology. Multilayer sensor devices that include a quartz substrate, a cell– substrate interfacial layer and a cell layer are designed. Correlating QCM’s signals variations with cellular biological phenomena we intend to make use of the potential of this cell-based biosensor to study how cells respond to changes in their culture conditions or to the effect of drugs. Specific sets of parameter variations are correlated with the different cellular status, morphology and phenotype. This study should culminate with the development of a powerful stem cell-based biosensor to monitor stem cell differentiation.

So far, we have completely study the ability of the QCM to differentiate the adhesion behavior of epithelial cells and fibroblasts onto the bare gold QCM surface in the presence and in the absence of serum proteins. The sensor is able to differentiate not only different cell types but also different stages of the cell adhesion process. The sensor also detected differences in cell behavior between serum free and serum supplemented circumstances, showing that the presence of serum proteins influences the biological performance of cells.

We also tested the adhesion behavior of cells onto different substrates (gelatin, fibronectin, Poly-D-Lysine (PDL) at several concentrations) and we realized that the PDL is the one who is showing best results.

In the near future, we are expecting to start testing how the sensor detects the modification of cell morphology due to the addition of specific drugs. We aim also to initiate the planned stem cells studies.

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Ana Lúcia Rosário, FCTUNL, Portugal Starting year: 2007 PhD program: BIO Year of PhD: 4th Estimated date of Completion: 09/2012 Amount of time spent at MIT: 19 months

Title of the thesis The role of TAOK2 in brain development

Supervisors in Portugal: Margarida Archer (ITQB - UNL) at MIT: Li-Huei Tsai (PILM - MIT) Main Publications de Anda, FC and Rosario, AL et al. TAO2 Kinase is Important for Basal Dendrites Formation in the Neocortex. Prepared for submission. de Rosa, M. et al (2010) Crystal structure of a junction between two Z-DNA helices. PNAS 107: 20.

Research progress and major scientific contributions Austim spectrum disorder is a multifactorial heritable development disorder related with disconnectivity.

Recently, a novel recurrent microdeletion of chromosome 16p11.2 has been identified that carries substantial susceptibility to autism. One of the genes from the affected region encodes for the protein TAO Kinase 2 (TAO K2). How neurons develop their morphology is an important and challenging question in neurobiology. Little is known about how neurons establish distinct dendrites architectures, specifically if different molecular pathways define the different dendrite compartments, i.e., apical versus basal dendrites in pyramidal neurons, and how those affect connectivity. We have discovered a novel pathway that exclusively affects the formation of basal dendrites but not apical dendrites of pyramidal neurons from the cortex. TAO2 Kinase (thousand-and-one-amino acid 2), an autism spectrum disorder susceptibility protein, plays an essential role in dendrite morphogenesis. TAO2 down-regulation specifically impairs the basal dendrite formation in vivo. Moreover, TAO2 interacts with Neuropilin 1 (Npn1), a receptor that binds Semaphorin 3A (Sema3A) and previously associated with basal dendrite morphogenesis. TAO2 over-expression rescued the deficit of dendrite formation in cortical cultured neurons from mice that expresses a Npn1 receptor incapable of binding the secreted Sema3A (Npn1Sema-). Additionally, TAO2 over-expression rescued the basal dendrite impairment after Npn1 down-regulation in vivo. Finally, we found that Sema3A and TAO2 modulate the formation of basal dendrites through the activation of the c-Jun N-Terminal Kinase (JNK). At the moment, the main goal is to determine how TAO2 transduces the activation signaling to the catalytic site through the membrane

by X-Ray Crystallography. We hope these results would enable the broadening of available drug targets, not only towards Kinase activation or inhibition, but its regulation.

30

MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Ana Rita Domingues, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2009 PhD program: BIO Year of PhD: 2nd Estimated date of Completion: 10/2013 Amount of time spent at MIT: 18 months

Title of the thesis 2ndSKIN – A Programmable Second Skin Soft Exoskeleton

Supervisors in Portugal: Jorge Martins (IST), Miguel Silva (IST) at MIT: Dava Newman

Research progress and major scientific contributions The goal of this project is to create a novel biomedical device, a second skin orthotic, with embedded sensing and actuation as well as a novel human-systems interface design. The proposed second skin offers a radically different approach to biomedical device design and assistive rehabilitation: the use of advanced materials and biosensors networked according to principles of distributed control. The soft exoskeleton, worn over affected body parts of individuals who suffer from neuromotor disease, may promote a restoration of function, by promoting exploration of self-produced limb movements during daily activities. Through the soft exoskeleton actuators in the network, we expect to be able to assist the body in the treatment and physical rehabilitation dropfoot gait resulting from brain injury. With this work, it is intended to develop a method of helping millions of patients with dropfoot pathology, providing a permanent assistance solution. In addition, this work can give more information about the mechanics of normal and pathological human gait which is a second driving factor. Finally we expect that this work can be a starting point to an extended work where the method developed can be applied to other pathologies and joints of the body, which would allow anyone with a neuromuscular disorder to move normally.

To accomplish these goals, the work will focus on four different tasks. First, a strain field analysis of the skin around the human ankle where the function will be powered will be performed. Second, the orthotic sensor layout will be defined. Third, the layout of the distributed actuator system will be devised, taking into account the strain field analysis performed in task 1. The fourth task is to develop the control system algorithm, which provides suitable actuation to achieve the desired gait.

At this point, a foot model with the lines of maximum and zero stretch was obtained. It used two different systems: a system of video cameras that were used to acquire the positions of a set of markers placed on the skin during the different gait phases; and a palpation tool which measured the 3D positions of markers affixed to applications-specific tools and then the system used this information to determine the position of these pointers within a specific measurement volume.

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André Fialho, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2008 PhD program: BIO Year of PhD: 3rd Estimated date of Completion: 2012 Amount of time spent at MIT: 12 months

Title of the thesis Systems Redesign to Improve the Survival of Shock Patients in ICUs

Supervisors in Portugal: João Sousa (IST) at MIT: Stan Finkelstein Main Publication A. S. Fialho, F. Cismondi, S. Vieira, J. Sousa, S. Reti, M. Howell, R. Welch and S. Finkelstein, “Missing data in large intensive care units databases”. Crit Care Med. 2010; 38: A1-A285 Research progress and major scientific contributions The present work will address Shock, a common clinical issue among patients in an intensive care unit (ICU) by determining the extent to which variations in the processes of care influence outcome. By using a variety of advanced data mining/analytic techniques, the two main goals of this work will include: (1) establishing a robust quantitative basis for systems-based interventions to improve outcomes in the ICU shock patients; and (2) developing a reproducible framework for applying the data mining strategies to other healthcare venues.

We started by carefully analyzing and pre-processing the data that was previously collected from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, which we found to contain a large number of variables sampled in different frequencies and segments of absent values. Given that these issues can profoundly bias studies’ results, we proposed a method to (a) align misaligned unevenly sampled data, (b) differentiate absent values related to low sampling frequencies from those resulting of missingness mechanisms, and (c) to classify recoverable and non-recoverable segments of missing data by using soft computing approaches. Simultaneously, we have proposed the application of new knowledge-based methods to a septic shock patient database. The goal was to estimate, as accurately as possible, the outcome (survived or deceased) of these septic shock patients. Results showed that the approaches presented outperformed any previous solutions, specifically in terms of sensitivity. In the near future we plan to use data from a large Portuguese medical center (Hospital da Luz) to "validate" the analyses we are conducting in the moment.

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Carlos Rodrigues, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2007 PhD program: BIO Year of PhD: 4th Graduated: 21/09/2011

Title of the thesis Design and operation of bioreactor systems for the expansion and controlled neural differentiation of stem cells Supervisors In Portugal: Joaquim Cabral (IST), Maria M. Diogo (IST), Cláudia Lobato da Silva (IST) Main Publication Rodrigues CAV, Diogo, MM, da Silva CL, Cabral JMS (2010), Hypoxia enhances proliferation of mouse embryonic stem cell-derived neural stem cells, Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 106(2):260-270 Research progress and major scientific contributions Large scale expansion of neural stem (NS) cells capable of differentiation into neurons, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes cells is expected to be a key step for applications such as pharmacological studies, stem cell biology or regenerative medicine.

The first steps of this thesis consisted in the characterization and optimization of the culture of a mouse embryonic stem cell-derived NS cell line under static conditions. Particular attention was given to the influence of oxygen in cell proliferation. Hypoxic conditions (culture under a 2% oxygen atmosphere) were found to lead to higher growth rates without negatively affecting cell potential.

Static culture in tissue culture flasks shows various limitations, especially in terms of scale up, and thus effort was made to implement dynamic culture of the NS cell line used before. Initially, a screening of different commercially available xeno-free microcarriers for cell attachment was performed, in a serumfree culture medium. The best results were obtained with spherical crosslinked polystyrene beads coated with an extracellular matrix protein fragment. Importantly, high cellular viability and the expression of nestin, a marker of neural stem/progenitor cells, was retained when cells were cultured for up to 9 days on the microcarriers, in the spinner-flask, confirming that these culture conditions, in particular the shear stress caused by agitation, is not detrimental for the cells.

The subsequent steps were the optimization of culture parameters, such as inoculation strategy, stirring speed, culture medium feeding (including growth factors supply) and microcarrier concentration. After 6 days, with an optimal stirring speed of 60 rpm and a 20 g/L microcarrier concentration, a 35-fold increase in cell number was observed, with cell viability above 95%. The validation of this bioprocess for mES cell-derived NS cell expansion was performed with the demonstration of the differentiation of the spinner-flask expanded cells into neuronal and glial cells.

The results obtained with mouse NS cells constituted the basis for the design of a similar system for human NS cells. This process, still under development, may find application in clinical settings, for instance in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, if cells are cultured under xeno-free conditions and complying with GMP regulations.

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Carlos Daniel Machado, UMinho, Portugal Starting year: 2007 PhD program: BIO Year of PhD: 4th Estimated date of Completion: 09/2011 Amount of time spent at MIT: 7 months

Title of the thesis Novel modelling formalisms and simulation tools in computational biosystems

Supervisors in Portugal: Eugénio Ferreira (UMinho), Isabel Rocha (UMinho) at MIT: Bruce Tidor Main Publication R.S. Costa, D. Machado, I. Rocha, and E.C. Ferreira. Critical perspective on the consequences of the limited availability of kinetic data in Metabolic Dynamic Modeling. IET Systems Biology, 2010 (accepted) R.S. Costa, D. Machado, I. Rocha, and E.C. Ferreira. Hybrid dynamic modeling of E. coli central metabolic network combining Michaelis-Menten and approximate kinetic equations. Bio Systems, 2010 (accepted) R.S. Costa,D. Machado, I. Rocha, and E.C. Ferreira. Evaluating the integration of proteomic data for the prediction of intracellular fluxes after knockout experiments. Computer Applications in Biotechnology, 2010 (accepted).

Research progress and major scientific contributions My initial research reviewed several modeling formalisms currently used in Systems Biology with the goal of finding a suitable formalism for integration of different types of biological networks [1]. The results have shown that Petri nets, being both graph-based and mathematically sound, with several extensions available, are the formalism that offers more flexibility towards this end. They were later used in the development of a framework for structural reduction and kinetic inference for metabolic networks which is a promising approach for the construction of dynamic models at the genome scale [2].

My current work is related with the current gap between dynamic and constraint-based models of metabolism. While the latter only account for stoichiometry, therefore scaling to the genome scale, the former account for concentrations and kinetic parameters, which limits their application to small networks due to limitations in available data. I have explored the influence of kinetic detail from the dynamic formulation in the solution space of the constraint-based formulation. This understanding will allow the estimation of the accuracy of constraint-based solutions.

[1] D. Machado, R.S. Costa, M. Rocha, I. Rocha, B. Tidor, and E.C. Ferreira. A critical review on modelling formalisms and simulation tools in computational biosystems. Distributed Computing, Artificial Intelligence, Bioinformatics, Soft Computing, and Ambient Assisted Living, pages 1063–1070, 2009. [2] D. Machado, R.S. Costa, M. Rocha, I. Rocha, B. Tidor, and E.C. Ferreira. Model transformation of metabolic networks using a Petri net based framework. International Workshop on Bioprocesses and Petri Nets, 2010.

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Cláudia Vistas, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2007 PhD program: BIO Year of PhD: 4th Estimated date of Completion: 2012

Title of the thesis Optical nanosensors based on amorphous silicon photodiodes for biomedical applications

Supervisors in Portugal: Guilherme Ferreira (University of Algarve), João Pedro Conde (IST)

Research progress and major scientific contributions An integrated biochip with microfabricated hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) p-i-n photodiode was developed for the optical detection of biomolecular interactions. a-Si:H films are very attractive in photodiode manufacturing as they present high quantum efficiency, low dark current and lowtemperature (below 250 ºC) processing technology that allows the use of substrates such as glass and polymers. An amorphous silicon-carbon (a-SiC:H) filter was integrated in the photodiode chip to suppress the excitation light while allowing the transmission of the fluorescent light emitted by labeled biomolecules to the a-Si:H layer. The integrated on-chip detection results in a biochip that allows highly sensitive, rapid and real-time measurements, also leading to portability and reduced costs, which are the major factors in encouraging the microarrays uptake in the healthcare sector.

The response of this chip was initially characterized using 600 nm CdSe/ZnS quantum dots (QDs). The detection limit of the device was as low as 1 fmol for the QD600 in solution. In order to apply this sensor for biological applications different silane surface chemistries were studied and optimized for biomolecule immobilization. Common biomolecular interactions such as anti-GST with GST were successfully detected. We are developing a more specific application of this biosensor which is the detection of virion infectivity factors (Vif). HIV-1 Vif increases infectivity of virus particles through inhibition of intracellular antiviral defenses and has been pointed out as a strong candidate target for HIV-1 treatment. Anti-HIV-1 Vif single chain fragment antibodies (scFv-4BL) were engineered, produced and immobilized on the surface of the detector biochips. HIV-1 Vif was detected by the fluorescent signal after being conjugated to QDs, at a surface density of 30 fmol/cm2.

An important breakthrough will involve the integration of such a-Si:H photodetector in a microfluidic platform, in order to develop an innovative biomedical product to monitor the HIV-1 clearance in infected patients during antiretroviral therapy.

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Cristiana Paulo, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2007 PhD program: BIO Year of PhD: 4th Estimated date of Completion: 09/2011

Title of the thesis Antimicrobial Nanoparticles

Supervisors in Portugal: Lino Ferreira (CNCUC), Joaquim Cabral (IST) Main Publication Cristiana Paulo, Maria Vidal and Lino Ferreira, Antifungal Nanoparticles and Surfaces, Biomacromolecules, 2010, 11 (10), pp 2810–2817.

Research progress and major scientific contributions This research project is focused on developing innovative nanotechnology-based solutions to prevent biofilm formation on biomedical devices. Biofilm-forming microorganisms have increased antimicrobial resistance and are very difficult to eradicate. Frequently, it is necessary to remove the device to effectively treat the infection, causing great discomfort to the patient and increasing healthcare costs.

Most of the current microbicidal technologies rely on the gradual release of compounds or modification of surfaces with agents that unspecifically disrupt cell integrity, thus having the disadvantages of bioactivity loss and death of non-target cells.

During the first two years of the project, we developed highly active antifungal nanoparticles by covalently functionalizing the surface of silica nanoparticles with a conjugate formed by an antifungal agent, amphotericin B (AmB), and a polysaccharide, Dextran. AmB is a gold standard antifungal agent with almost no known resistant strains. When tested in suspension, the nanoparticles were proven effective in low doses against five of the most frequent Candida species responsible for hospitalacquired infections. We further showed that they can be reused and the antifungal activity is mediated mainly by contact and not by leaching of the drug. Importantly, nanoparticles immobilized on a glass surface maintained their antifungal activity and are substantially non-cytotoxic against human mononuclear cells. The developed technology compares favorably to other technologies currently available in the market (e.g. silver nanoparticles) in terms of antifungal efficacy.

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Daniela Coutinho, UMinho, Portugal Starting year: 2007 PhD program: BIO Year of PhD: 4th Estimated date of Completion: 09/2011 Amount of time spent at MIT: 17 months

Title of the thesis Micro/Nano-processing strategies as tools to clarify the surface mediated biological performance of degradable biomaterials Supervisors in Portugal: Rui Reis (UMinho), Nuno Neves (UMinho), Manuela Gomes (UMinho) at MIT: Ali Khademhosseini (Harvard-MIT Division of Health Science and Technology) Main Publication Coutinho DF, Shilpa S, Shin H, Oliveira JT , Gomes ME, Neves NM, Khademhosseini A and Reis RL, 2010, Modified Gellan Gum hydrogels with tunable physical and mechanical properties, Biomaterials, 31:7494- 7502.

Coutinho DF, Costa, P. F., Neves NM, Gomes ME and Reis RL, 2010, Micro and Nano Technology in Tissue Engineering, In The Tissue Engineering Book: State of the art, Visions and Limitations, eds.

Pallua N, Springer - In Press.

Coutinho DF, Sant S, Shakiba M, Gomes ME, Neves NM, Reis RL, Khademhosseini A, Fabrication of Hydrogel Fiber Bundles from Assembly of Polyelectrolytes, in preparation.

Research progress and major scientific contributions Biological tissues are composed of functional units, spatially organized and cooperatively orchestrated to perform tissue functions. The milieu of the tissue microenvironment consists on the assembly of micro- and nano-sized entities organized in three dimensional (3D) structures. However, this accurately defined organization is specific to each tissue, resulting in dramatically inhomogeneous microenvironments throughout the human body. Engineered biological tissues should be customizable, thus increasing their potential clinical impact. However, most of the existing engineered systems fail to replicate simultaneously the architecture of the tissues and the physical and chemical cues provided by the microenvironment. Because of their unique similarity with the extracellular matrix (ECM) highly hydrated structure, hydrogels are very useful for the local delivery of encapsulated cells, enhancing tissue function. Hydrogels may be specifically designed to be photosensitive, enabling shaping the hydrogel according to the specific tissue microarchitecture. The aim of this work was to develop a hydrogel with enhanced properties and to engineer it with micro-features and biochemical cues, relevant for tissue engineering applications. Gellan gum, a hydrogel approved by FDA for food industry, was functionalized with double bonds, making it responsive to ultraviolet light. The physical and mechanical properties of the developed hydrogel can be easily tuned by varying the parameters of the cross-linking mechanisms, allowing it to be used in a variety of applications. 3D encapsulation of fibroblast cells in the polymer networks demonstrated in vitro cytocompatibility confirmed by high cell viability. The overall performance of the hydrogel can be fine-tuned by combining polymers with complementary characteristics. As a proof of concept, polycation chitosan was combined with the anionic methacrylated gellan gum. The resulting polyelectrolyte hydrogel was micro-processed into bundles of fibers aimed at mimicking the natural architecture of collagen fibers. The biological functionality of the matrices was further enhanced by covalently incorporating RGD motifs into the photocrosslinkable polymer backbone. Encapsulated cells exhibited good viability and alignment. The new functionalized hydrogel was micro-processed into a fiber bundle system that closely models both the natural architecture and biochemical microenvironment of collagen fibers.

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Daniela Couto, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2007 PhD program: BIO Year of PhD: 4th Estimated date of Completion: 10/2011 Amount of time spent at MIT: 18 months

Title of the thesis Opportunities Arising at the Intersection of Technologies in Healthcare

Supervisors in Portugal: Manuel Heitor (IST), Joaquim Cabral (IST), Pedro Saraiva (University of Coimbra) at MIT: Charles Cooney (MIT), Luis Perez-Breva (MIT) Main Publication Couto D. S., Perez-Breva L., Cooney C.L.. “Reinventing regenerative medicine by learning from past examples”, Submitted to Nature Drug Reviews Research progress and major scientific contributions Tissue engineering and regenerative medicine products have showed great potential and strong financial support, but have had limited success in capturing value since the early 1990s. Despite the uptake in tissue engineering research and the breadth of solutions explored, few advances have progressed to clinical stage. We hypothesize that the reason for the limited success of tissue engineering is rooted in the challenges to reconcile the needs of product development and business strategy specific to tissue engineering with the practices of innovation in healthcare.

We propose to identify and address these challenges with the study of innovation practices in tissue engineering, including technological development, regulatory approval process, and mechanisms of market regulation. The study will build from previous lessons from two distinct areas: regenerative medicine; and combination products. We approach tissue engineering simultaneously as a combination product and a cell-based therapy.

Research completed at to this point looked into three main aspects of cell-based therapies and combination products. Recently, we identified past attempts at capturing value by regenerative medicine companies that illustrate the co-evolution of business strategy and technology. We developed a new framework to guide the cell-based therapies companies in co-evolving business strategy with technological development in a dynamic environment for financing and regulation. Finally, we also explored the historical evolution and the dynamics of innovation in combination products from the technological, corporate, and regulatory vantage points.

This thesis aims to bring three key contributions to the scientific literature. First, understand the coevolution of business strategy and technology in the strategy of regenerative medicine companies.

Second, assess and discuss the differences in the innovation process for combination products and single products including drugs, biologics, or medical devices. Third, propose mechanisms to evolve and accelerate the innovation practices in emergent areas of healthcare, such as tissue engineering.

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

David Malta, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2007 PhD program: BIO Year of PhD: 4th Estimated date of Completion: 09/2011 Amount of time spent at MIT: 24 months

Title of the thesis High-throughput ex vivo Engineered Combinatorial -Niches - From the Pluripotent to the Differentiated Cell Supervisors in Portugal: Cláudia Lobato da Silva (IST), Joaquim Cabral (IST) at MIT: Sangeeta N. Bhatia .

Research progress and major scientific contributions Development is a tightly regulated process that integrates physical and chemical cues from the pluripotent cell to the developed organism. These cues trigger an orchestrated cascade of molecular and cellular events culminating in cellular and tissue organization. Understanding these mechanisms is the basis of Regenerative Medicine. The knowledge of what determines these coordinated events will allow designing Regenerative Medicine approaches to disease. Several studies have looked at the role of chemical and physical cues in development and a deep understanding of this orchestration of factors, which combines inputs from several sources into a single cellular fate, is missing. Several technological platforms have been developed to study chemical cues (e.g. growth factors and cytokines), but there is a general lack of knowledge and appropriate tools to study either the physical cues (extracellular matrix (ECM)) or their combined presentation with chemical cues.

With this objective in mind we developed a combinatorial platform to study the cellular niche, by controlling both physical and chemical cues in a high-throughput combinatorial manner. We developed an ECM array comprising all the pair wise combinations of commercially available ECM molecules.

Using micro-printing technology we created an array of 4000 - niches in a single microscopy slide. To achieve the level of biological complexity, we adapted the previous technology to a 96 well format enabling the integration of the ECM array with small molecule libraries and thus achieving the combinatorial environment that cells are exposed to.

Using the technologies described we were able to study development at different discreet points, mapping the journey from the pluripotent to the differentiated cell states. Starting at the pluripotent cell we identified ECM combinations that promote self-renewal of these cells, such as Collagen II when copresented with Nidogen-1. The pluripotent cell then undergoes a process of specification. In the liver’s case, besides all the chemical cues already known, this work allowed clarifying the role of ECM on liver versus pancreas specification in particular the role of fibronectin and merosin. This ECM combination appears to promote differentiation of cells towards the liver lineage regardless of the chemical cue that is presented. Finally, in the adult bone marrow, ECM has a critical role on mesenchymal stem cell fate.

Here we could elucidate that different ECM combination trigger different cellular fates. For instance, elastin in combination with decorin promotes cellular adhesion whereas elastin when presented with nidogen-2 promotes cellular proliferation.

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Débora Ferreira, UMinho, Portugal Starting year: 2007 PhD program: BIO Year of PhD: 4th Estimated date of Completion: 10/2011 Amount of time spent at MIT: 12 months

Title of the thesis New Functions of the Endoscopic Capsule

Supervisors in Portugal: Graça Minas (UMinho), José Higino Correia (UMinho) at MIT: Michael S. Feld (deceased) Main Publications D. S. Ferreira, J. Mirkovic, R. F. Wolffenbuttel, J. H. Correia, and G. Minas, "Diffuse-‐reflectance spectroscopy for integration in endoscopic capsules to assess esophageal tissue," Journal of Optics (2011). Submitted D. S. Ferreira, J. H. Correia, and G. Minas, "Spectroscopy for the detection of esophageal dysplasia using optical microsensors for integration in endoscopic capsules," IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering (2011). Submitted Research progress and major scientific contributions Detection of dysplasia is essential for managing gastrointestinal cancer since the chances of an effective treatment increase if the disease is diagnosed at an early stage, significantly improving the survival rate. However, dysplastic lesions are difficult to identify by visual inspection during routine endoscopy.

Optical techniques, such as diffuse reflectance and fluorescence spectroscopy, may overcome some limitations of current screening methods and considerably improve the ability to detect dysplasia as they have the potential to provide biochemical and morphological information of normal and diseased tissue.

The development of a miniaturized spectroscopy system that can be integrated within an endoscopic capsule will have a huge clinical utility in the medical devices field, since it will add essential diagnostic functions as a complement to current capsule imaging functions. The designed system has unique features (small size, low-cost, low-complexity, same throughput of conventional systems), and is based on thin-film optical filters and silicon photodiodes for the selection and detection of different spectral bands significant for diagnosis.

In this project, a strategy for spectroscopy tissue diagnosis using a small number of --wavelengths was developed. The feasibility to accurately quantify tissue information using only 16 wavelengths was demonstrated using a spectroscopic esophageal data set. These results were an important step for the development of a miniaturized spectroscopy system to be integrated in endoscopic capsules. The designed system includes UV and white-light LEDs for illumination and 16 high-selective optical detectors, designed for specific wavelengths. The optical detectors are based on thin-film optical filters and silicon photodiodes. The optical filters were fabricated and its spectral performance was shown to be sufficient to be used as a tool to aid in diagnosis. filters and silicon photodiodes. The optical filters were fabricated and spectral performance was shown to be sufficient to be used as a tool to aid in diagnosis.

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Eunice Costa, FCTUNL, Portugal Starting year: 2007 PhD program: BIO Year of PhD: 4th Estimated date of Completion: 09/2011 Amount of time spent at MIT: 13 months

Title of the thesis Bioactive Beads for Local Modulation and Sensing of Cell Mechanical Environment in 3D Engineered Tissues

Supervisors in Portugal: Ana Aguiar Ricardo (FCTUNL) at MIT: Paula T Hammond, Linda G Griffith Main Publications Costa, E., Coelho, M., Ilharco, L. M., Aguiar-Ricardo, A., Hammond, P. T. Tannic Acid Mediated Suppression of PNIPAAm Microgels Thermoresponsive Behavior, Macromolecules 2010, 44, 612.

Costa, E., de Carvalho, J., Casimiro, T., Lobato da Silva, C., Cidade, M.T., Aguiar Ricardo, A. Tailoring Thermoresponsive Microbeads in Supercritical Carbon dioxide for Biomedical Applications, in press, J Supercrit. Fluid. 2010, DOI: 10.1016/j.supflu.2010.10.039.

Serra, M., Brito, C., Costa, E., Alves, P. Integrating human stem cell expansion and neuronal differentiation in bioreactors. BMC Biotechnol. 2009, 9, 82.

Research progress and major scientific contributions Several human diseases, such as cancer or arthritis, are associated with deranged tissue mechanical microenvironment associated with unregulated cell-secreted proteases function. The success of protease-based therapies has been hindered by an ill-defined understanding of the complex regulatory networks in which extracellular proteases are involved. The project concerns the development of a modular biosensing platform to both modulate cell mechanical microenvironment and monitor extracellular proteases. For that purpose biocompatible and thermo-responsive poly (N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) micro-beads with well-defined morphology were successfully prepared using a green synthesis approach by polymerization in supercritical carbon dioxide. The mechanical properties of these beads were systematically modified by using different cross-linking species.

Furthermore NIPAAm was also copolymerized with other monomers, namely methacrylic acid (MAA), to render both pH and temperature responsive PNIPAAm-PMAA micro-beads and allow further functionalization. A layer-by-layer polymer assembly strategy has been studied for both creating cellinteractive surface coatings and incorporating fluorogenic substrates for proteases. The interaction of different polymers with PNIPAAm beads has an impact on their morphology and thermo-responsive behavior, as it was demonstrated for the complexation of tannic acid (TA). The reversible hydrogen bonding between TA and PNIPAAm beads allowed the preparation of micro-gels which morphology and temperature response depended on pH and TA content. Currently, several cell-adhesive polymer pairs such as poly (L-lysine) and poly (glutamic acid) or poly (allylamine hydrochloride) and poly (acrylic acid) are being successfully explored for coating PNIPAAm-PMAA micro-beads and possibly create diffusional barriers to increase protease specificity or sensitivity. The behavior of the bioactive sensing micro-beads will be examined in 3D tissue cultures under conditions that are expected to result in diverse protease profiles, mimicking healthy and diseased tissues.

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Fabiana Fernandes, FCTUNL, Portugal Starting year: 2009 PhD program: BIO Year of PhD: 3rd Estimated date of Completion: 12/2012 Amount of time spent at MIT: 6 months

Title of the thesis Novel cell factories for the production of complex bioproducts: a synthetic biology approach for improved product stoichiometries

Supervisors in Portugal: Paula Alves (ITQB-UNL), Ana Teixeira (ITQB-UNL) at MIT: Kristala Prather Research progress and major scientific contributions Baculovirus-mediated expression in insect cells has been widely employed as production platform for recombinant proteins, mainly because of the high cell densities reached in serum-free suspension cultures and the relative short timelines required to establish a new protein production process.

However, inherent drawbacks of this system include the effort to maintain the virus stock, the lytic infection mode of baculoviruses which can compromise the quality of the product due to cellular proteases release, and the recognized difďŹ culties to separate the recombinant protein from virus proteins during the puriďŹ cation process. Stable expression in insect cells using recombinase-mediated cassette exchange systems potentially represents a valuable alternative to the BEVS. This technology enables the repeated use of pre-characterized genomic sites with good expression rates to produce multiple recombinant proteins. Therefore, comparable development timelines can be achieved with the advantages of a stable expression system. We will present results on the feasibility of using the FLP/FRT site-speciďŹ c recombination system in Sf9 insect cells for consistent production of recombinant proteins.

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Federico Cismondi, IST, Argentina Starting year: 2008 PhD program: BIO Year of PhD: 3rd Estimated date of Completion: 08/2012 Amount of time spent at MIT: 12 months

Title of the thesis Modeling High-Dimensional Clinical Data Sets for Prediction and Intervention

Supervisors in Portugal: João Sousa (IST) at MIT: Stan Finkelstein Research progress and major scientific contributions During my PhD project I started by exploring the current opportunities and challenges that computational tools (such as soft computing predictive models) may have in healthcare delivery at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), and then present an specific application of how some of these tools (e.g., neural networks and fuzzy systems) may allow classifications and ultimately predictions of the outcomes of patients under a critical condition such as septic shock. I am currently working in the prediction/classification of the usefulness of additional lab testing in ICU patients. Our team hypothesized that it would be possible to reduce the amount of lab testing in patients for which new tests do not add useful information to change the treatment strategy. This reduction, performed by correctly classifying and eliminating those tests that would have no significant variations when compared to previous results, could be both a source of a reduction in morbidity and hospitalization costs. An ICU database collected at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, containing data of 26,665 patients, was used for modeling purposes. Proposed models will be validated with a database collected at Hospital da Luz from Lisbon, Portugal. The major contributions of my research include: l

the reduction in patient’s morbility/mortality due to excessive lab testing,

l

the redcution in hospital costs due to excessive lab testing.

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Filipa Castro, UMinho, Portugal Starting year: 2008 PhD program: BIO Year of PhD: 3rd Estimated date of Completion: 2012 Amount of time spent at MIT: 4 to 6 months

Title of the thesis NovaFlow – Novel applications of a state-of-the-art oscillatory flow platform: hydroxyapatite production and its use in bone extracellular matrix growth

Supervisors in Portugal: José Teixeira (UMinho), António Vicente (UMinho) at MIT: Klavs F. Jensen Research progress and major scientific contributions Properties of hydroxyapatite (HAp) Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2 relevant to bone replacement application, like bioactivity, biocompatibility and solubility, are directly influenced by particles characteristics, such as morphology, size and purity. In this context, the present project aims at synthesizing HAp crystals with a carefully controlled size, with a controlled and narrow size distribution and with a high purity, using a novel meso oscillatory flow reactor (OFR) developed by CEB-UMinho.

For this purpose, the thesis was divided into two main areas of study. The first part consists in the characterization of HAp precipitation process, in particular optimization and modelling of the process.

The study will first be conducted in a “conventional” reactor and then in the meso OFR. In addition, crystallization at micro scale will be studied. This part of the work will be done at MIT and will focus on continuous crystallization in microreactors using model compounds such as glycine and acetaminophen. The second part of the thesis focuses on validation of biological processes and products developed.

Concerning characterization of HAp precipitation process, many advances were achieved. The process was carried out in a stirred tank 1L, mixing aqueous solutions of calcium and phosphorus with different Ca/P molar ratios, always at a temperature of 37 º C. After process optimization, a suspension of HAp particles was obtained at a pH close to 7 for an initial Ca/P molar ratio of the reagents equal to 1.33. The particles formed have proved to be high crystalline and rod-shaped with dimensions of approximately 20 nm width and 100 nm in length. In addition, the population of HAp crystals obtained had the tendency to aggregate in solution and presented a narrow number size distribution with a mean equivalent diameter of about 128 nm.

Experiments were started in the meso OFR, being the initial results promising, in particular concerning mixing efficiency. The objective of this part of the work is to compare HAp precipitation processes realized in the stirred tank and in the meso OFR, namely in terms of the efficiency of the process and in terms of the characteristics of the product obtained.

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Filipe Grácio, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2008 PhD program: BIO Year of PhD: 3rd Estimated date of Completion: 08/2012 Amount of time spent at MIT: 18 months

Title of the thesis Understanding and controlling stocasticity in cellular reprogramming

Supervisors in Portugal: Joaquim Cabral (IST) at MIT: Bruce Tidor Main Publication Filipe Grácio, Joaquim Cabral, Bruce Tidor. Modeling of Stem Cell Generation Protocols: Stochasticity deconstructed. In preparation.

Research progress and major scientific contributions In this work we analyze the debate surrounding the proposed Elite and Stochastic models of stem cell reprogramming and look at ways to gain insight into the mechanism of the process. We build mass action models of the core circuitry of the stem cell pluripotency: the model includes not only the NANOG, OCT4, SOX2 network, but also important epigenetic regulatory features. We are able to show that the network topology reported in the literature is consistent with the observed experimental behavior of bistability and inducibility. Based on simulations of stem cell generation protocols we show that cooperative and independent reaction mechanisms have experimental identifiable differences and we analyze such differences and their biological explanations. We also argue that Stochastic and Elite models of Stem Cell generation need not represent any fundamental biological difference but rather just the amount of information we have about the distribution of cellular states before and during the reprogramming protocols. We show that unpredictability decreases as the cell moves through the necessary changes, and that identifiable groups of cells with elite-like behavior can come about by stochastic process. We also show how different mechanisms and kinetic properties impact the prospects of improving the efficiency of iPSC generation protocols.

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Geisa Gonçalves, IST, Brazil Starting year: 2008 PhD program: BIO Year of PhD: 3rd Estimated date of Completion: 09/2012 Amount of time spent at MIT: 16 months

Title of the thesis Rational Engineering of E. coli strains for improved manufacturing of plasmid biopharmaceuticals

Supervisors in Portugal: Miguel Prazeres (IST), Gabriel Monteiro (IST) at MIT: Kristala Prather Research progress and major scientific contributions The use of plasmid DNA (pDNA) as a biopharmaceutical has been gaining momentum over the last years with the approval of the first DNA vaccines. The goal of my project is to rationally engineer and test an Escherichia coli strain specifically adapted to thrive in high density cell cultures and synthesize the large amounts of supercoiled pDNA required to push the development of pDNA biopharmaceuticals. Most E. coli host strains used to produce pDNA were originally mutated to facilitate cloning and production of recombinant proteins and thus may not be optimal for pDNA production. In order to understand the role and interplay of specific sets of genes on E. coli metabolism and pDNA synthesis it is important to analyze the knockout and over expression of key genes on wild-type E. coli and on multi-mutated strains such as DH5. With the goal of high pDNA production in mind, we set out to enhance the production of nucleotides by systematically mutating key genes in wild type (MG1655endA-recA) and genetically modified (DH5) strains. Specifically, the pykF and pykA genes in the glycolysis pathway were knocked out and the rpiA gene in the pentose phosphate pathway was over-expressed. Twenty four strains have been already constructed using different combinations of gene knockouts (pykF, pykA, recA, endA) and over expressed genes (rpiA). Gene knockouts were done using the P1 transduction (C. Martin and S.-H. Yoon, 2009) and gene inactivation (S-H. Yoon and K. Solomon, 2009) protocols. Gene over expression was done using promoter replacement protocol (S.H. Yoon and K. Solomon, 2009). Shake flask tests were carried out with these strains using two different carbon sources, glycerol and glucose. Higher production of pDNA and biomass and lower acetic acid formation were observed in glycerol medium for all tested strains. Preliminary results show that the mutated strains such as DH5pykF-, DH5pykF-pykA- and MG1655endA-pykF-pykA-recA- produce twice as much plasmid when compared with the wild MG1655 and DH5 in shake flask and are therefore potentially high pDNA producers. The impact of mutations on the rpiA gene was not evaluated yet.

Large-scale tests are also necessary to confirm the data from shake flask experiments. Additionally, the impact of the new strains on the downstream processing will be analyzed. The results obtained thus far are encouraging and will hopefully represent an important contribution to the field of plasmid biopharmaceuticals.

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Isa P. Monteiro, UMinho, Portugal Starting year: 2007 PhD program: BIO Year of PhD: 4th Estimated date of Completion: 2011 Amount of time spent at MIT: 14 months

Title of the thesis Development of a novel Regenerative Medicine Approach to treat Skin Defects

Supervisors in Portugal: Alexandra P. Marques (UMinho), Rui L. Reis (UMinho) at MIT: Robert S. Langer, Daniel S. Kohane Research progress and major scientific contributions Skin is the largest organ in the human body; it constitutes a protective barrier from the outside environment and prevents dehydration. Skin replacement is necessary for the treatment of burns, venous or pressure ulcers and after amputation or excision of tumors. In the case of full-thickness skin defects, skin regeneration using a Tissue Engineering approach suggests the need for a skin-like construct, which aims to restore both epidermal and dermal components of the human skin.

This PhD work focuses on the combination of biocompatible natural-based polymeric scaffolds with primary and/or stem cells in order to create in vitro three dimensional epidermal-dermal substitutes that would be able to overcome some of the drawbacks of the skin substitutes currently used in clinical practice.

Hyaluronan (HA) is a natural compound of the extra-cellular matrix that provides a permissive environment for regeneration rather than healing through scarring and fibrosis. HA was selected to produce porous scaffolds aimed at creating the dermal component of the skin substitutes. One of the major problems of large area skin defects is the lack of vascularization. In an attempt to overcome this problem, angiogenic factors were encapsulated in liposomes and microparticles, which were then incorporated in the HA dermal scaffold. The sustained release of these factors is expected to conduct microvasculature formation, both by the differentiation of stem cells that can also be seeded within the porous structure and by the recruitment of endothelial progenitor cells from the neighborhood of the damaged tissue.

The epidermal component was either created by using a HA gel or by applying the spray-assisted layer-by-layer (LbL) technique to produce a polyelectrolyte multilayer of HA and poly-L-lysine on the top of the HA porous scaffold (dermal component). This innovative processing methodology allowed the creation of distinct layers with distinct physical-chemical-biological properties. The LbL technique was also used to entrap growth factors, namely epidermal growth factor, in order to promote epidermal regeneration and to allow for controlled and sustained release through surface erosion of the film.

Co-cultures were obtained by seeding different cells in different regions of the scaffold. Epidermal regeneration was achieved by the differentiation of human amniotic fluid stem cells and adult bulge stem cells (mild-telogen) into the epidermal lineage and culturing them in the epidermal component of the scaffold. The functionality of the proposed approaches will be assessed in burn and excision mouse and rat models.

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Isabel Ferreira, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2007 PhD program: BIO Year of PhD: 4th Estimated date of Completion: 09/2011 Amount of time spent at MIT: 5 months

Title of the thesis Bioprocess Engineering on Microbial Desulfurization: Cell Immobilization and Cell Recycle for Desulfurization of Crude Oil

Supervisors in Portugal: Maria Raquel de Barros (IST) Carla de Carvalho (IST) at MIT: Daniel I. C. Wang Research progress and major scientific contributions In 2009, the crude oil demand in the world was c.a. 84 millions of barrels per day, generating around US$ 6 billion. During transformation and use of crude oil derivatives e.g. diesel and gasoline, aromatic and sulfur-containing toxic compounds are formed and released. Consequently regulatory agencies have been limiting the total amount of compounds such as sulfur. Petroleum companies are using hydro-desulfurization, an expensive chemical process, able to transform sulfur compounds into H2S but that is often ineffective when eliminating some complex organic compounds such as benzothiophenes.

Bio-desulfurization, BDS, offers a sustainable and less expensive biological way to eliminate sulfur containing compounds from crude oil. In this work, BDS of dibenzothiophene (DBT), the most common sulfur compound present in crude oil was tested with Rhodococcus erythropolis IGTS8 and R. erythropolis DCL14. Experiments were performed in both aqueous, aqueous-organic and aqueouscrude oil biphasic systems. In aqueous phase systems, the cells were able to fully metabolize 0.1 mM DBT but higher concentrations were prevented due to DBT’S low water solubility. Hence, several nalkanes were tested to assess their use as DBT reservoir and toxicity upon R. erythropolis whole cells.

Hexadecane proved to be one of the best solvents: at an initial DBT concentration of 10 mM, IGTS8 and DCL14 cells metabolized 7.9 mM and 3 mM of DBT in just 48 hours, respectively. Cell immobilization was also tested, but the supports investigated did not significantly improve the cells’ BDS rate. Free cells of both strains were used in order to evaluate their crude oil BDS capability. Results showed that cells can maintain viability in direct contact with crude oil for at least 3 months and that are able to metabolize DBT present in the oil. At this moment, experiments on cell adaptation to sulfur toxic compounds in order to improve BDS rate are in place and a process scale up is foreseen.

The results obtained prove the feasibility of using bacterial cells to remove sulfur from crude oil. In that way, this work has contributed for the use of a cleaner source of energy leading to a future improvement of society's health. The outcome of my research has been presented in international congresses in the form of both oral and poster communications.

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Javad Hatami, IST, Iran Starting year: 2010 PhD program: BIO Year of PhD: 2nd Estimated date of Completion: 2014

Title of the thesis Engineering Human Stem Cells toward platelet production

Supervisors in Portugal: Frederico Ferreira (IST), Claudia Lobato da Silva (IST) Research progress and major scientific contributions This project aims at the development of a bioreactor able to produce platelets from umbilical cord blood (UCB) hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSC). Platelet transfusion demand is dramatically increasing, as these are vital to therapies such as cancer chemotherapy and heart surgery. However, in spite of recurrent platelet shortages, up to 31% of collected platelets are currently wasted, since these do not tolerate refrigeration and have shelf-life time span of only 5-7 days. The ex-vivo production of platelets from HSC would allow for just-in-time delivery strategies for platelet transfusion. The main idea explored herein is to integrate a high yield HSC expansion stage with an efficient megakaryocyte differentiation stage and then into blood platelets.

These two stages require very different medium conditions, cytokines/growth factors, cell-to-cell interactions and oxygen supply. We intend to design a system that, by establishing boundaries between stages, allows a certain degree of independent optimal conditions for each stage, achieving high yields of platelet production.

This project aims to gain knowledge to be applied towards the development of a bioreactor system able to produce platelets in vitro from stem cells. To reach this final goal, the following step project objectives are defined: (i) design a expansion protocol, tailored for further differentiation of the obtained HSC population, and a differentiation protocol for production of functional platelet at high yields; (ii) design of a bioreactor operation able to deliver and maintain local conditions required for expansion and differentiation stages and (iii) optimize configurations or operation sequences towards maximum platelet yield production.

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Joana Coelho, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2009 PhD program: BIO Year of PhD: 2nd Estimated date of Completion: 09/2013 Amount of time spent at MIT: 6 months

Title of the thesis Towards a mathematical model of risk assessment of biocide induced antibiotic resistance

Supervisors in Portugal: Ana Teresa Freitas (IST) abroad: Marco R. Oggioni (Universitá di Siena, Italy) Research progress and major scientific contributions Biocides have been widely used for several decades to preserve materials including food and cosmetics, to decontaminate surfaces, to disinfect instruments, used in fabrics and, even, in toys, for personal hygiene, and to prevent transmission of infections. Nevertheless, when used in large volumes or at high concentrations, biocides have toxic effects and excessive use is dangerous for the environment, including animals and humans. Despite this widespread and ever increasing use of biocides, most bacterial and fungal species remain susceptible. However, decreased susceptibility of bacteria and fungi to disinfectants has been reported and occasionally linked to antibiotic resistance, mainly in human and veterinary pathogens.

The problem of the development of resistances, together with the possibility to prevent them, has been carefully considered by the EC in the Biocides Directive 98/8/CE, a norm which oversees a high protection for the environment and man, and harmonizes the rules for placing on the market within the European Union any active substances and biocidal products.

The main goal of this work is the evaluation of the risk for clinically significant increase or spread of antibiotic resistance in food pathogens due to biocide use. A risk assessment model will be designed in order to determine the real clinical relevance of any antibiotic/biocide co- and cross-resistance found.

The sample set, providing the necessary high numbers required for multivariate analysis, will be obtained in the context of the European project BIOHYPO (Proposal No 227258 of the Programme “FP7 Cooperation Work Programme: Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, and Biotechnologies”) (Dr. Marco Oggioni, PI). The collections selected by BIOHYPO for high throughput screening, contain thousands of bacteria of human and of veterinary origin collected worldwide over an extended range of time and characterized for their drug susceptibility profile.

Statistical methods were applied to identify significant associations between biocide use and antibiotic resistance in bacteria. Machine learning methods have been conceptualized and applied to real data from some of the more relevant pathological bacterial strains. The obtained results will be used to select the most relevant strains for typing analysis. Further multivariate analysis is in course to be the basis of a risk assessment model on the clinical relevance of biocide induction of antibiotic resistance for bacteria.

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

João Guerreiro, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2007 PhD program: BIO Year of PhD: 4th Estimated date of Completion: 2011 Amount of time spent at MIT: 24 months

Title of the thesis Skeletal Muscle Differentiation of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSC) for Therapeutic Applications

Supervisors in Portugal: Cláudia Lobato da Silva (IST), Joaquim Cabral (IST) at MIT: Daniel Griffith Anderson, Robert S. Langer Main Publication De Sousa FB, Guerreiro JDT, Ma M, et al. Photo-response behavior of electrospun nanofibers based on spiropyran-cyclodextrin modified polymer. J. Mater. Chem. 2010; 20(44):9910-9917.

Research progress and major scientific contributions Adult mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) present high proliferation potential in vitro and are able to differentiate into diverse lineages, while display low immunogenic and intrinsic immunomodulatory characteristics. These properties make them the ideal target for therapeutic applications. They can be used directly as undifferentiated cells or after differentiation into a specific lineage. One lineage of mesenchymal origin not fully studied, but of great interest is the skeletal muscle. These cells are responsible for the correct function of different organs. The ex-vivo expansion of MSC followed by differentiation into skeletal muscle cells and their implantation in vivo would represent a promising strategy in clinical settings such as urinary incontinence treatment for which the application of myoblasts have been shown to restore the organ function, though with moderate success.

In order to explore this hypothesis with a therapeutic application as an endpoint, three different approaches are being pursued in which MSC from both bone marrow (BM) and adipose tissue (AT) are used: • Gene Transfection - Both BM and AT MSC were transfected with plasmids containing myogenic relevant genes that could putatively shift their fate into the skeletal muscle linage.

The nonviral transfection via Poly(β-amino esters) (PBAE) nanoparticles was optimized for the cell types in study and under different serum conditions with an eGFP-codifying plasmid. Some conditions showed a genetic profile consistent with myogenic differentiation, though the stimuli were not sufficient to promote clear myogenic differentiation.

Microporation is currently being employed as a transfection platform as it has showed to be able to yield higher transfection rates.

• Physical Cues – The use of nanofibers as a support for myogenic differentiation was previously reported (Dang, 2007). Such approach led to some preliminary promising results and is currently being further explored by combining synthetic polymers and extracellular matrix components as a scaffold to support cell adhesion and growth/differentiation.

• Chemical Cues – Several chemical molecules reported in the literature for having a positive impact in myogenic differentiation (both small molecules and medium cocktails) were tested but did not show significant myogenic differentiation induction to AT or BM MSC.

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Jorge Carvalho, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2008 PhD program: BIO Year of PhD: 3rd Estimated date of Completion: 08/2012

Title of the thesis Use of Acoustic Biosensors for screening and measuring binding of biomolecules to mixed-mode chromatography ligands

Supervisors in Portugal: Guilherme Ferreira (University of Algarve), Joaquim Cabral (IST) Research progress and major scientific contributions The future trends of chromatography separations are thought to deliberately explore multiple binding mechanisms such as electrostatic, hydrophobic, van der Walls and hydrogen binding interactions.

Multi-mode chromatography has been shown to lead to significant gains both in the selectivity and resolution of the biomolecules purification. The development of ligands capable to interact with biomolecules simultaneously through-out different molecular mechanisms and the development of models to understand and explain such interaction are thus research fields of increasing importance in bioengineering.

This PhD project aims at using acoustic wave biosensors to screen the interaction of biomolecules with immobilized ligands and to assess and model the binding mechanism. We rely on the differentiation of signals occurring during biomolecule binding by deconvoluting the signal obtained upon measuring acoustic wave propagation properties.

The physical characterization of biomolecular interaction is one of the most challenging objectives in life sciences. The quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) has been shown to be an efficient tool to study possible interactions and their kinetics. Besides these features, the QCM allows the extraction of mechanical properties of biological films. Different proteins binding to modified gold surfaces of QCM sensors were screened through advanced impedance analysis, in order to correlate dissipation of the acoustic wave propagation and intrinsic properties of the adsorbed film. The gold surface was modified through self-assembled monolayers of different ligands studied through cyclic voltammetry.

The work developed has reinforced the QCM technology versatility and suitability to study, in real-time, the molecular interaction phenomena occurring during chromatography processes. So far, normalizing the dissipation shift to the adsorbed mass at surface it was possible to realize that surface chemistry influences the viscoelasticity of protein adsorbed films. New insights of what happens upon the binding of proteins to specific ligands as well the development of mathematical correlations between the intrinsic bimolecular properties and measured signals are envisaged.

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Maria Francisca Eiriz, FCTUNL, Portugal Starting year: 2008 PhD program: BIO Year of PhD: 3rd Estimated date of Completion: 09/2012

Title of the thesis Migration and differentiation of neuronal precursors in the postnatal brain: Insights from the subventricular zone and cerebellum Supervisors in Portugal: João Oliveira Malva (UMinho), Liliana Bernardino (UMinho), Manuel Nunes da Ponte (FCTUNL) abroad: Armen Saghatelyan (Université Laval, Canada) Main publications Eiriz M.F., Grade S., Rosa A., Xapelli S., Bernardino L., Agasse F., Malva J.O. (2010) Functional evaluation of neural stem cell differentiation by single cell calcium imaging. Accepted review in Current Stem Cell Research & Therapy - Special issue “Adult stem cells and tissue engineering in central nervous system regenerative medicine” Research progress and major scientific contributions Stem/progenitor cells have an important role for normal brain function and repair strategies after cell damage. Neurogenesis, at specific niches, is modulated by a broad range of factors that promote cell migration and differentiation. Among these factors, present in the Subventricular zone (SVZ), one of the neurogenic niches in the postnatal brain, is histamine. However its role in neurogenesis is elusive.

The present study aims to disclose the role of histamine on SVZ neurogenesis. Exposure of SVZ cells to histamine was previously seen in the group to induce an increase in the differentiation of cells displaying a neuronal profile of [Ca2+]i responses as well as an increase in the percentage of NeuNneurons, as compared with the control. To improve a more efficient delivery of histamine into the neurogenic niche, poly(lactic acid-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) microparticles were engineered for the controlled release of histamine for several days. This way a significantly increase in the percentage of NeuN-neurons as well as the percentage of cells displaying a neuronal profile of [Ca2+]i responses as compared to controls was observed. Then, an ex vivo model was developed by grafting SVZ-GFP neurospheres, previously treated with histamine microparticles, on the dentate gyrus of wild-type organotypic hippocampal slice cultures. After 1 week of co-culturing, SVZ-GFP cells pretreated with histamine microparticles differentiate into doublecortin-neuroblasts. Moreover, SVZ-GFP cells pretreated with histamine microparticles and transplanted into the hippocampus in vivo, integrated into the subgranular zone and differentiated at some extent to doublecortin-neuroblasts. Our results suggest that histamine induces neuronal differentiation in SVZ cells, highlighting its use in brain repair strategies.

More recently a new line of experiments aimed at characterizing the role of blood vessels in the migration of granule cells precursors in the cerebellum, a second region in postnatal neurogenesis, was initiated. The role of Brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) on the massive migration of precursor cells from the external granule cell layer of the cerebellum to the internal granule cell layer is well established. However, recent studies have suggested that other cellular sources than neurons in the cerebellum might be important for the proper development and maintenance of brain architecture. This second part of the project aims to identify the major role of vasculature derived BDNF in the migration of granule cells in the cerebellum.

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Maria Nunes Pereira, IST/CNCUC, Portugal Starting year: 2008 PhD program: BIO Year of PhD: 3rd Estimated date of Completion: 2012 Amount of time spent at MIT: 24 months

Title of the thesis Development of a cardiac patch for biomolecule deliver

Supervisors in Portugal: Lino Ferreira (CNCUC) at MIT: Jeffrey M. Karp Main publications Nunes-Pereira MJ, Fidalgo-Carvalho I, Karp JM, Ferreira L, “Sensing the cardiac environment: cues for regeneration”, in preparation Cho WK, Nunes-Pereira MJ, Lang N, Lee K, Mureli, Zumbuehl A, Sundback C, Masiakos PT, Carter D, Borenstein J, Ferreira L, Langer R, Karp JM, “Gecko-inspired Tape-based Adhesives”, In: Novel Biomaterials for Wound Closure and Tissue Engineering, Editors: Sujata K Bhatia. Springer 2011 Research progress and major scientific contributions Myocardial infarction, a leading cause of death in the developed world, is characterized by a decrease in blood supply to the heart resulting in cardiac cells death and subsequent heart dilatation and remodeling. Novel therapies –pharmacological or cellular – are being explored in order to decrease mortality and morbidity of patients. However, to reach the clinical stage, there is the need to develop delivery systems that can efficiently target the damaged tissue, maximizing therapeutic effect and minimizing potential toxicity. Therefore, technologies are needed to promote the translation of novel therapies to the commercial stage.

The goal of this project is to develop a biomedical patch able to deliver drugs with regenerative potential to the damaged heart surface in a safe and direct manner. This patch should stretch and be compliant with heart mechanics while remaining fully adherent to it.

The current paradigm of medical

adhesive is based on glues with reactive chemistries that covalently link to tissue. However, these promote tissue inflammation, inhibiting tissue regeneration.

Inspired by Gecko lizards, a new adhesive system has been recently described which mimics the nanopatterns present on the Gecko feet. This adhesive can adhere to tissue using minimal chemistry and therefore causing minimal damage to the tissue. The principle behind it is based on mechanical interlocking and contact surface area maximization, resulting from the material topography.

Based on this concept we are now tuning this system to have specific adhesion to the heart surface. In parallel, we have developed novel biodegradable elastomers compliant with heart dynamics and able to be deployed on the heart surface through minimally invasive procedures. These materials will incorporate regenerative biomacromolecules and its therapeutic effect will be explored in a myocardial infarction animal model.

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Mariana Fernandes, UMinho, Portugal Starting year: 2007 PhD program: BIO Year of PhD: 4th Estimated date of Completion: 09/2011 Amount of time spent at MIT: 7 months

Title of the thesis Wearable Brain Cap

Supervisors in Portugal: Paulo Mendes (UMinho), J. Higino Correia (UMinho) at MIT: Rajeev Ram Main Publications M. Fernandes, N. S. Dias, A. F. Silva, J. S. Nunes, S. Lanceros-Méndez, J. H. Correia and P. M. Mendes, "Hydrogel-based photonic sensor for a biopotential wearable recording system," Biosensors and Bioelectronics, vol. 26 (1), pp. 80-86, 2010.

M. Fernandes, J. H. Correia and P. M. Mendes, “Electro-optic acquisition system for ECG wearable sensor applications”, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Circuits and Systems, submitted.

Research progress and major scientific contributions Wearable devices are used to record several physiological signals, providing unobtrusive and continuous monitoring. The challenge in these systems is to develop new recording sensors specially envisioning bioelectric activity detection. The existent devices are difficult to integrate mainly due to the amount of electrical wires and components needed. Optical techniques, based on optical fibers, can provide easy integration into textiles and other wearable materials. Furthermore, optical sensors are immune to electromagnetic interference, resistant to harsh environments, and electrical wire free. This work proposes an optical fiber-based sensor for bioelectric acquisition specially envisioned for wearable devices. The effect behind the EO acquisition of biopotentials is the EO effect, which refers to changes in the refractive index of a material and its effect on polarized light, induced by the application of an external electric field. The main functional stages of this sensor are: optical signal generation; control and modulation; and detection. The system includes a Lithium Niobate Mach-Zehnder Interferometer (MZI) Modulator as the sensing element, and a signal conversion and processing stage.

We have developed theoretical models for electro-optic acquisition of bioelectric signals, as well as simulations using proper optical software, to fully characterize and test the proposed system.

Experiments were performed to validate the electro-optic acquisition system in terms of signal amplification and quality, stability and frequency response. A light source with an optical power of 10μW and with a wavelength operation of 1530-1565 nm was used. The modulated intensity is amplified and converted to an output voltage with a transimpedance gain of 5x105 V/A, producing a voltage amplification of 10 V/V. Results were compared with a standard bioelectric signal acquisition using an instrumentation amplifier. It was demonstrated that the performance of the overall system was adequate and in conformity with the simulations, showing good magnitudes, frequency response and noise and interference reduction. In addition, bioelectric signals such as Electrocardiogram (ECG), Electromyogram (EMG) and Electroenchephalogram (EEG) were successfully acquired. As a final remark, the electro-optic sensor herein described allows to develop truly wearable bioelectric monitoring solutions.

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Michaela Simcikova, IST, Czech Republic Starting year: 2009 PhD program: BIO Year of PhD: 2nd Estimated date of Completion: 09/2013 Amount of time spent at MIT: Will spend 12 months

Title of the thesis Strategies to increase DNA vaccines resistance to nucleases

Supervisors in Portugal: Gabriel Monteito (IST), Miguel Prazeres (IST) at MIT: Kristala Jones Prather Research progress and major scientific contributions The use of plasmids as gene transfer vectors is a promising approach for the safe delivery of DNA in preventive and therapeutic vaccination. The key success in launching biopharmaceuticals into market is the development of safe therapeutic vector by cost effective manufacturing. This work addresses the major challenges in DNA vaccines production, namely: i) biosafety; ii) high production yields of therapeutic agent; and iii) high transfection efficiency and strong immune response. The biosafety issues will be accomplished by developing an antibiotic-free selection marker based on naturally occurring postsegregational killing mechanism. By rational engineering of origin of replication we aim to achieve higher plasmid copy numbers and thus higher production rates. Novel vectors called minicircle, which devoid the bacterial backbone will address the third challenge. The small size of the vector may improve the dissemination of DNA and their entry into the nucleus giving higher transfection rates.

Up to date, the work has been mainly focused on design and manufacturing of minicircle vector. The minicircle was generated in vivo from parental plasmid containing gene for ParA resolvase under tight transcription control of PBAD/araC arabinose promoter and eukaryotic expression cassette flanked by multimer resolution sites. The ParA resolvase catalyses intramolecular recombination between the MRS sites after induction by L-(+)arabinose resulting in two circular DNA molecules, one containing the eukaryotic expression cassette (minicircle) and the other the plasmid bacterial backbone. The contaminating plasmid species were enzymatically digested and the supercoiled minicircle was purified by hydrophobic interaction chromatography.

The most suitable growth phase of host strain Escherichia coli DH5 carrying 3pVAXGFPmini was tested for induction of recombination as well as the time of induction. Even though 100% recombination by ParA resolvase was observed at early exponential phase, at this point the contaminant bacterial backbone plasmid species kept replicating during the induction phase and thus extremely increased the percentage of impurities. The best conditions were obtained by induction with 1% L-(+) arabinose at early stationary phase for 2 hours when the recombination efficiency reached 90%.

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Mónica Coelho, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2009 PhD program: BIO Year of PhD: 2nd Estimated date of Completion: 08/2013 Amount of time spent at MIT: 1 month (18 months planned)

Title of the thesis Intraoperative Programmable Stem Cell Therapy

Supervisors in Portugal: Joaquim Cabral (IST) at MIT: Jeffrey M. Karp Research progress and major scientific contributions This Ph.D. project focus on the development of an autologous stem cell-based therapy that can be rapidly translated to the clinic and fully executed within the operating room, thus significantly enhancing current and evolving tissue regeneration therapies.

The proposed technology may be applied to other cell-based systems and it is especially useful for patients with compromised stem cell numbers, including elderly patients and oncology patients who have undergone radiation treatment.

Specifically, the main goal is to maximize selectively isolate mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) from whole bone marrow or enzymatically pretreated lipoaspirate, followed by adhesion optimization to microcarriers and subsequently control cell fate, namely support survival, stimulate proliferation and differentiation (e.g. osteogenesis) of adhered cells through delivery of mitotic factors (e.g. PDGF-BB) and differentiation factors (e.g. BMP-2 and BMP-7). This project will include both in vitro technology development as well as testing within in vivo rodent models.

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Nelson Monteiro, UMinho, Portugal Starting year: 2009 PhD program: BIO Year of PhD: 2nd Estimated date of Completion: 09/2013

Title of the thesis Highly functional nanofiber-based scaffolds for tissue engineering

Supervisors in Portugal: Nuno Neves (UMinho), Rui Reis (UMinho) at MIT: Ali Khademhosseini Research progress and major scientific contributions The increasing need for more efficient and less invasive treatment of damaged or diseased tissue is stimulating development of new technology in the field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.

By applying combinations of biomaterial scaffolds, cells and bioactive molecules, regeneration of damaged or diseased tissue can be facilitated, leading to their functional replacement.

Nanofiber meshes have attracted tremendous interest in the research community. Owing to their very small diameter, polymeric nanofibers exhibit unusual properties such as high specific surface area, flexibility in surface functionalities and superior mechanical properties. In addition, electrospun nonwoven meshes can physically mimic the ECM structure of native tissues.

The ability to manipulate and control the surface properties of those polymeric nanofibers, without altering their bulk properties, is of crucial importance in the designing of highly functional Tissue Engineering scaffolds.

We have been working on polycaprolactone nanofiber meshes (PCL NFMs) modification and functionalization since previous work has already shown that those substrates are adequate for bone and cartilage applications. We aim at creating opportunities to covalently link nanoparticles at the surface of those substrates that will direct the stem cells fate by releasing growth/differentiation factors.

The main aim is to use this combined system or biofunctional structure to treat and regenerate aged, injured and diseased tissue after implantation in the patient.

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Nuno Faria, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2009 PhD program: BIO Year of PhD: 2nd Estimated date of Completion: 08/2013

Title of the thesis Jet Biofuel TAKE-OFF: new approaches for production of aviation fuel

Supervisors in Portugal: Frederico Ferreira (IST), César Fonseca (LNEG) at MIT: Bruce Tidor Research progress and major scientific contributions Air transportation has revolutionized the way and the speed with which people meet for business or pleasure, breaking culture barriers, fostering economic growth. The 2.2 billion people who fly annually provide 32 million jobs and 7.5% of the world GDP. However, these benefits didn’t come without a cost. fFuel represents 30-50% of the operating costs in aviation (1.6-2.4 bn barrels a year), and regardless of tremendous improvements in fuel efficiency attained in the last years (currently at 3.5L/100 km per passenger), aviation is still responsible for the emission of 677M ton of CO2 a year (2.2% of human made CO2, in 2008). Replacement of fuel by low greenhouse gases (GHG) footprint sources of energy is possible for power generation (wind, hydro, nuclear) and ground transportation (electrical trains and hybrid cars). However, air travelling and jet fuel consumption is expected to increase and, without fuel sources diversification, aviation industry profits will be increasingly affected by crude oil price fluctuations due to inefficient budget and planning. Airlines operators are aware of this risk and are looking for sustainable sources of jet fuel. Additionally, the jet fuel distribution market, contrary to ground fuel, is highly concentrated, implying fast adoption curves for new products.

Jet fuel specifications are extremely stringent: fuels with low flash points (ethanol) or high freezing points (longer carbon chain compounds) are banned for safety reasons. The main challenge to obtain liquid biofuels for aviation is the production of molecules mixtures with a number of carbons small enough to stay liquid in altitude (-43oC), but still containing an amount of energy high enough to power the aircraft to fly (about 40 MJ/Kg)[2]. Molecules with 6 to 10 carbons have these properties. Biodiesel molecules from vegetable and algae origin usually contain 16 to 20 carbons, freezing at high altitudes. Currently, the main challenge of this work is optimizing a bioprocess which uses sustainable sources, e.g. several wastes, as substrates for the production of biofuel for aviation or its intermediates. The strategy used in this project will include a combination of experimental and theoretical approaches for bioprocess design, as well as an in silico description of a synthetic pathway to support further optimization.

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Paulo Maia da Silva, UMinho, Portugal Starting year: 2009 PhD program: BIO Year of PhD: 2nd Estimated date of Completion: 2013

Title of the thesis Metabolic Control Analysis as a Framework for Strain Optimization

Supervisors in Portugal: Isabel Rocha (UMinho), Miguel Rocha (UMinho), Eugénio Ferreira (UMinho) Main publications P. Maia, M.Pont, J.F.Tomb, I.Rocha, and M.Rocha. An integrated computational environment for elementary modes analysis of biochemical networks. International Journal of Data Mining and Bioinformatics (IJDMB), 2011 (in press) I. Rocha, P. Maia, P. Evangelista, P. Vilaça S. Soares, J.P. Pinto, J. Nielsen, K.R. Patil, E.C. Ferreira, and M. Rocha. OptFlux: an open-source software platform for in silico metabolic engineering (Highlyaccessed - most accessed paper in publishing month). BMC Systems Biology, 4(1):45, 2010 D.G. Peña, J.R.Mendez, P. Maia, M. Rocha, and F.F. Riverola. Aibench: a rapid application development framework for translational research in biomedicine. Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine, 98:2, 191-203, 2010 Research progress and major scientific contributions This work is contextualized inside the Computational Systems Biology arena. Although this thesis requires a focus on dynamic models, the major contributions so far have been focused on the use of steady-state models.

In this context, novel multi-objective methods for the optimization of microbial strains have been developed. This work focuses on extending the current OptGene optimization framework, replacing the previous aggregation techniques by pure multi-objective oriented optimization. This enables searching the flux distribution space without imposing bias towards a specific objective. A paper reporting all the major results is under preparation for submission. I am also the lead developer of the OptFlux application (www.optflux.org), already a reference in the field of Metabolic Engineering. OptFlux comprises several methods for simulation and optimization of organisms through the use of steady-state models. In this context, several plug-ins for the community have also been developed and made available for the community. Special emphasis is given to the novel filtering and sorting approaches for the common problem of enumeration of Elementary Flux Modes (EFM) of metabolic networks, the development of a quadratic programming approach to Metabolic Flux Analysis (MFA) problems and the implementation of a Nullspace method (using LU decomposition from Linear Algebra) for the simplification of metabolic networks (structural simplification, replacing mathematically proportional fluxes by a single one). All these works have been included in plug-ins and distributed in the current release of OptFlux.

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Paulo Melo, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2009 PhD program: BIO Year of PhD: 2nd Estimated date of Completion: 2012 Amount of time spent at MIT: 6 months

Title of the thesis Development of a functional electrical stimulation system prototype to aid locomotion in individuals with motor impairments

Supervisors in Portugal: Miguel Tavares da Silva (IST), Jorge M. Martins (IST) at MIT: Dava J. Newman Research progress and major scientific contributions The objective of this project is to devise and validate a medical device to support locomotion in individuals with neuromuscular disabilities, through the use of Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES), multibody dynamics methodologies and control strategies. The device will promote locomotion and rehabilitation of the lower limbs’ musculoskeletal apparatus, in individuals with impaired mobility resulting from neurological conditions such as stroke or spinal cord injury. The prototype comprises a closed loop network of sensors and actuators. Since there are no muscle stimulators in the market able to be embedded in closed loop systems, a small portable custom muscle stimulator was built. The device architecture includes four individualized stimulation channels (actuators) and a modular design, which means that the amount of actuators can go from one to four, depending on user’s pathology. The device enables complete customization of the stimulation parameters and was designed to output symmetric biphasic electrical pulses. This type of output allows an equal charge distribution at the user’s stimulation site, preventing skin damage over long stimulation periods. Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs) have been integrated within the stimulation loop to provide feedback on specific joint angles.

Preliminary results show that the width of the stimulus pulse can be used as the main variable to control the degree to which the foot dorsiflexes. Using this system, trials are to be performed so that a muscle model is identified, accounting for the muscles’ kinematics and contraction dynamics. This information will allow the design of the FES control architecture. The actuator will generate the required electrical pulse sequences, according to the muscle identification algorithm and to an adaptive closed loop control law. The final system will be used by patients on a daily basis, but will also serve as a rehabilitation tool.

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Pedro Evangelista, UMinho, Portugal Starting year: 2009 PhD program: BIO Year of PhD: 2nd Estimated date of Completion: 09/2013

Title of the thesis Development of Dynamic Multi-Layered Bioprocess Models

Supervisors in Portugal: Isabel Rocha (UMinho), Miguel Rocha (UMinho) at MIT: Bruce Tidor Research progress and major scientific contributions One of the main purposes of Metabolic Engineering is the quantitative prediction of cell behavior after directed genetic modification of its individual components.

Advances in high-throughput technologies permitted uncovering new bio-molecular interactions which, in conjunction with the increase of available sequenced genomes, created a new interest in characterizing how microorganisms behave in different environments.

The incorporation of these data sources in a bioprocess engineering modeling scenario allows tackling the optimization of the bioprocess operating conditions and the microorganism simultaneously in order to attain a specific goal-usually, the overproduction of a specific metabolite. Traditionally, bioprocess optimization has been made by tuning certain bioreactor parameters and considering cells as black boxes.

The main aim of this PhD work is to devise methods to bridge metabolic and bioprocess engineering and to create new procedures to identify cellular metabolism targets in order to direct an organism metabolism to the production of a desired set of metabolites with industrial interest.

So far, a computational environment in which dynamical models provide for simulation and optimization algorithms has been developed to study the effects of enzyme under/over expression and deletion of a few reactions (knockouts), in order to reach an optimal set of genetic modifications for an industrial objective. The developed Evolutionary Computation algorithms were able to discover the best known solutions described in literature for the in vivo production of succinate in the Eschericia coli. The algorithms were also able to suggest new solutions that predict a larger yield than the previously known ones.

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Rimenys Carvalho, IST, Brazil Starting year: 2009 PhD program: BIO Year of PhD: 2nd Estimated date of Completion: 08/2013

Title of the thesis A novel approach for the capture of monoclonal antibodies using continuous bed chromatography

Supervisors in Portugal: Maria Aires-Barros (IST), Ana Azevedo (IST) abroad: Steven Cramer (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) Research progress and major scientific contributions The increasing therapeutic applications of mAbs have required an improvement of process production in order to obtain higher productivities. Production titers higher than 10 g/L have already been described which are demanding for broader strategies of downstream process in order to obtain an efficient process with higher capacity. Protein A chromatography is the most established capture step for mAbs purification, allowing for purities higher than 95 % with total recovery. However, protein A has high being responsible for 50 % of total cost of the process. Several different affinity-based separation methods are being studied in order to replace the protein A ligand, including the development of synthetic and organic molecules [1]. Phenyl boronate (PB) ligands have shown to selectively bind to cis-diol groups including those present in carbohydrates, glycoprotein, glycopeptides and other biomolecules. Recent work has demonstrated the high affinity of PB ligands towards mAbs, as a class of glycoprotein in [2]. Immobilizing PB in cryogels monolithic supports could provide some advantages on mbA’s process purification diminishing process time, as higher flow rates can be used, and eliminating the clarification step due to their large porosity (10-100 µm). In this, work different phenyl boronic acid ligands have been immobilized on epoxy-activated cryogels in order to study the adsorption and desorption of mAbs and of the main production impurities, such as human serum albumin (HSA) and recombinant human insulin (rhInsulin), at two different pH values, namelt 7.5 and 8.5. To understand the influence of aniline moiety of PB in the adsorption, the same process was performed with aniline immobilized on cryogels with and without a spacer-arm (hexanediamine). The results have shown that at pH 8.5 using a spacer-arm the adsorption of IgG has not affected, however, the adsorption of HSA and rhInsulin increased around 10 %. Decreasing the pH to 7.5 the opposite charges between the ligand and the proteins led to higher adsorption of the proteins, mainly the impurities HSA and rhInsulin since they have lower pI (4.7 and 5.4, respectively). The same behavior was observed in the results with aniline, both with and without space-arm. Despite the high adsorption of HSA and rhInsulin, these proteins were eluted at very low conductivity (3 mS/cm).

1. A. C. A. Roque, C. S. O. Silva, M. A. Taipa. J. Chromatogr. A, 1160, 44–5, 2007.

2. A. M. Azevedo, A. G. Gomes, L. Borlido, I. F. S. Santos, D. M. F. Prazeres and M. R. Aires-Barros. J Mol Recog, 23: 569–576, 2010.

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Roberto Gallardo, UMinho, Chile Starting year: 2008 PhD program: BIO Year of PhD: 3rd Estimated date of Completion: 09/2012

Title of the thesis New Strategies for the Production of Butanol

Supervisors in Portugal: LĂ­gia Rodrigues (UMinho), Madalena Alves (UMinho) Research progress and major scientific contributions The increasing demand for the use of renewable resources as feedstock for the production of chemicals combined with advances in biotechnology is driving a renewed interest in fermentative butanol production. In this context, glycerol, generated as a by-product during the production of plant-oil derived biodiesel, arises as a potential substrate candidate for butanol production. Fermentation of lowgrade glycerol to butanol has been proven, however there is still place for process optimization to improve the production yields and to reduce the toxicity of butanol to producing organisms, which are the main objectives of this PhD thesis. In the current work, Clostridium pasteurianum DMS 525 and granular sludge have been assessed for butanol production in batch fermentations. Through repeated sub-culturing at increasing crude glycerol concentrations, a fast growth and substrate consumption have been demonstrated for both systems. The products found were butanol, ethanol, 1,3-propanediol (1,3PDO) and acids. Nevertheless, while C. pasteurianum produces both 1,3PDO and butanol in signiďŹ cant amounts, sludge mainly produces 1,3PDO with higher yields and only traces of alcohols.

Issues related with strain degeneration that have been reported for other clostridia were also found for C. pasteurianum. Different strategies have been developed to overcome this problem. Excess of calcium carbonate (buffer) and the cells transfer after sporulation, enabled the production of butanol from crude glycerol up to 35 g/l. Moreover, the use of sodium butyrate (36 mM) in the medium produced higher amounts of butanol(0,21 g/g) and lower amounts of 1,3PDO (0,17 g/g) from 25 g/l glycerol, thus demonstrating the competitive nature of both pathways. Furthermore, the bioaugmentation potential of C. pasteurianum has been studied in batch by co-culturing the pure strain with sludge resulting in butanol yields similar to those obtained with C. pasteurianum alone. Experiences in continuous culture (expanded granular sludge bed reactor) are being conducted. Further work includes increasing glycerol concentration up to 50 g/l, an experimental design to maximize butanol yield and random mutation. The whole genome of C. pasteurianum DSM 525 will be sequenced. Results obtained so far provide a deeper understanding of the complex anaerobic fermentation of crude glycerol by Clostridium sp., thus contributing to solve the low-grade glycerol surplus issue, and to develop new processes for energy production from renewable resources which is currently a worldwide concern and a main goal in bioengineering.

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Rúben Pereira, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2009 PhD program: BIO Year of PhD: 2nd Estimated date of Completion: 09/2013

Title of the thesis Systems Support for Clinical Process change using Data Based Modeling - Engineering the Processes of Clinical Care to Optimize Patient Outcomes

Supervisors in Portugal: João Sousa (IST) at MIT: Stan Finkelstein abroad: Michael Howell (Harvard Medical School), Shane Reti (Harvard Medical School) Research progress and major scientific contributions Real-world data-bases often contain missing data and uneven spacing, and existing correction algorithms deliver varying performance. Also, most modeling techniques are not suitable to deal with them automatically. By studying the impact of different approaches for input of missing data by generating data based on several methods including Expectation-Maximization (EM), mean, median, linear-regression and Zero-Order-Hold (ZOH) we show that methods that maintain signal variation information perform much better than others. Also, the decay observed in performance and the respective variation is lower.

We examine different approaches to predicting septic shock in the presence of missing data. In this work, we show that predictive performance improves by employing a minimum pre-processing technique, the Zero-Order-Hold (ZOH) method, by applying a Fuzzy C-Means clustering technique based on the partial distance calculation strategy (FCM-PDS) and by computing the final classification regarding the samples from each patient. The approach developed can be used online using the ZOH method causally. Performance improvements continue to occur where up to approximately 60% of the data is missing when comparing with previous studies, though for higher percentage the classification performance still is statistically improved. Moreover, the use of short time windows for predicting the septic shock outcome delivers even higher improvement to the models. This was expected due to the closer relation existing between the values of the features considered in the last days of stay in the hospital and the respective outcome.

Providers of medical care traditionally have oriented their practices toward achieving the most favorable clinical outcomes. This engineering systems approach can have a major impact in design and control of systematic processes of care by supporting clinical decision online. By predicting the outcome based on the present state of each patient it is possible to act preventively instead of repairing the harm. This improves both health care costs and quality for the institution and the patient.

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Rui Tostões, FCTUNL, Portugal Starting year: 2007 PhD program: BIO Year of PhD: 4th Estimated date of Completion: 10/2011 Amount of time spent at MIT: 1.5 months

Title of the thesis Multicellular human hepatocyte spheroids, cultured in perfusion bioreactor, as a novel valuable tool for long-term in vitro drug induction tests

Supervisors in Portugal: Paula Alves (FCTUNL), Manuel Carrondo (FCTUNL) at MIT: Professor Dic Wang Main Publications Perfusion of 3D encapsulated hepatocytes--a synergistic effect enhancing long-term functionality in bioreactors. Tostões RM, Leite SB, Miranda JP, Sousa M, Wang DI, Carrondo MJ, Alves PM. Biotechnol Bioeng. 2011 Jan;108(1):41-9.PMID: 20812261 Improving expansion of pluripotent human embryonic stem cells in perfused bioreactors through oxygen control. Serra M, Brito C, Sousa MF, Jensen J, Tostões RM, Clemente J, Strehl R, Hyllner J, Carrondo MJ, Alves PM. J Biotechnol. 2010 Aug 2; 148(4):208-15. Epub 2010 Jun 17.PMID: 20600380 Extending hepatocyte functionality for drug-testing applications using high-viscosity alginateencapsulated three-dimensional cultures in bioreactors. Miranda JP, Rodrigues A, Tostões RM, Leite S, Zimmerman H, Carrondo MJ, Alves PM. Tissue Eng Part C Methods. 2010 Dec; 16(6):1223-32. Epub 2010 Apr 6.PMID: 20184401 Research progress and major scientific contributions Maintaining the phenotype of human hepatocytes in long term cultures is a yet unmet need. In this work, we have assembled and validated a bioreactor perfusion system to allow long-term culture of functional human hepatocytes. Due to its easy sampling, it is possible to follow the time course of an hepatocyte population subject to any hepato-toxic agent and test short term drug interactions (such as CYP450 induction) in a higher throughput format by taking a larger sample and sub-culturing it in microtiter plates.

For the last 20 years a considerable amount of literature was published suggesting that 3D primary cultures of hepatocytes outperform 2D culture methods. However, these studies are mostly made using rat hepatocytes and the response of the cells to typical CYP450 inducers (phase I enzymes) is only maintained for approximately 1 week. Human hepatocytes, cultured as spheroids (<200 μm diameter) in a fully controlled perfusion bioreactor with easy sampling (working volume 300 ml), maintained Albumin production up to 30 days and CYP450 activity (measured by ECOD biotrans- formation and gene expression analysis) was inducible up to 2 weeks. Cytokeratin-18, Albumin and CYP450 3A were detected by confocal and 2-photon immunofluorescence microscopy. The data presented herein constitutes a validation of multicellular human hepatocyte spheroids, cultured in perfusion bioreactor, as a novel valuable tool for long-term in vitro drug induction tests; moreover, the possibility of inducing the human hepato-cytes either in the perfusion bioreactor or by taking a sample and subculturing in 24-well plates proves the flexibility of our system for drug testing studies.

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Sezin Aday, IST, Turkey Starting year: 2008 PhD program: BIO Year of PhD: 3rd Estimated date of Completion: 08/2012 Amount of time spent at MIT: 1 year and 2 months

Title of the thesis Hematopoietic Stem Cell Niches for Cell Expansion and Vascular Differentiation-STEMNICHE

Supervisors in Portugal: Lino Ferreira (CNCUC), Cláudia Lobato da Silva (IST) at MIT: Robert Langer Research progress and major scientific contributions Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) from umbilical cord blood (UCB) are a rare and hetereogeneous population of hematopoietic precursors which are important source of differentiated cells for regenerative medicine. These cells may have potential use for the vascularization of wounds, ischemic heart, diabetes-related vascular diseases, bone grafts and general tissue engineering applications.

One of the main limitations in using UCB-HSCs for regenerative medicine is related to the low number of cells isolated from a typical blood sample. Therefore the development of platforms to efficiently expand these cells is needed. Another limitation is related to the control of their in vivo vascular differentiation.

The UCB-HSCs can give rise to several cell lineages and therefore it is important to develop platforms to induce rapidly in situ their vascular differentiation for therapeutic angiogenesis.

During this project, we aim at developing a new set of micro-technologies able to interact with UCBHSCs in suspension while promoting either their expansion or differentiation into vascular cells. We developed so far part of the micro-technologies able to induce the differentiation of stem cells into vascular cells. Presently we are characterizing their biological effect against human cells.

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Shantesh Hede, UMinho, India Starting year: 2009 PhD program: BIO Year of PhD: 2nd Estimated date of Completion: 12/2012

Title of the thesis Development Of a Novel Medical Device including Social, Environmental and Economic Sustainability

Supervisors in Portugal: Luís Rocha (UMinho), Paula Ferreira (UMinho), Manuel Nunes Lopes (UMinho) Research progress and major scientific contributions The relentless pursuit of launching novel sophisticated products into a competitive market environment, poses a considerable burden on the environment throughout its life-cycle, which mainly comprises of extraction, production, distribution, utilization and disposal. However the interaction with the environment can easily initiate a significant impact onto the socio-economic dimension. Therefore during the evaluation of new product development endeavors it is imperative to include the criteria for addressing socio-economic and environmental sustainability.

The investigation has led to the development of a proposed framework for New Product Development, utilizing a Systems Engineering Approach with the aforementioned criteria of sustainability, based on Multi-criteria Analysis.

The financialization of the global economy, has prompted organizations to conduct financial appraisal of each of its business process decisions, including their diverse engineering activities (eg: Value Engineering).

Therefore, the research investigation have devised two financial models for the assessment of sustainability in New Product Development endeavors:• Net Present Value@Sustainability based on various Product categories with their developmental risks and strategies for achieving sustainability.

• Profitability Index@Sustainability based on Life Cycle Assessment: A comprehensive model that uses financial cash flows to represent the impact on the various factors (eg: fuel consumption, ozone depletion) associated with the sustainability criteria, along with the core milestones of the product development endeavor.

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Swarna Deepa , IST, India Starting year: 2008 PhD program: BIO Year of PhD: 3rd Estimated date of Completion: 08/2012 Amount of time spent at MIT: 13 months

Title of the thesis mGluR-dependent LTD and its regulation in the Visual Cortex by Eye Opening and the of Onset Pattern Vision

Supervisors in Portugal: Ramiro Almeida (CNCUC), Ana Luísa Carvalho (CNCUC), Joaquim Cabral (IST) at MIT: Martha Constantine Paton Research progress and major scientific contributions The Flailer mouse model is a Myosin VA deficient spontaneous mouse mutant.

Flailer has gait and seizure problems using quantitative analyses of Flailer behavior. This work showed that these mice engage in exceptionally long bouts of repetitive grooming behavior, remain isolated from their littermates, and also appear to be asocial. The later is being carefully quantified now requiring a new behavioral venue and many controls for the normal mouse's behavior. The behavior discovered so far is highly reminiscent of autism spectrum disorders well- documented in people and in other accepted mouse models. I presented my preliminary studies at the large Society of Neuroscience Annual meeting last November.

The Flailer crosses to C57Bl mice were performed using-C57 GFP mice (Feng et al 2000). These mice strongly express GFP driven by thy-1 promoter in layer V cortical neurons. Consequently it was possible to study the detailed morphology of layer V pyramids in the superficial layers of the visual cortex between Flailer and WT or heterozygous mice. I am also doing live imaging using Two Photon microscope to study the difference between the spine morphology after and before eye opening. This imaging technique involves performing complicated cranial window surgery on 10-day old mice pups.

Later through this window real time imaging is done. Last part of my study involves biochemical and molecular biology techniques to analyse levels of protein expressed before and after eye opening in Flailer.

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Tatiana Aguiar, UMinho, Portugal Starting year: 2007 PhD program: BIO Year of PhD: 4th Estimated date of Completion: 10/2011 Amount of time spent at MIT: 14 months

Title of the thesis Hematopoietic Novel biotechnological applications for the riboflavin producer Ashbya gossypii

Supervisors in Portugal: Lucília Domingues (UMinho) abroad: Merja Penttilä (VTT) Research progress and major scientific contributions Ashbya gossypii is a filamentous hemiascomycete of considerable importance in the biotechnology industry due to its natural ability to overproduce riboflavin (vitamin B2). This fungus presents several interesting unique features making it an appealing microorganism for exploring its potentialities as a cell factory organism: it has one of the smallest eukaryotic genome known, is prone to easy genetic manipulation and is already used in industrial large-scale processes.

The main objective of this project was to explore A. gossypii‘s potentialities as a cell factory organism based on an integrated analysis of data from computational, proteomic and transcriptomic analyses.

Data was collected to characterize A. gossypii‘s secretome and asparagine-linked glycan profile of the secreted proteins. Based on the results from proteomic, transcriptomic and bioinformatic analyses A. gossypii is more similar to yeast than to other filamentous fungi in its secretion ability. However, proteins secreted by AA. gossypii‘s reveal less extensive glycosylation than those secreted by yeast. A limitation in the extent of glycosylation is an advantage in the production of heterologous proteins, whose properties may be adversely affected by extensive glycosylation. From an industrial point of view, protein production and secretion capabilities of this fungus as a host system for the production of recombinant proteins are currently still insufficient, nevertheless, based on the results from the integrated analysis of the collected data, rational genetic engineering strategies can be outlined to improve this organism for other biotechnological applications, other than riboflavin production.

The availability of genome data has become an essential tool for cell and metabolic engineering of biotechnological production organisms, but genomes contain enormous amounts of information that needs to be deciphered. The major contribution of this work was to give a step forward in understanding the information available in A. gossypii‘s genome and make use of it, not only to improve this organism for other biotechnological applications, but also to help understand the information held in the genome of other organisms.

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

3.2.

Leaders for Technical Industries

3.2.1.

Overview

The Leaders for Technical Industries (LTI) PhD program within the Engineering Design and Advanced Manufacturing (EDAM) focus area is offered by the Technical University of Lisbon, University of Minho and the University of Porto. This program is anchored on multidisciplinary research problems, lying within an Engineering Systems framework. The LTI PhD research program considers that product and process innovation and current complex decision-making must also take into account economics, management and social aspects. This perspective is clarified in the PhD Program Structure that the students must accomplish, where the courses are grouped into clusters, such as Design and Technology (three courses), Engineering Systems (three courses), Engineering Management (four courses), and Leadership.

As an academic program designed to be in close connection with technically advanced industries, the students must complete an internship for the development of integrated research in an industrial environment. The target industrial sectors selected by the program are the automotive, aerospace and medical devices industries. This selection takes into account the current Portuguese industrial profile, and the industrial sectors in which a higher innovative potential is expected over the coming years.

The LTI PhD research program is dedicated to generating new scientific knowledge and new engineering solutions to create and capture value in these industrial sectors.

The scope and associated proposals for the program were defined and prepared in fruitful collaboration between faculty and industry leaders. The presentation of the research themes is made by both research supervisors from academia, and by industry research advisors. These presentations take place at special workshops where the students become familiar with the research themes, the research supervisors and representatives of the industrial sectors. These Workshops, together with a previously prepared research proposal and subsequent discussion at the students’ request, enable each student to make a confident choice for their LTI PhD research program. As the workshop occurs during their first year of study, the students select their subject and prepare, at the end of first year, a thesis proposal which is evaluated by their doctoral committee. Each student must carry out research at an industrial environment (up to twelve months) and at MIT (up to eighteen months).

Currently, all the PhD research themes are industry-oriented and have been defined in closed interaction with the faculty and the industries.

A wide range of Portuguese and international engineering and technology industries have received EDAM/LTI students. These include: Rolls Royce (UK), General Motors (USA), Continental-Mabor (PT), Volkswagen-AutoEuropa (PT), Hovione (PT), TMGAutomotive (PT), Iber-Oleff (PT), Celoplas (PT), and others. The research internship is of vital importance for the accomplishment of the mission of the EDAM program and it can be performed also in international research laboratories such as ESA, in the Netherlands, or GKSS, in Germany.

The collaboration with the MIT, where students are encouraged to undertake research activity, is a vital part of the PhD program, and several students have already accomplished part of their research at MIT. The LTI PhD research themes in which the students are currently working can be 71

grouped in three main areas: a) Engineering Design and Innovation; b) Engineering Design Management; and c) Manufacturing Technologies and Industrial Management.

As a summary of the research that is being developed in the LTI PhD program, the following table groups most of the theses in a research grid, under the general theme of Product Development, associating them with industrial areas.

Research themes carried out by LTI students Industrial areas Research themes

Automotive

Aerospace

Medical Devices

Engineering Design & Innovation

++

__

+

Engineering Design Management

++

+

__

++

+

__

Manufacturing Technologies & Industrial Management - to + increasing number of students involved

A brief description of the subjects referred in the table, together with a brief resume of the students work, are presented below.

Engineering Design and Innovation Some students are generating scientific knowledge and engineering solutions with strong potential for technological transfer to the health sector. In the Medical Devices subject area, two students in their third year are developing the technology for smart stent-grafts, either in the design, or in the technology of the flexibility of the sensors to be applied on the fibers. Also in this area of Medical Devices a fourth-year student is developing a prototype for a novel remote monitoring system to be used by hospitals tracking the recovery of out-patients in their homes. A preliminary prototype has already been installed in a hospital’s department and is being evaluated for further development. Several international and national publications have been completed.

The theme of Engineering Design and Innovation is being developed in close collaboration with the automotive industry. For example, a fourth-year student is designing the application of sensor networks to the automotive interior parts achieving a smart structure with sensing capabilities, and an important Portuguese industrial company is involved in this research project. A third-year student is working on a Human–Machine Interface applied to sensitivity functions, and more specifically to non-visual senses (kinesthetic, acoustic and haptic).

Engineering Design Management Engineering Design Management is a research theme where many students are involved in research, and where several industries are collaborating.

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A fourth-year student is developing new concepts of Lean in the Design Management area, putting synergies between process standardization and innovation. The application of this study to the improvement of the design process of a complex product such as gas turbines produced by a main European manufacturer is considered a main achievement of the EDAM focus area. Indeed the success of the research performed already has extended the research to related areas in the Engineering Design Management areas of aerospace industry. Also in the aerospace sector, and in direct collaboration with an important European Aerospace research laboratory, a fourth year student is developing decision making tools for the conceptual design of complex engineering systems in a concurrent environment.

In the automotive industry, a fourth-year student is investigating the implications on design of materials acquisition costs for a range of products in the particular context of product development. This work will help to identify strategies for decision making that the companies can implement for selecting materials for new products, e.g., “what is the right material for the right application?”

A third-year student is developing strategies for the engineering design of tooling taking into account tooling life cycle cost. Characteristics such as tooling reliability and maintainability, not easily converted into costs, are directly connected with tool design features.

Manufacturing and Industrial Management This research theme is being developed both with automotive and aeronautics industries. In the automotive industry, two third year students are developing their research on the supply chain network subject. One student studies the supply chain for the automotive industry in an international environment looking across factors (tariffs, rates, tax, legislation, government policies, etc). This information is fundamental but is dynamic and uncertain as the global economy develops. The uncertainties associated with these factors are being studied, and models are being built in order to support strategic-tactical decision-making.

From a more restricted point of view, another third year student studies the implementation of models to improve the flexibility of the single line for automotive assembling as opposed to the just-in-sequence multiple models assembling. This study, which is being pursued in close connection with a major national car manufacturer and an important playmaker in the European automotive industry, will allow business leaders to address volume and model flexibility and cost reduction opportunities to meet the challenges of the low volume niche car market.

In the aeronautic sector a fourth year student is developing research on the implementation of new manufacturing technologies in aircraft structures, when compared to classical joining technologies in aluminum alloys. This research is critical for the aluminum base aeronautics industry to compete with the non-metallic aircraft structures being launched in the market. The research results include the analysis of the impact of the replacement of joining processes in the safety of critical structures, the investigation of nondestructive techniques to be used, cost and weight analyses, and a final technology assessment based on the design for manufacturing and assembly assumptions.

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Coordinators of the Leaders for Technical Industries Doctoral Program António Torres Marques, FEUP, University of Porto Chris Magee, Engineering Systems Division, MIT Joel Clark, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, MIT (LTI director) Manuel Freitas, IST, Technical University of Lisbon (LTI director) Olga Carneiro, School of Engineering, University of Minho

3.2.2.

Structure

The structure of the doctoral program of the Engineering, Design and Advance Manufacturing area (EDAM), Leaders for Technical Industries (LTI), is described in the next table.

LTI students attend all the courses described in the table below, mostly during their first year but they also have course work during their second and third years. The total of courses makes a total of 70 ECTS but at some of the participating schools (e.g. IST) only 60 ECTS are required.

LTI students are required to spend a minimum of three months and a maximum of twelve months working on site with EDAM industrial affiliates during the second semester of the 2nd year and the first semester of the 3rd year. At least three months must be spent at a single company; any time beyond this may be spent at additional companies.

Structure of the LTI PhD program Course Product Development

ECTS

Mandatory/Optional

Semester

6

Mandatory

1st of the 1st year

Technology Evaluation and Selection

6

Mandatory

1st of the first year

Integrating Technology & Management

6

Mandatory

1st of the 1st year

Companies and Technologies

4

Mandatory

1st of the 1st year

Engineering Systems Research Methods

6

Mandatory

2nd of the 1st year

Engineering and Manufacturing Systems

6

Mandatory

2nd of the first year

Management for Engineering

6

Mandatory

2nd of the first year

Innovation Management

6

Mandatory

2nd of the first year

Operations Management

6

Mandatory

1st of the 2nd year

Advanced Technologies

6

Mandatory

1st of the 2nd year

Production Management

6

Mandatory

2nd of 3rd year

Leadership

6

Mandatory

2nd of 3rd year

During the first half of January of the first year students are offered, by the Program’s committee, a range of project topics for their PhD thesis, which are agreed by faculty and industrial affiliates. Students indicate their preferences by choosing the three topics they are most interested in, ranking them from one to three. This choice is passed on to the Program’s committee that will facilitate the process and communicates its outcome to the students by the 31st of January. The student may choose other co-supervisors to form his/her thesis committee.

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Students are required to submit an annual report before the 30th of June each year.

In the first year this report will be considered as their thesis proposal. The report should be distributed to the EDAM professor in charge of the LTI class and the thesis committee. The thesis committee members should individually provide brief written comments (less than one page) on the report to the student, his/her thesis supervisor, and to the EDAM professor in charge of the LTI class within one month (i.e., by July 30th). Reports with negative remarks from the committee should be analyzed by the supervisor and the EDAM professor in order to intruduce eventual corrective measures. Students should be informed of the results of this evaluation before the 1st of September.

The first thesis committee meeting should be scheduled shortly after students receive this feedback. This first meeting is viewed as a defense of the thesis proposal. The thesis committee should meet with the student at least twice per year.

Students are awarded an LTI PhD when they meet the following requirements: • Completion of all ten courses with a passing grade or higher (ten out of twenty) • Completion of a minimum of three months and a maximum of twelve months of industrial internship(s) with at least three months at one companny • Successful defense of the thesis with a pass recommendation by the majority of the committee • Submission of a signed thesis document

3.2.3.

Student highlights

Alexandre Silva, enrolled at UMinho, follows a research activity in Engineering Design and Innovation applied to automotive industry under the theme “Automotive Smart Flooring based on photonics”, and he has published three papers in international journals and several presentations in international conferences. Alexandre won the 8th edition of the PVC Iberian Forum Award (January 2011), and has commented on his experience at MIT: ’The MIT experience was overall very positive and I fully accomplished my proposed tasks. While in Portugal I mainly focused my work in technical aspects, at MIT my goal was to work on cost modeling. I had the opportunity to attend classes and work closely with and teams with great expertise in the field of cost modeling.’

Alexandre Silva has recenly defended his PhD thesis, becaming the first PhD graduate of the MIT Portugal network.

Inês Ribeiro, enrolled at IST, with a research activity in Engineering Design Management under the research theme ‘From Tooling Design to Tools Life Cycle Design: Shifting the Paradigm’, has co-authored two papers in international journals, two book chapters and nine presentations in international conferences. Inês Ribeiro has carried out part of her research at MIT and she offers the following statement about her stay: I was fully integrated in a research group and had to present every week the progress of my work which allowed me to develop further the knowledge I needed for producing the model I am working on. I also had the opportunity to spend some weeks at GM (Detroit) in a short internship, which was quite hard but also a productive 75

and intensive experience. In personal terms, my stay at MIT was a culturally enriching and unique experience. In my opinion, all MIT Portugal students should take advantage of the opportunity that the network gives us to go to MIT.’ Sérgio Tavares, enrolled at FEUP, has a research activity in the area of Manufacturing Technologies and Industrial Management under the theme “Design and Advanced Manufacturing of Aircraft Structures using Friction Stir Welding”. He has published three papers in international journals and several presentations in international conferences. Sérgio did some of his research work at MIT and he made these comment about his experience: ’The time spent at MIT allowed me to embrace additional research topics which were not possible if the research was confined to one place. My experience mainly involved the materials joining lab and companies with the latest advanced technologies for non-destructive testing. The MIT excellence, with its density of resources and knowledge, gave me a different vision and perspective, enhancing the research results and personal experience.’

3.2.4.

New courses and faculty involved

For the EDAM educational programs (TME and LTI), twelve new courses have been specially designed. These courses are taught by twenty-nine faculty members from the three participating Portuguese schools in this area and by ten faculty members from MIT. MIT faculty ensures twenty-eight percent of the teaching (academic year 2010/11).

3.2.5.

Use of open-source community-based tools for learning

The EDAM area uses the Moodle e-learning platform where the syllabus, prereadings, PowerPoint presentations, bibliography, and assignments for each of the courses are made available to students. The faculty uses this platform to interact with students and the students interact with each other and faculty through the same system.

3.2.6.

Benchmarking

EDAM’s degree programs (LTI and TME) are geared towards training students to become technical managers in engineering design and advanced manufacturing industries. The LTI program is specifically focused on developing competencies in students that can be used to drive research and development capabilities within a technical firm. There are several unique elements of the programs, including: • Diversified mix of courses in design and technology (including product development and design), engineering systems, and systems management (including innovation management and leadership) • Thesis research with an industrial partner • An internship with an industrial partner (LTI only).

Numerous degree programs exist worldwide in the areas of engineering design, advanced manufacturing, and engineering management, but few have the same 76

MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

basic elements as the two EDAM degree programs. Thus, this benchmarking study includes an analysis of other programs across the world with some elements that are similar to TME and LTI, which are presented in the following table. Programs that focus purely on design, manufacturing, or engineering management were not included in this analysis because they do not have the desired breadth that is sought in EDAM’s programs. Master’s and doctoral programs are combined in this evaluation because of the significant amount of overlap between the TME and LTI programs.

Summary of results Key elements of ten degree programs in Europe and the US similar to EDAM’s programs are listed in the table below, which include two main doctoral programs that were found to be closer to LTI. There are several features that these programs have in common: • Multidisciplinary course content including design and management topics • Extensive interaction with industrial partners • A thesis or final project that is tied to the interaction with industrial partners

The EDAM programs have several unique features: • Engineering systems and leadership courses in the curriculum • Thesis research and internship with an industrial partner in a doctoral program • American and European faculty from four universities collaborating to coordinate the program and teach the courses • Block schedule that enables students to work at a company while taking courses There are also a few areas where some of the programs have advantages over the EDAM programs: • More partnerships (financial and academic) with large companies • More extensive selection of electives across numerous subject areas This is because the schedule format that entails classes being taught during intensive two-week periods at three different universities does not facilitate a wide range of options. While this format enables students to work at a company while taking courses, it means that students are not able to take courses available outside of the EDAM program at the host universities. Thus, as long as EDAM maintains the current class delivery format, the courses available to students will be limited to those directly taught as part of the EDAM degree programs (which is currently twelve courses).

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Key characteristics of doctoral and master’s programs analyzed in benchmark study

University Name; School; & Location

Degree Name

Degree Type

Brunel University; Graduate School; West

New Route PhD – Design and

PhD

London, UK

Systems Engineering1

Dartmouth University; School of Engineering;

PhD Innovation Program2

PhD

Advanced Design and Manufacturing Institute3;

Master of Engineering in

MEDM

Toronto, ON, Canada

Design and Manufacturing4

Dartmouth University; School of Engineering;

Master of Engineering

Hanover, NH, USA

Management

Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne;

Master in Management,

College of Management of Technology;

Technology and

Lausanne, Switzerland

Entrepreneurship5

Massachusetts Institute of Technology;

Leaders for Global Operations6

SM & MBA

Massachusetts Institute of Technology;

System Design and

Master’s in engineering

Engineering Systems Division; Cambridge, MA,

Management7

& management

Northwestern University; Segal Design Institute;

Master of Science in

MS-EDI

Evanston, Il, USA

Engineering Design and

Hanover, NH, USA

MEM

MMTE

Engineering Systems Division; Cambridge, MA, USA

USA

Innovation8 Northwestern University; Kellogg School of

MMM Program9

Management & McCormick School of 1

2 3

4 5 6 7 8 9 10

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http://www.brunel.ac.uk/courses/pg/research/newroutephd/desys http://engineering.dartmouth.edu/graduate/innovation/ Partnership of the University of Waterloo, University of Toronto, McMaster University, Queen’s University, and University of Western Ontario http://www.admicanada.com/ http://smte.epfl.ch/site/smte/master-mte http://lgo.mit.edu/ http://sdm.mit.edu/ http://www.segal.northwestern.edu/graduate/ http://www.mmm.northwestern.edu/ http://www.ifm.eng.cam.ac.uk/ismm/default.html

MBA and MEM (Master of Engineering Management)

Engineering; Evanston, Il, USA University of Cambridge; Institute for

MPhil in Industrial Systems,

Manufacturing; Cambridge, UK

Manufacture and Management (ISMM)10

MPhil

MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Curriculum

Thesis Requirement

Internship Requirement

•

Management and production planning

Yes

No

•

Communication skills

•

Global context

•

Discipline-specific modules:

o

Design research creativity and innovation

o

Design management and marketing

o

Branding strategy

o

Design of perception enhancement systems

10 courses in typical engineering areas, supplemented with entrepreneurial studies including:

Yes

3- to 6-month internship in a

•

new venture creation

startup or ther entrepreneurial

•

finance

enterprise

•

accounting

•

patent law

•

marketing

~10 courses delivered in a format similar to EDAM programs. Minimum five courses from a

An approved industry project

Technology & Process Stream and a minimum of two courses from a Business and Management

may replace two courses

Potential industry project.

stream. ~14 courses in mathematics, design, and engineering management

Complete project as part of

3 months

internship Students take core courses in probability, data analysis, and decision analysis and have the

“Master Project” conducted in

option of two “orientations”: “Strategy, Innovation & Entrepreneurship” or “Operations

industry

6 months

Management & Systems Modeling”; electives are also available. ~20 courses, including MBA core curriculum: foundations, integration, leadership

Yes

6.5 months

15 courses: core courses in systems architecture, engineering, and management; foundations

Yes

No

Thesis project

Yes

No

courses; and elective courses

~12 courses primarily focused on design; students specialize in a “design theme”, which include business factors or entrepreneurship.

~30 courses (quarters schedule) in business, engineering management, and electives in design

Integration Project with a team

or operations.

of students

ISMM is 39 weeks. The content is split as follows:

Dissertation project 13 weeks

•

Eight weeks of project work (four projects)

•

Thirteen weeks of taught modules: manufacturing systems, manufacturing processes,

No, but lots of interaction with companies

product design, technology management & entrepreneurship, leadership •

A two-week overseas study tour, either in mainland Europe or further afield.

•

A thirteen week dissertation project working with researchers at the Institute

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3.2.7.

Educational initiatives

All-faculty events Since the beginning of its second year, the EDAM focus area carries out an all-faculty event that aims to discuss the program, but also to train faculty on the topics of engineering systems.

The first all-faculty meeting took place in Lisbon on September 2008. The meeting fostered the interaction between EDAM faculty, EDAM researchers, and MIT. The short course had the participation of more than forty people, including EDAM faculty and EDAM researchers from the three Portuguese cooperating universities and MIT. This was the ideal place to discuss the Engineering systems components addressing both the educational programs and on going research projects.

The second meeting was held in Porto on September 2009. The first day was devoted to a teaching workshop, with the objective of reviewing recent and/or important topics in teaching and learning paradigms and methodologies, and of discussing how to incorporate them into the EDAM education programs. The second day was devoted to research, in order to review the content of EDAM research projects and discuss ways in which key characteristics of the projects could be strengthened.

The third meeting was held in Guimarães in September 2010. For the first time the meeting included the participation of the EDAM students. The first day included “Research Outcomes from Three Years of the LTI Program,” with the goal to review the outcomes from three years of student research activities in the LTI program. The second included faculty and Industrial Affiliates only, and consisted of an in-depth evaluation of the research presented on the previous day and a discussion of mechanisms to improve the incorporation of topics of interest to Industrial Affiliate into EDAM courses.

Building team events A team-building exercise for new LTI and TME students was performed in the beginning of the first week of courses in the academic years 2008/09 and 2009/10 as a way of facilitating camaraderie among the students prior to the start of classes.

Regular visits to companies Visits to industry are performed by LTI and TME students during their first year. Some of the visited companies include: Autoeuropa, Continental Mabor, TMG, Sunviauto, CEIIA, and Salsa.

Networking activities during class periods Networking and brainstorming activities are often organized during the lecturing periods to stimulate the students. Examples are: • EDAM Session at CEIIA – Thursday, 17.April.2008 (12:15 – 15:00) with the

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presence of Secretary of State Prof. Manuel Heitor • EDAM Workshop/Group dynamics Event: 18:00 – 20:00, 17th June 2009, Praça da Oliveira, Guimarães. Informal discussion about leadership with participation of Partha Ghosh • EDAM Workshop: Rethinking Product Design and Manufacturing for a Changing World 17:00-22:00, 10th March 2010, FEUP

3.2.8.

PhD theses

This section shows the profiles of several students.

The home institution of each student is indicated on the first line as: FEUP – Faculty of Engineering – University of Porto IST – Instituto Superior Técnico – Technical University of Lisbon UMinho – School of Engineering – University of Minho

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Alexandra Sepúlveda, UMinho, Portugal Starting year: 2008 PhD program: LTI Year of PhD: 3rd Estimated date of Completion: 10/2012 Amount of time spent at MIT: 6 months

Title of the thesis Technologies for flexible sensors in the design of a smart stent-graft

Supervisors in Portugal: António Pontes (UMinho), Júlio Viana (UMinho) at MIT: Brian Wardle Research progress and major scientific contributions The aim of this work is to develop a new pressure sensor technology to include in a stent-graft, for the pressure measurement within an aneurysm sac for post-EVAR surveillance. Given the characteristics of the application, the capacitive sensor must be foldable, extremely flexible and characterized by a very small profile. In addition, the technology should be simple and biocompatible. Silicon based microtechnologies are widely used in implantable medical devices, but due to the application specifications, a new fabrication process is being developed.

The proposed fabrication process uses aligned carbon nanotubes (CNTs) to build the conductive elements. The CNTs are embedded in a flexible substrate of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), a transparent, nontoxic and biocompatible silicone elastomer. Acrylic moulds were produced by CNC milling for posterior fabrication of the PDMS membranes and chemical vapour deposition (CVD) was used to grow forests or “carpets” of vertically-aligned CNTs. This method has the advantage of allowing growth of high purity, high yield and vertically aligned morphology. Next, the CNTs were embedded into the polymer matrix (PDMS) and the substrate was placed against the moulds, followed by the PDMS introduction in the cavities through a hole. The last step was the cure of the elastomer.

For mechanical characterization, PDMS-CNTs specimens, moulded into rectangular shapes with dimensions of 32x14x0.4 mm3 (LxWxH), were subject to tensile tests to obtain the elastic modulus.

Through the representative stress-strain curve, the tested membranes present an elastic modulus of about 1.23 MPa (at the initial stage) and a large piezoresistive effect. For electrical characterization, the conductivity was measured using a movable four-point probe in contact with a series of PDMS-CNTs composites films. The measurements indicate an electrical conductivity of 0.35 S.m-1 with a standard deviation of 0.37 S.m-1.

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Alexandre Silva, UMinho, Portugal Starting year: 2007 PhD program: LTI Year of PhD: 4th Graduated: 25/07/2011 Amount of time spent at MIT: 4 months

Title of the thesis Automotive Smart Flooring based on photonics

Supervisors in Portugal: José Higino Correia (UMinho), Paulo Mateus Mendes (UMinho) at MIT: Joel Clark, Richard Roth Main Publications A. Ferreira da Silva, A. Goncalves, L. de Almeida Ferreira, F. Araujo, P. Mendes, and J. Correia, "A Smart Skin PVC Foil Based on FBG Sensors for Monitoring Strain and Temperature," IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, 2010.

A.F. Silva, A.F. Goncalves, L. A. de Almeida Ferreira, F.M. Araujo, P.M. Mendes, and J.H. Correia, "PVC Smart Sensing Foil for Advanced Strain Measurements," IEEE Sensors Journal, vol. 10, 2010, pp. 11491155.

A.F. Silva, A.F. Goncalves, P.M. Mendes, and J.H. Correia, "PVC formulation study for the manufacturing of a skin smart structure based in optical fiber elements," Polymers for Advanced Technologies [in press] Research progress and major scientific contributions The initial goal was to develop a novel inner car smart flooring concept, able to sense chassis deformation when car accident or collision occurs. However, it was soon detected that smart flooring could have a broader application field. Optical sensors have greatly evolved, offering nowadays a high performance alternative in many different areas, for measuring strain, temperature and can be already found in the automotive, aeronautics or biomedical field. However, the application of these monitoring systems is not a straightforward task, especially, at the sensor application step.

A smart structure with sensing capabilities would overcome the existing installation issues of sensor networks. Based on the significant system size and the market requirements, an industrial manufacturing process was considered. An integrated solution with Fiber Bragg Grating sensors embedded in PVC laminates manufactured by industrial spread-coating process was explored. The resultant structure is a temperature and strain sensitive foil characterized in terms of surface structure, optical response and overall performance. The industrialization problem was evaluated, not only by developing a machine for an automated fiber insertion in the PVC laminate, but also by evaluating the customization of the smart structure, regarding fiber layout, sensor disposition and finish styles.

Furthermore, a cost-model has been developed for the smart foil production in order to evaluate the cost drivers and the competitive advantage against the traditional method for sensor installation.

The research work has been developed in a successful collaboration with TMG Automotive (included an industrial internship) and Fibersensing companies. The student had also the opportunity to stay in MIT during 4 months, developing the cost-model.

The developed work resulted in the publication of 5 articles in international journals with peer-review and 6 oral communications in international conferences.

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Bruno Soares, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2008 PhD program: LTI Year of PhD: 3rd Estimated date of Completion: 09/2012

Title of the thesis Cork composites and eco-design

Supervisors in Portugal: Luís Reis (IST), Luís Sousa (IST), António Ferreira (FEUP) at MIT: David Wallace Research progress and major scientific contributions The quest to develop new materials and products that are sustainable from a “triple bottom line” view, Environmental, Economic and Social, has been going for quite some time. One of the options designers and engineers have at their disposal for the creation of those materials/products is the substitution of nonrenewable resources nearing depletion for natural materials in a non-abiotic scale, i.e., to replace materials based on dwindling resources, for materials in which the renewability is greater, and can continue to be greater with increase in use.

This thesis is focusing on such a material, cork composites, to study if such substitutions are feasible, with the replaceable material oil-based PVC foam. For cork composites to be considered good candidates for substitution, they must possess similar mechanical properties, and have a smaller impact that the PVC foam it aims to replace. Mechanical testing has been performed on cork composites and it has shown that the cork composites have similar properties as PVC foams, in bending and compression albeit at a higher density. Environmental analysis by means of an LCA is starting to confirm the hypothesis that cork is a greener material than PVC foams, and an economic cost by means of a LCC is in its starting phase.

A case study using cork as a core material for sandwich structures in a kayak is also being used. This case study is the result of joint effort of two companies, Amorim Cork Composites and NELO (Mar Kayaks), so that one can analyze cork as part of a finished product. A Kayak with a sandwich structure composed of Glass fiber facings and Cork composite core in wet Layup will be compared with a kayak with PVC foam cores, and a Polyethylene kayak made by rotomoulding, in mechanical behavior, economic and environmental performance. Additional production techniques such as RTM are also being studied, with specimens already produced and entering test phase, so that we can rank the Cork composite kayak versus these alternatives.

The ultimate goal of this research is the understanding of cork composites properties, find out its possible uses, and developing a tool to help designers and engineers to consider cork composites a starting material at product design and development stages.

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Carla Pepe, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2007 PhD program: LTI Year of PhD: 4th Estimated date of Completion: 2011 Amount of time spent at MIT: 1 week

Title of the thesis A Framework to Improve Complex Design Processes

Supervisors in Portugal: Elsa Henriques (IST) at MIT: Daniel Whitney Research progress and major scientific contributions The complexity of designing products such as gas turbine components leads to enormous difficulties in understanding where the main design process inefficiencies are. It is extremely difficult to decide which improvements will have the most significant impact for a company or for a specific project. Another common issue found in the Aerospace industry is a consequence of basing a new gas turbine design on a previous concept; most of the time people don’t question the overall design process.

These issues, alongside a companies’ matrix organization, create difficulties in managing and improving the design processes. In order to overcome the mentioned problems, a framework has been developed and used in two case studies at Rolls-Royce plc.

This framework developed in this thesis aims to assess and improve in a systematic way, complex product development processes at component or system level. The framework involves the use of Value Stream Mapping (VSM) analysis to identify waste sources in the design process, the use of Design Structure Matrix (DSM) to manage design iterations and interfaces complexity and Process Simulation to deal with the stochastic behaviour, and finally estimate and assess the benefit of potential developments.

85

Cláudia Duarte, UMinho, Portugal Starting year: 2008 PhD program: LTI Year of PhD: 3rd Estimated date of Completion: 12/2011

Title of the thesis Single line for assembly just-in-sequence multiple models

Supervisors in Portugal: José Valério Carvalho (Uminho), Ana Paula Põvoa (IST) at MIT: Stanley Gershwin Research progress and major scientific contributions The European automotive industry faces new challenges related to the growing of competitiveness. As an important playmaker in the European automotive industry and as the second national exporter, AutoEuropa is the major partner in this project. They need to address volume and models flexibility and cost reduction to meet the new market challenges. Because of this, recently, AutoEuropa implemented the concept of a single line, which is able to assemble just-in-sequence multiple models in a single line assembly. This line produces 4 models: EOS, Scirocco and a model that they call MPV (composed by 2 models one of Seat and the other from Volkswagen). This is a challenge and this project aims to obtain sequencing policies to ensure the delivery of the vehicles just in sequence without degrading the efficiency of the system. In this project we intend to formulate: • the decision problem that consists in deciding whether it is possible to find a sequence that satisfies all capacity constraints; • the optimization problem that involves finding a minimum cost sequence, where the cost function evaluates constraint violations.

To achieve these goals we made a study of the existent modeling and optimization methods for car sequencing used on different automotive industries. We made also a study and characterization of Autoeuropa manufacturing system. Based on this study we are developing now a model for the Car Sequencing Problem using Mixed Integer Programming and the IBM ILOG software. At this moment we are testing the model with Autoeuropa and preparing an article for the conference IO 2011.

The Mixed Integer Programming Model for the Car Sequencing Problem that we are developing has something new that was not used by any researcher until now and because of this cannot be revealed.

To reduce the computation times, that are usually high for big problems, in this kind of models, we are trying to find new cuts for the model. If we achieve this goal it will be a good contribution also.

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Cláudio Santos, UMinho, Portugal Starting year: 2009 PhD program: LTI Year of PhD: 2nd Estimated date of Completion: 08/2013

Title of the thesis Sheet metal processing equipment and markets under uncertain future environments: a methodology to assist technology strategy decisions

Supervisors in Portugal: Madalena Araújo (UMinho), Nuno Correia (INEGI) at MIT: Jeremy Gregory Research progress and major scientific contributions This thesis proposal focuses on the topic of technology strategy formulation, with a special attention to the development of a methodology to manage, evaluate and select technologies for the creation of new business/markets, based on issues such as the competencies of the firm, markets and technological evolution. The set of tools and techniques to be developed within the methodology aims at assisting the decision making process in uncertain environments. A benchmarking study of the technologies in sheet metal processing equipment with forecasting techniques will be carried out and matched with the company’s technological capabilities and competencies, which will, hopefully, lead to the identification of the most strategic technologies for future implementation.

The methodology used to develop this thesis follows a case study approach. The setting, as mentioned before, is a Portuguese company in the machine tool building industry.

At this stage, extensive literature review has been done on the topics of strategic management of technology, resource-based view of the firm and on decision supporting tools for technology management. Currently, and after an internship period at the company financing the project, I’m working on a methodology that leads to the identification of a firm’s competencies and capabilities. The same methodology also supports the evaluation of competencies by gathering external perspectives as well.

The next stage of the thesis concerns the implementation of tools for technology forecasting and assessment of the evolution of the industry and markets. After the collection of this information, the development of a methodology to support the decision making process on the formulation of a technology strategy. Decisions such as which technological competencies and capabilities to develop, how should they be sourced (internally or externally) and which technologies should be embodied into the design of products.

The methodology and tools to be developed within this thesis will be based on the existing related literature. The combination of solid insights with research gaps can serve as basis for improved methodologies. Empirical evidence extracted from the case study also will enable the possibility of developing methodologies that are more adjusted to reality.

87

Eduarda Silva, FEUP/UMinho, Portugal Starting year: 2009 PhD program: LTI Year of PhD: 2nd Estimated date of Completion: 09/2013

Title of the thesis Automatic quality control system based on artificial vision: transferring human knowledge into an automated inspection system

Supervisors in Portugal: Paulo Costa (FEUP), Fernando Ribeiro (UMinho) at MIT: Qi Hommes Research progress and major scientific contributions The research project involves the improvement of the final inspection process of tires. Considering that tires are a safety critical item, one of the most important goals of the production process is to consistently deliver products of high quality. In order to ensure product quality, visual inspection operators currently do quality control of 100% of the items produced.

However a quality inspection task can be very monotonous and exhausting which can cause fatigue and stress and lead to subjective decision processes. On the other side humans are still seen as the most versatile/flexible element in the manufacturing system and will remain so in the foreseeable future.

Thus the challenge is to develop a system based on artificial vision able to either automatically identify non-conformities in tires or to assist the operator in the quality control task. The focus of this research project is to identify, test and integrate the most effective and reliable technologies to optimize the quality control of tires. The expected outcome may include an automated inspection system complemented by a system that still retains some human contribution but with meaningful and welldesigned tasks in order to optimize the overall human–machine system performance, leading to an enhanced visual inspection.

The first stage of this research project included an internship in the facilities of the industrial partner. A good understanding of the overall production process, human based visual inspection and shop floor culture and environment were crucial to carefully understand and map the context in which the system under development will operate.

Being at the moment in the stage of preliminary assessment of technologies, the research methodology is now to interactively test different artificial vision systems and validate the results with the operators.

Automating (totally or partially) the inspection process requires the knowledge of the operators to be captured into the system and this might be more effectively achieved if they are enrolled in the development process. The purpose is to develop the new system by learning the task from human experts.

Under the scope of this project is not only the development of the technical solution, but also the process of transferring human functions to automatic systems that often involves deep reorganization of the work process and a good understanding of the current human based process.

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Eduardo Santos, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2007 PhD program: LTI Year of PhD: 4th Estimated date of Completion: 02/2012

Title of the thesis Eco-Efficient Design and Advanced Manufacturing Practices, Systems Perspectives on Materials Technology Decision-Making (Preliminary)

Supervisor in Portugal: Paulo Ferrão (IST) Research progress and major scientific contributions Based on the principle of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), producers are responsible for financing and managing their products at the end of life. In the case of waste electrical and electronic equipments (WEEE), producers are obliged to assume the responsibility individually or collectively, by transferring it to a WEEE management scheme.

The objective of the research is to develop a framework to enhance the role of EPR based WEEE management schemes in promoting effective and efficient environmental performance of electrical and electronic products. In order to do that, it was necessary to analyze the factors determining the performance of electrical and electronic equipments over the life cycle, as well as the current contribution of WEEE management schemes to those factors. Then the research focused on how to improve the contributions.

The research developed up to the present involved the benchmarking of current WEEE management schemes, the state of the art of WEEE processing, the operations and the respective technologies, the analysis of eco-design tools and methods and the development of a method and respective tool for optimizing industrial ecology processes in WEEE treatment.

The proposed method involves the assessment of the WEEE processing performance on three dimensions: technical, economical and environmental. Unlike current methods, it does the calculation of the mass balance over the entire WEEE processing chain, not just for a representative part of it, and the calculation of the cost and revenue considering the existing processing technologies, as well as developing and future technologies. Additionally, the proposed method includes a combination with life cycle assessment methodology, to calculate emissions of specific substances with significant potential environmental impacts.

This method is currently being tested and will be used to sustain the proposal of a new producer responsibility framework to enhance product environmental performance of electrical and electronic equipments.

At the current stage of the research work, the expected main scientific contributions include an innovative method to optimize industrial ecology processes in WEEE treatment. A new producer responsibility framework will also be proposed from which the future generation of WEEE management schemes should be designed, implemented and prosper in their new role.

89

Filipe Nascimento, FEUP, Portugal Starting year: 2009 PhD program: LTI Year of PhD: 2nd Estimated date of Completion: 05/2013

Title of the thesis Smart Seat Design

Supervisors in Portugal: Francisco Pires (FEUP), Pedro Vilaça (IST), Marta Carvalho (IST) at MIT: Qi Hommes Research progress and major scientific contributions This project involves the development of a smart seat that will have the ability to react during a car impact in order to secure its occupants. Other critical features of this car seat are related to the development of lighter structures that comply with the current trend of weight reduction, which has been a major concern in the automotive industry, and the improvement of comfort.

The use of simulation tools has the potential to significantly decrease costs during the product development phase. In addition, these tools will be used to identify the best combination among all variables in this decision process to find the best compromise solution for all known constraints.

One of the goals of the research is to develop a seat using lightweight materials in order to save weight in the car. The simulation tools will enable us to have an overall perspective of the mechanical behavior of the seat under different loads and in the human/seat interaction. The results of these simulations will help in the decision-making process of product development.

Another focus of this research is the development of a methodology focused on product development with the introduction of novel techniques. This methodology has the intent of integrating the knowledge obtained from several sources. In particular, the drivers positioning and behavior, the results from virtual analysis obtained from computational simulations, which will be supported by dedicated mechanical tests. Other parameters that will be taken into account are related with an in-depth knowledge of the company strategy and its goals. The relation between all these variables in the decision making process will provide a more robust solution for the company.

The first steps have been made and several materials and seat designs have been identified and studied. The first simulation model has already been achieved and the next steps will be more focused in the development of a global simulation model for the seat design and a decision tool to support the product development process.

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Georgios Koronis, IST, Greece Starting year: 2009 PhD program: LTI Year of PhD: 2nd Estimated date of Completion: 09/2013

Title of the thesis Green composite as structural parts in the exterior body of an electric vehicle

Supervisors in Portugal: Arlindo Silva (IST), Elsa Henriques (IST), Ana Póvoa (IST) at MIT: Daniel Whitney Research progress and major scientific contributions This research is part of the project Renewable materials in electric vehicles (ReMEV) and focuses on certain fields regarding supply chain management and the design of the manufacturing process. The objective of that effort is the design of an industrial system that can support the prospect substitution of current vehicles’ exterior parts made of synthetic matrices (like polypropylene - PP) and non renewable reinforcement (like glass fibers - GFR); with composites made of natural materials. Deliberately for this case, the range of materials to be used has been narrowed to renewable based ones, while aiming for a composite with the maximum possible percentage of bio-content. With determinative modifications applied on the part; both supply chain and manufacturing process are expected to be cost effective.

At present the research progress is on the stage of the bibliographic review in the field of current composites’ technology. Results include a preliminary selection of composites based on cost and mechanical performances values. From the data collected from other studies and with the use of materials selection methodologies it was indentified which set of matrix and reinforcement has the potential to be applied in exterior structural parts of small batch sized EV.

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Helena Fernández López, UMinho, Spain Starting year: 2007 PhD program: LTI Year of PhD: 4th Estimated date of Completion: 09/2011 Amount of time spent at MIT: 1 month

Title of the thesis Wireless communication sensor networks for remote health monitoring

Supervisors in Portugal: José Higino Correia (UMinho), Ricardo Simões (UMinho and Cávado and Ave Polytechnic Institute), José Afonso (UMinho) at MIT: Chris Magee Research progress and major scientific contributions This work combines medical sensors and wireless sensor network (WSN) technologies, namely the IEEE 802.15.4 and the ZigBee protocols, to design a cost-effective, easily-deployed system capable of gathering vital signals from in-hospital patients and recovering patients at home and present them into a nurses’ station.

The major contributions are: • The prototyping of a novel remote monitoring system to be used in hospital environments where, presently, patients are not continuously monitored and by recovering out-patients at home • The performance evaluation and commissioning of the of the prototype system on an internment floor of a private hospital in Portugal • The development of a ZigBee to Wi-Fi gateway which is responsible for interfacing the ZigBee personal area network (PAN) coordinator with the Internet • The development of wearable ECG/heart rate and axillary temperature prototype sensors, including the hardware and the firmware.

Currently, the established goals for my work are almost achieved. A prototype system is already installed in a hospital internment floor and is being evaluated. Five articles were presented in international peer-reviewed conferences and one more will be submitted by Feb 11th. The thesis is being written and, in two months, an article will be submitted for an international journal.

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Inês Ribeiro, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2008 PhD program: LTI Year of PhD: 3rd Estimated date of Completion: 2011/2012 Amount of time spent at MIT: 3 months

Title of the thesis From Tooling Design to Tools Life Cycle Design: Shifting the Paradigm

Supervisors in Portugal: Paulo Peças (IST), Elsa Henriques (IST), António Pontes (UMinho) at MIT: Rich Roth Main Publications Peças P, Ribeiro I., Folgado R., Henriques E. A Life Cycle Engineering Model for Technology Selection: a Case Study on Plastic Injection Moulds for Low Production Volumes. Journal of Cleaner Production, Vol. 17 (9), pp. 846-856, 2009.

Peças, P., Henriques, E., Ribeiro I.. Integrated Approach to Product and Process Design Based on Life Cycle Engineering. Handbook of Research on Trends in Product Design: Technological and Organizational Perspectives, pp. 394-417. Business Science Reference, Hershey, NY, 2010.

Research progress and major scientific contributions The design and production of tools is a time consuming, technically difficult and expensive activity.

Moreover, tool design choices highly affect the manufacturing process in which they are used.

Sometimes the least expensive tool does not lead to the least expensive part option if other processes in which it’s used are considered. It is then necessary to shift the paradigm from the cost of the tool as the decision factor to the tool life cycle cost and even other aspects not included in conventional costing. In this context, this research presents a new methodology to approach decision making in the tooling industry. In order to develop a life cycle approach based on LCC methodology, the technological cost models comprising the life cycle stages of a dedicated tool are combined. By this, the engineering knowledge regarding physical, statistical or empirical relations is applied to model the processes and through the process the resources requirements are estimated. Regarding characteristics as reliability and maintainability, these are not easily converted into costs when it comes to a dedicated tool, as it is also in most cases impossible to obtain statistical valid samples, due to the fact that each tool is a complex and unique product. However, tool designers and users have an experience-based capability to assess these aspects, although qualitatively. By using these subjective judgments, this research intends to capture their non-structured knowledge into the cost models. Furthermore, the design decisions are also investigated having into account not only the cost, but the different stakeholders’ preferences. In a real industrial context decisions are not based on tangible costs. Some aspects such as reliability, maintainability and production time have more importance than the reflected in the conventional costs. The last phase of the research aims to capture these preferences by integrating them in the results achieved by the cost models and hence computing a comprehensive life cycle cost.

Finally, this approach was applied to industrial case studies and through internships in four different companies (Celoplás – Grimancelos, Famolde – Marinha Grande, Fapil – Malveira, GM–Detroit) was possible to apply the methodology. Furthermore, the stay in MIT developed my knowledge in cost models. From these experiences several scientific publications in international journals, scientific books and international conferences were possible.

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Ioannis Malliaros, IST, Greece Starting year: 2008 PhD program: LTI Year of PhD: 3rd Estimated date of Completion: 2012

Title of the thesis HMI on Sensitivity Functions Approach: Case of Non-Visual Senses

Supervisors in Portugal: Mihail Fontul (IST), Elsa Henriques (IST), Lia Patrício (FEUP) at MIT: Qi D. Van Eikema Hommes abroad: Paraskevas Papanikos (University of the Aegean) Research progress and major scientific contributions One of the development areas of In-Car Interfaces (ICI) deals with the need of using alternative communication channels that goes beyond the visual senses. The functionality of an interface is not limited to its utility, but has a broader scope which includes the necessity to address a desired feeling.

In fact, automotive companies look forward for something more than fulfilling the requirements. They expect a certain “feeling” to be achieved when the final customer interacts with the device. The aim of this research is to develop a methodology in which I’ll study the possibilities to model an expected feeling, evoked by non-visual senses (Kinesthetic, Acoustical, Tactile).

In order to identify how the interaction among engineering parameters works and triggers a feeling, a methodology was proposed, covering two types of measurements: laboratory environment ones and, second, human responses capturing. The aim of this methodology is to predict the perceived “feeling” as a result of interactions between engineering parameters, by using the data obtained from the two measurements through a statistical analysis. Owing the fact that non-visual senses comprise three senses, the methodology consists of three main modules, one for each sense. The plan is to develop each module and lastly to integrate them, in order to predict the general “feeling” evoked by non-visual senses.

The expected result will be a valid tool for the ICI manufacturing companies to achieve the expected feeling evoked by non-visual senses as request by OEM clients.

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Irene Carvalho, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2009 PhD program: LTI Year of PhD: 2nd Estimated date of Completion: 07/2013

Title of the thesis On A Concept Urban Car Calling for Flexibility in Car Occupancy and Lean Driving Behaviors

Supervisors in Portugal: Arlindo Silva (IST), Ricardo Simões (UMinho), Mihail Fontul (IST), Lia Patrício (FEUP), Paulo Peças (IST) at MIT: Daniel Whitney Research progress and major scientific contributions Currently I am preparing two papers: one with a tentative title: "Designing automo-tive mass reduction solutions for lean driving behavior: conceiving environmentally friendly automobile engineering systems enabled by social behaviors." In short, this paper presents the first results of ongoing research being developed within this PhD research work related with the problem of designing feasible technological so-lutions driven by environmental concerns and enabled by social behaviors. It intro-duces the concept of lean driving, defined as a technological system designed to allow flexibility in a car's occupancy aiming at significantly reducing waste in energy consumption per trip and throughout an automobile's useful life, due to carrying unnecessary weight. A second paper will be related to the possibility of applying natural based composite materials for lightweighting purposes in automotive industry.

By introducing the concept of "lean driving" in cars design and manufacturing it might bring a new strategic way of thinking how to reduce cars weights in order to minimize energy waste. Nowadays, all technological solutions are rigidly based on a fixed car typology (2 seats, 3 seats, 4 seats, 5 seats), which hampers occupancy efficiency, and thus, in the majority of situations, a lot of weight is being carried, and energy is being spent, without need. With current manufacturing and disposal technologies, it is during its useful life that a car creates the most impact on the environment, due to the positive impact of the weight of a car and the energy spent in traveling. Hence, with this work, it is being explored how technological solutions for lightweighting structures in vehicles can be enhanced by social behaviors. I.e., once the automobile is built, and along its useful life, how can we have concomitant and isoperformance solutions resulting from human behavior domain, knowing that today the social contribution can be greatly improved as long as new car solutions exist.

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Isa Santos, FEUP, Portugal Starting year: 2008 PhD program: LTI Year of PhD: 3rd Estimated date of Completion: 2012 Amount of time spent at MIT: 4 months

Title of the thesis Concept selection in the development of medical devices: the case of the smart stent-graft

Supervisors in Portugal: João Manuel R.S. Tavares (FEUP), Luís Rocha (UMinho) in the USA: Jeremy Gregory (MIT), Scott Gazele (Harvard) Research progress and major scientific contributions To meet customers’ requirements, designers narrow down an array of ideas to a single one. This process is named concept selection and it is crucial to efficiently develop novel products because, from this point onward, the designer team is committed to a concept whose change implies delays and additional costs. At this stage, the lack of objective data makes decisions insubstantial. However, it is possible to reduce uncertainty assessing the products’ expected costs and benefits to select concepts.

In the medical device sector, before products are brought to market, they are subject to the scrutiny of different agencies around the world to assess their clinical and cost-effectiveness. In this project, those criteria have been analyzed and adapted to define a new concept selection technique. The method under development is going to be applied to the development of a smart stent-graft, but other possible applications are possible.

So far, the product development process was described along with the distinctive features of medical devices. Additionally, a new concept selection technique is being delineated. To validate the new methodology, a case study was defined: the development of a smart stent-graft. Regarding this topic, the customers were recognized and their needs were gathered through questionnaires to both patients and doctors.

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Ivo Ferreira, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2007 PhD program: LTI Year of PhD: 4th Estimated date of Completion: 2011 Amount of time spent at MIT: 4 months

Title of the thesis Conceptual design of complex engineering systems in a concurrent environment

Supervisors in Portugal: Paulo Gil (IST), Pedro Oliveira (UMinho) at MIT: Olivier de Weck Main Publications Gil, P. J. S., Ferreira, I. M. L.. (2011 - under review). A Conceptual Concurrent Design Methodology for Complex Engineering Systems. Journal of Mechanical Design Ferreira, I. M. L., Gil, P. J. S. (2011 - under review). Analyzing the performance of multilayer perceptron neural networks to support decisions during the conceptual design phase. Expert Systems with Applications Gil, P. J. S., Rosa, P. M. B., & Ferreira, I. M. L.. (2010). Modern approaches in the design of complex aerospace systems. Journal of Aerospace Engineering, Sciences and Applications, 2(1), 15–26.

Research progress and major scientific contributions This research focuses on the conceptual design methodologies for complex engineering systems. By analyzing the prominent concurrent philosophy environment and its shortcomings and studying the capabilities of currently existing technologies, an integrated design process is proposed.

The typical conceptual design process is analyzed with respect to four key areas and their impact on the design performance: system representation, common algebras that can be used to represent the system behavior, possible optimization methods and knowledge management incorporation. The aim is to increase the quality of design solutions at the conceptual stage and enhance the perception of the system by allowing simultaneous real-time perspectives of the “forest” (global system level) and the “trees” (subsystems level).

In order to address the main issues detected, focusing at the global system level, an integrated design process is proposed including general system description, requirements mapping, interaction, and optimization stages. The interaction stage is implemented in a software tool providing visualization and interactive models to enable decision support, dependencies tracking and design documentation by using an adapted dynamic Design Structure Matrix (DSM) of the system throughout the design process.

Focusing at the subsystem level, an intuitive standalone decision support tool based on neural networks to predict design suggestions is also detailed. The design performance gain is measured through a set of case studies from different fields (aerospace, automotive, etc.) and with different levels of complexity.

The thesis contributes to the literature on conceptual design, concurrent engineering, design structure matrix, and neural networks for design purposes. It proposes a rigorous means of incorporating a global view on the system analytical performance with tacit knowledge brought by the designers. Finally, shows the applicability of prediction tools and the impact of enhanced representation models during the conceptual design phase.

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José Gaspar, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2008 PhD program: LTI Year of PhD: 3rd Estimated date of Completion: 09/2012

Title of the thesis Decision Making Methodology on HMI Innovative Processes

Supervisors in Portugal: Mihail Fontul (IST), Elsa Henriques (IST) at MIT: Qi Hommes Research progress and major scientific contributions This research is in the HMI (Human–Machine Interfaces) and aims to integrate in a systemic way engineering parameters, design attributes and user satisfaction issues. The research made in this area by several research teams all over the globe are concerned to provide models which relates design attributes and engineering parameters or design attributes and user satisfaction issues. As far as I know this is the first attempt to provide an integrated analysis from the physical (measurable) parameters of an HMI and its perceived properties (feelings regarding the HMI).

An advanced integrated user satisfaction model will help a manufacturing company to reduce the product development process time. This research is done with an affiliate company, IBER OLEFF (TIER 1 or 2 on automotive industry, especially for inserts inside of a car), which is fully committed with the project and has high expectations on the results. Even the original idea of this research was in concordance with the company’s development plan.

The research work was organized on: 1) the study of the actual research paradigm on user satisfaction, i.e., taxonomies, practices, methods, anomalies and examples used by the research community; 2) improvement of the actual paradigm to solve the anomalies, and 3) articulation of the improved paradigm. The two first research steps were almost already accomplished, and as a result, a new user satisfaction taxonomy was created, a new DAP model that relates satisfaction dimensions (D), design attributes (A) and engineering parameters (P) was created. The third phase is currently under development.

This research involves an extensive survey, where 35 interviewees ranked 11 automotive radio panels on a test bench. The quantitative and qualitative data were collected, validated and analyzed, and one part of the DAP framework was already modeled with neural network tools. Basically, it relates the styling design attribute (A) against its corresponding engineering parameters (P). The remaining design attributes of operation, touch, functions, localization, concepts, sound and feeling will be modeled using the same methodology.

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Lia Oliveira, FEUP, Portugal Starting year: 2008 PhD program: LTI Year of PhD: 3rd Estimated date of Completion: 07/2012 Amount of time spent at MIT: 5 months

Title of the thesis Increasing flexibility and collaboration in the automotive supply chain network

Supervisors in Portugal: Jorge Pinho de Sousa (FEUP), João Claro (FEUP) at MIT: Richard De Neufville Research progress and major scientific contributions Nowadays, industrial organizations set their efforts more and more on the control and reduction of costs, not only as a way to fight the growing market competition but also to overcome the problems posed by the current global economic and financial crisis. The automobile has been one of the most affected sectors, facing a decrease in sales since the last quarter of 2008. The economy slowdown has contributed to a profound restructuring of this sector. To pursue competitiveness, automotive companies need to improve the way they operate with the market and with their own networks, to invest in innovation, to carefully look at activities planning and at supply chain opportunities. It is fundamental to systematically evaluate and (re-)design the production and distribution systems as well as to define strategies to provide the desired customer service at the lowest possible cost. In this context, more research is being dedicated to supply chain design and management, aiming at improving components of systems already in place or at building new components of those systems.

A global supply chain involves several countries and consequently it becomes fundamental to look across international factors, such as tariffs, exchange rates, duties, income tax legislation, national production resources, transfer prices, government policies, trade barriers and competition. Some of these factors increase the level of uncertainty in a supply chain but are not the exclusive factors in that direction.

We are developing models for the automotive industry dealing with different types of uncertainty, and in particular we want to develop a stochastic model for the global automotive supply chain network to support strategic-tactical decision-making. Moreover we also want to cover a set of different features of real, practical environments, namely: multi-periods planning horizons (understanding and managing the impact of changes), multi-criteria assessment of policies (including costs and customer service level), international parameters (as legislation) and the major concerns of companies. Here our perspective is that of a first or second tier supplier. In this context, some strategic decisions can be episodic. For example, a customer is opening a new plant and we need to understand how supplying this new customer site can be better integrated, in time, in its supply chain network. The models we are developing should help in decision-making on the operations strategy planning, and also in understanding how the supply chain network should evolve in a long-term time horizon, in order to optimize the profitability of operations. For such purpose, these models will require the definition of scenarios for future evolution of supply, demand, transportation and other critical elements of the SC network. They will also imply the definition of relevant new investment alternatives; simulating and optimizing investment decisions in time; and sensitivity analysis to understand under which conditions different investment alternatives may become more attractive. All these different issues are now being researched, although not at the same stage. Critical inputs to the work are being provided by the case study we have being defining with the valuable collaboration of the SIMOLDES Group, our industrial partner in the project.

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Marco Leite, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2007 PhD program: LTI Year of PhD: 4th Estimated date of Completion: 2011 Amount of time spent at MIT: 7 months

Title of the thesis Materials selection considering technical performance, process cost and life cycle evaluation

Supervisors in Portugal: Arlindo Silva (IST), Elsa Henriques (IST) at MIT: Richard Roth Main publication M. Leite, A. Silva, E. Henriques, R. Roth, The implications of decisions on the material mix problem: the case of small stampings in the automotive industry, submitted to ICED 2011, 15 to 18 August 2011, Copenhagen, Denmark.

M. Leite, A. Silva, E. Henriques, Materials selection in product design and development. RPD 2008, 29 to 30 October, Oliveira de Azeméis, Portugal.

M. Leite, A. Silva, E. Henriques, Material and technology issues in the early phases of product design: an example from the automotive industry. IRF’2009, 20 to 24 July, 2009, Oporto.

Research progress and major scientific contributions A successful product development increases pressure in the manufacturing companies to outperform competitors. These companies must be capable of developing products with more quality, lower product cost, shorter development time and shorter development cost. One of the major activities inside the development process is the one related to materials and manufacturing process selection. Materials selection is complex in nature and influence and is influenced by the product development process.

Materials are responsible for products’ function, structure and in some cases interaction with the customer/user.

Most materials and process selection methods seldom deal with this complexity. Although trying to respond to the question: “what is the right material for the right application?” with the objective of matching properties to required specifications, they are often simplifying issues related with a holistic view of the product and particular context of the manufacturing organization. Consequently, matching properties for a single product instead of a range of products and on an ideal organization instead of the particular context of the manufacturing firm can yield a preferred material that is unlikely to be the overall optimum choice.

This thesis investigates the implications on design of materials acquisition costs for a range of products and with a particular context in product development materials selection decisions and seeks to identify strategies for decision-making that the companies can implement for selecting materials for new products. To that purpose, a framework for incorporating materials acquisition costs, for a range of parts, in an exogenous context is proposed and demonstrated using two case studies, the first with single product and single materials selection in an automotive manufacturer context and the second with a range of parts and material mix decisions in a Tier 1 manufacturer context. In the first case, materials selection is defined by a trade-off between engineering properties, economical cost and environmental impact. In the second case, the problem is more complex and requires combinatorial optimization techniques to select the best material mix for a large number of parts with multiple materials available and dependent in the company procurement strength.

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Michael Donauer, FEUP, Germany Starting year: 2009 PhD program: LTI Year of PhD: 2nd Estimated date of Completion: 2013

Title of the thesis Optimization of test and inspection strategies in car tire manufacturing lines by the usage of manufacturing and quality cost models

Supervisors in Portugal: Américo Azevedo (FEUP), Paulo Peças (IST) at MIT: Richard Roth

Research progress and major scientific contributions This PhD thesis is embedded in a research and development project in cooperation with an industrial affiliate of the MIT Portugal Program – Continental Mabor - Industria de Pneus (S.A.) – a tire manufacturing company. One or more internships will be done there which can be full-time or part-time placements that last for up to 12 months. The main goal of this industry research project, with two more PhD students engaged in, is to redefine a current inspection process. This covers redesigning, developing and installing a working prototype that will operate in real environment and a tool / methodology to support the decision making process, relating to test and inspection strategies. The project is highly solution oriented and the expected results for the proposed research work will be validated as a concept proof with real data in a real industrial context. Developing a tool / methodology to support the decision making process is the realm of this PhD thesis and it is aimed to identify a more general approach that is not only valid in the tire industry but also applicable to various other industries and environments.

The objective of this PhD is to elaborate a methodology to take decisions based on costs that take into account quality and test strategies as well as levels of performances and automation. Therefore it is aimed to elaborate a methodology of tracking non-conformities backwards along the manufacturing process, analyze their root causes and identify plans of actions to overcome them. Status quo and all potential means for enhancing a process to eliminate root causes, technology implementations and other actions shall be simulated, as well the behavior of the different states. Hereby different states can be various performance levels, levels of automation, deviations from should be processes, fatigue of operators and machines as well as various production quality levels. By simulating the previously mentioned it shall be possible to create what-if scenarios and to evaluate the different alternatives that serve as an input for cost models in order to take best management decisions.

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Manuela Azevedo, FEUP, Portugal Starting year: 2009 PhD program: LTI Year of PhD: 2nd Estimated date of Completion: 06/2013

Title of the thesis Reconfiguring Facilities and Logistics in Dynamic Supply Network of SMEs

Supervisors in Portugal: Jorge Pinho de Sousa (FEUP), José Crispim (UMinho) Research progress and major scientific contributions This research project focus on dynamic networks of companies (mainly SMEs) and aims at delivering a conceptual framework and a set of decision support tools to help those companies analyze and assess different policies and solutions for the configuration of facilities and logistic systems. This will be done taking into account multiple criteria and perspectives.

Research results will be fully assessed and validated at our industrial partner, the Simoldes Plásticos Group.

The research is progressing in two directions: a more theoretical model is being developed in parallel with work on a complex and rich case study, designed upon the characteristics and requirements of the company. Understanding, analyzing and structuring the real situation is a very important step towards the definition of a more general, strategic / tactical model, capable of supporting decision-making in various industrial sectors. This model will be designed as a multi-objective mathematical program, to be solved to optimality in small problem instances, but requiring the recourse of heuristic techniques, in larger, realistic cases. Therefore, an important phase of our work will consist in designing metaheuristic approaches to efficiently handle real size problems.

In this phase of the research, we are completing a comprehensive literature survey, to characterize more general requirements, and understanding the existing models, their advantages and limitations.

Once we have identified the gaps in these models, we will try to improve and extend them, to create a flexible, innovative tool to help companies, or networks of companies, to reconfigure their facilities and logistics in rather dynamic, uncertain environments.

At this moment, the development of the mathematical model is still in a very early stage, but the initial feedback of our industrial partner is rather positive, showing that our research questions are not only relevant in scientific terms, but they do reflect interesting, valuable practical problems.

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Nuno Guitian Oliveira, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2009 PhD program: LTI LTI Year of PhD: 2nd Estimated date of Completion: 10/2013

Title of thesis Towards High Strength 3D Chitosan-Based Products for Biomedical Applications

Supervisors in Portugal: Alexandra Rodrigues (IST), Luís Pinto (FCT), Luís Reis (IST), Mihail Fontul (IST) Research progress and major scientific contributions The main objective of this project envisages studying the potentiality of shaping chitosan in high strength 3D solid parts for medical applications.

Chitosan is derived from chitin, the second most abundant natural biopolymer commonly found in shells of marine crustaceans and cell walls of fungi. Its potential as a biomaterial has been reported in scientific literature for many years and has been showing to be a useful material in biomedical applications such as artificial skin, sutures, drug delivery, tissue engineering, cell encapsulation, among others. Recently, it has been reported that chitosan can be one promising material as a temporary mechanical supporter for bone fracture, working as an internal fixation device (implant). Chitosan-based implants, a natural and sustainable biopolymer, can be an appealing alternative to other advanced polymers used in the first generations of bioresorbable (temporal) implants. However, presently, there is not a suitable process available for shaping chitosan in high strength 3D solid parts, which limits the potential applications of the biopolymer. There are tremendous opportunities in biomedical applications (especially in temporal implants for human and veterinary use) if a process to produce 3D solid parts from chitosan is developed.

Three dimensional chitosan-based products cannot be shaped using conventional plastics processing techniques, as it is sensitive to heat and changes its chemical functionality at elevated temperature, due to the strong intra- and intermolecular H-bonds, making chitosan’s melting temperature higher than its decomposing temperature. Therefore, the solvent casting process, also known as in situ precipitation method, where the polymer is dissolved in a solvent (e.g. acetic acid aqueous solution) and then precipitated and molded in the presence of salts (e.g. sodium hydroxide) has been used. However, the resulting rods have some limitations regarding their mechanical resistance. For instance, bending strength and bending modulus of some of the commercially available polymer-based implants (e.g.

PGA-screws) are 130–200 MPa and 5.0–10.0 GPa, respectively. So, bending strength and bending modulus are some of the key parameters for chitosan-based rods, which are needed to be improved to match those commercially available devices.

The use of naturally occurring biopolymers for biomedical and pharmaceutical applications, and in tissue-engineered medical products, is increasing. Therefore, chitosan-based implants, either blended or not with other (bio)polymers, can be an appealing alternative to others advanced polymers used as bioresorbable (temporal) implants.

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Pedro Marques, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2008 PhD program: LTI Year of PhD: 4th Estimated date of Completion: 09/2011

Title of thesis Creativity in Product Development

Supervisors in Portugal: Arlindo Silva (IST), Elsa Henriques (IST) Research progress and major scientific contributions The research addresses the issue of modeling of the ideation or initial phase of the design process.

Overall, design is an activity involving reasoning and creativity. The intersection of engineering design and cognitive psychology is a branch of research that can be productively expanded, as breakthrough developments tend to come from research at the interface of different fields of knowledge. The model builds upon prior work at the interface of engineering design and cognitive psychology to create a balanced model of the human mind applied to the activity of design. Three domains – inspiration, decomposition and integration – and three spaces – problem-space, idea-space and concept-space – are described as elements of the model. The iterative flow of the design process passes through these domains in a semi-controlled way, through a sequence of process loops in- and between the spaces.

The most important process loops can be of a specialization or a generalization nature, capturing the convergent and divergent thinking present in design and creative problem solving. Some creative mechanisms from prior research are utilized in the model to embody creativity. The case of an automatic toll collection complex system – Via Verde - was explored. To meet the requirements of the many technologies and innovations involved in its conception and development the model is purposed in order to explain how is possible to meet the requirements of such technical complexity, adding value to customers, stakeholders, and the company itself which operates in a very competitive industry. A link between creativity in companies and innovation is achieved and explained showing how the company has been continuously improved the system. Furthermore several examples found in the development and implementation phase of the tool collection system shows the correspondence between the proposed model and the reality.

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Raquel Folgado, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2008 PhD program: LTI Year of PhD: 3rd Estimated date of Completion: 11/2012

Title of thesis Influence of Variability on Assembly Systems

Supervisors in Portugal: Elsa Henriques (IST), Paulo Peças (IST), Guilherme Pereira (UMinho) at MIT: Stanley Gershwin Research progress and major scientific contributions In the present context, where products have shorter life cycles, have more model variety and demand uncertainty, an extended automation, even if technologically possible, might not be economically viable and so cannot be fully achieved. As a result, the assembly systems become highly dependent on operators for running the several assembly tasks required to the final product, introducing the natural variability inherent to manual work.

The modelling and simulation of assembly systems have been specially focused on technological aspects, in which operators are represented as resources performing defined tasks with variable availability and/or variable efficiency. However, pursuing an increased flexibility and responsiveness of humans to ensure competitiveness, several efforts have been made to model the non-deterministic behaviour of the human element.

Several studies introduce approaches on how to deal with the randomness of task time, nonetheless little industrial based data is available to use as an input. To characterize variability of manual work using industrial data it is important to understand human behaviour and its performance in real and noncontrolled industrial environments.

From the obtained results up to date, it was verified that there is a large variation on the average task time required to fulfil the assembly tasks as well as on the dispersion of that time among workers. It was then possible to define an approach to map and classify the human performance in assembly tasks in order to support the modelling of task time performance (among different and within each operator).

The second phase of this research is to study the effect of the different classes of manual work performances on the assembly system global performance. It will consider different patterns of human resources allocation and different assembly systems configurations. As an outcome, it’s expected to understand the impact of each type of workers performance and how to make the assembly system more robust and less sensitive to manual work variability. Having that, it’s possible to obtain guidelines for better assembly systems design/redesigns and operating policies in order to reduce and/or take advantage of the effects of different operators performances, on human-centred assembly systems.

This research is being conducted in close interaction with Iber-Oleff, a Portuguese company working in the automotive sector.

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Ricardo Torcato, FEUP, Portugal Starting year: 2007 PhD program: LTI Year of PhD: 3rd Estimated date of Completion: 07/2012 Amount of time spent at MIT: 3 months

Title of thesis An expert decision support system for concurrent development of RIM parts

Supervisors in Portugal: Ricardo Santos (FEUP), Madalena Dias (FEUP) at MIT: Richard Roth Research progress and major scientific contributions In order to identify and organize the knowledge required for the development process of Reaction Injection Moulding (RIM) parts and processes, two US RIM companies were visited and their experts provided valuable information that enabled us to redefine the scope of study and the objectives of this research. During the visits we confirmed the general lack of explicit consideration of the downstream processes in the concept development stage.

Considering: • The literature review on product development and tools to incorporate expert knowledge in the part and process design, and the cost estimation techniques • The need for a validated design that will provide insight into metrics such as development lead time and manufacturing costs to deal with the decision makings required in early stage design in order to reduce the subsequent redesigns and reworks.

It is our belief that the concurrent concept development is the appropriate approach.

Nevertheless, the inherent complexity and intensive knowledge requirements of this concurrent development problem, as well as the scarcity of human experts in the field, raises the need to develop an Expert System (ES) for the concurrent design of RIM parts (that starts with inputs of customer requirements on product features, both functional and aesthetic, and ends with outputs that determine part material, mould design features, mould-making processes, moulding processes, and cost estimations of mould fabrication and moulding operation).

An ES architecture and framework, which emphasizes the concurrent concept development process of RIM parts, was developed.

The next steps in the research will be to validate the framework by means of the prototype production and test on a company to be selected.

Although there is previous research works in the use of ES in product development, gaps were found concerning the lack of research in the concept development stage and lack of integration with other methodologies. Therefore, this research contributes to the existing literature on two levels 1) by studying the application of an ES in the conceptual stage of RIM parts development and 2) the ES’s integration with PBCM methodology.

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Ricardo Sá, UMinho, Portugal Starting year: 2009 PhD program: LTI Year of PhD: 2nd Estimated date of Completion: 09/2014 Amount of time spent at MIT: 3 months

Title of thesis Industrial Laser Cutting Machine Optimization and Redesign

Supervisor in Portugal: Ferrie van Hattum (UMinho) Research progress and major scientific contributions The project here presented is focused in the redesign of structural elements of an industrial laser cutting machine.

The machining process is based in material removal and is obtained by focusing a highly intense laser beam on the work piece. It allows for two-dimensional geometries to be produced in a high-speed, repeatable, and reliable manner.

The project’s initial analysis will be focused on the gantry. The relevance of this part comes from the fact that it provides support for the laser head and the optic system. The gantry moves in one axis while allowing for the optical components to move on the orthogonal one.

Two of the most important characteristics in determining whether or not the machine corresponds to the customer needs are precision and speed. These two characteristics are a direct result of the gantry’s design.

If the gantry suffers a significant deformation while moving, the laser will not be focused in the desired point. This will result in parts with variable types and degrees of defects and might generate nonconformities.

The gantry moves at high speeds, especially when no cutting is taking place and the machine’s optical unit is moving from one cutting site to another. Apart from the need of stability of the gantry upon the arrival to the cutting site, the maximum speed is also limited by its weight.

The fact that the gantry’s behavior affects major aspects of the whole machine makes it an obvious potential target for structural optimization.

These machines’ components (and the Laser Cutting Machine’s gantry in particular) are traditionally produced in welded steel. These results in structures weighting about 300 Kg and with a high complexity and lead time.

The inclusion of new materials and the re-design of this part must aim at achieving a solution that allows overcoming the limitations presented by the current design.

This project also aims at addressing the process through which a new technology will be implemented in the company’s portfolio, as well as the costs these imply, as well as changes of layout and/or supply chain.

The work that has been performed so far, aims to understand which characteristics, in the whole machine, are relevant to the decision process of customers and other stakeholders. A methodology to assess this in a Business to Business environment is being developed and the result of this first stage will be an input of most relevance for the conception and design stages of the project.

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Rui Carreira, FEUP, Portugal Starting year: 2007 PhD program: LTI Year of PhD: 4th Estimated date of Completion: 09/2011 Amount of time spent at MIT: 1,5 months

Title of the thesis Designing the Travel Experience

Supervisors in Portugal: Lia Patrício (FEUP), Renato Natal (FEUP) at MIT: Chris Magee Main publication “Towards a holistic approach to the travel experience: a qualitative study of bus transportation”, to be submitted to the Transportation research journal Research progress and major scientific contributions Designing for the customer experience is increasingly important for the success of new product development (NDP), but two challenges arise: the customer experience is determined, not only by the product, but also by the interaction with service(s) within which it may be embedded; and the customer experience is formed in all moments of interaction with a product or service. Specifically in public transportation, the travel experience (TE) provided is holistic in the way that it starts before the actual trip and doesn’t necessarily stop after arriving at the destination. The Kansei engineering method allows for the incorporation of affective reactions and emotions in NPD, but it does not involve a structured and holistic approach to the study of the customer experience.

This project aims at better understanding customer TEs and to develop methods for incorporating their requirements in NPD. In order to identify customer TE requirements, qualitative and quantitative studies were performed with bus users in two settings: tourism and inter-city. The qualitative study consisted of observations and interviews with 25 tourists and 27 inter-city passengers that were fully transcribed and their content analyzed. The quantitative study was based on two questionnaires that were selfadministered by 188 tourists and 1596 inter-city passengers. The data was analyzed following standard procedures for scale development, involving exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, and structural equation modeling. The study results identified 7 dimensions of TE requirements (Individual Comfort, Information provision, Driver's skills, Social Environment, Bus maintenance, Bus terminal, Ticketline service). The Bus Interior Aesthetics is associated to the dimension of overall comfort, which the passengers rated as very important and also as having a low performance in current buses. The translation of the Interior Aesthetics-ER into bus body design parameters was done using the principles of Kansei Engineering Methodology with the collaboration of a bus body manufacturer and MIT researchers. Additionally, the period at the MIT was important to contact with researchers working on NPD. So far, with the collaboration of the transportation companies involved, it was possible to have an indepth understanding of the TE, based on experience- centric (i.e. tourists) and utilitarian (i.e. inter-city) passengers’ perspective, and contribute to a more holistic incorporation of the TE in the NPD process.

Additionally, the design of new vehicles and transportation services as an integrated whole is improved by the use of an adequate affective oriented engineering methodology to incorporate the better understanding of the passengers’ TE requirements.

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Rui Rocha, UMinho, Portugal Starting year: 2009 PhD program: LTI Year of PhD: 2nd Estimated date of Completion: 09/2013

Title of the thesis Optical Microsystems

Supervisors in Portugal: José Correia (UMinho), João Carmo (UMinho) Research progress and major scientific contributions The clear definition of the objectives and goals of the proposed doctoral LTI thesis are still in progress.

But the PhD thesis will be carried out under the scope of the project “Development of integrated systems for smart interiors”.

In recent years, the engineering community has been focusing on the development of a new generation of high-performance mechanical systems that have integrated sensing, diagnostics and control capabilities while continuing to perform their intended functions. The automotive industry particularly, is keen on increasing the use of these integrated systems in their vehicles with the aim of saving weight, increasing the number of functions and reducing both the component and assembly costs. This project seeks to develop smart devices and materials for automotive interiors that incorporate sensor and actuator capabilities for both conventional and new functions in terms of: safety, comfort, performance, aesthetic and information processing. The focus area of this PhD thesis will be a clear characterization of the best suitable flexible carrier materials, where the optical fibers and sensors will be embedded.

This is a very important stage in the complex system composed by the optical fiber sensors and the laminates in which they are embedded. This includes the full mechanical and thermal characterization of these materials, as well as their interaction with the optical fibers, when subjected to changes in the environmental conditions. To validate these concepts, it is necessary to test and measure several physical parameters in a car to be performed both in laboratory and real field scenarios. According to system’s specifications for the end-users, the most suitable process of manufacturing the electronic micro devices will be selected. To embed optical fibers with sensing capacities in carriers composed of different materials is an objective of the utmost importance to the industry and academia.

To address the multidisciplinary topic of this project, a consortium of several partners (Universities and Companies) which provide complementary skills in the field of research it was formed. The three major industrial partners are well established automotive suppliers in complementary areas for automotive interiors and there is also a company specialized in sensoring technologies.

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Samuel Moniz, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2009 PhD program: LTI Year of PhD: 2nd Estimated date of Completion: 2013

Title of the thesis OPPS - Optimal Production Planning and Scheduling of Multipurpose Batch Plants

Supervisors in Portugal: Ana Barbosa Póvoa (IST), Jorge Pinho de Sousa (FEUP) at MIT: Stanley Gershwin Research progress and major scientific contributions The objectives of this research project are to develop generic planning and scheduling models of multipurpose batch plants, and design the basis for an integrated production planning framework.

Planning and scheduling decisions need to be made in accordance with the strategic decisions of the organizations. By understanding the different levels of planning and through the development of an integrated planning model, this research will contribute to implement efficient decision-making processes for the management of multipurpose batch plants. The research project will be developed along the following macro tasks: (1) problem characterization; (2) development of planning models; (3) development of scheduling models; (4) build up of a hierarchical tool; (5) models validation; (6) cost benefit analysis.

The problem description based on an industrial case has already been concluded. This involved the definition of the product recipes, equipment characteristics description and identification of the planning and scheduling constraints. In a second phase, the problem was decomposed into three main blocks: process synthesis, planning and scheduling. Currently, the focus is on the following tasks: literature review, proposal of a conceptual framework, mathematical formulation, and model building and solving with ILOG/CPLEX. It should be noted that planning and scheduling of multipurpose batch plants leads to a drastic increase of model complexity with the problem size, limiting the applicability of exact methods in industrial problems. Alternative methods are being used to obtain acceptable solutions with manageable planning and scheduling models. In this research hybrid methods will be used to design planning and scheduling algorithms (e.g. Mixed-Integer Linear Programming (MILP) + Heuristics). One of the most relevant formulations for planning and scheduling of multipurpose batch plans is the Resource-Task-Network proposed by (Pantelides, 1994). This formulation is being studied to check their applicability to the novel challenges found in the industrial case.

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Sara Marques, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2009 PhD program: LTI Year of PhD: 2nd Estimated date of Completion: 2013

Title of the thesis Light-duty vehicles energy and emissions "eco-score" considering total life cycle analysis and different end-users

Supervisors in Portugal: Carla Silva (IST), Luís G. Reis (IST), João Luiz Afonso (UMINHO) Main publication Marques Sara Afonso João, Reis Luis, Silva Carla; "Scenarios for the introduction of Electrical Vehicles in Portugal Study" to be submitted to International Journal of Electrical Power & Energy Systems.

Research progress and major scientific contributions The development of this work aims the eco-scoring of energy and CO2 emissions of light-duty vehicles considering several technologies (internal combustion engine vehicles, fuel cell vehicles, pure electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles, plug-in hybrid vehicles) and different end users (urban, highway, mix driving and driving frequency). A benefit analysis of a smart connection to the grid will be performed, regarding environmental aspects and its inclusion in the eco-scoring.

An assessment of the optimization model for possible technology/end user combinations will be conducted using heuristic methods, considering energy consumption and CO2 emissions emitted along total life cycle.

The prototype solutions derived from the project “Assessment and development of integrated systems for electric vehicles” (MIT-Pt/EDAM-SMS/0030/2008) will be subjected to the developed analysis and eco-scored accordingly.

The main innovative aspect of this work is to fulfill the gap created by the actual labeling methods for vehicles, which is not set for new vehicle technologies (e.g. electric and hybrid).

Considering the above described objectives, it was performed a state-of-the-art literature review in order to define a start point for the study. The study of vehicles smart connection to the grid and impacts is performed considering three domains: 1) electrical vehicle integration in fleet without considering grid imposed charging restrictions; 2) electrical vehicles integration in fleet considering time restricting charging imposed by grid; and 3) electrical vehicle integration in fleet considering a smart connection to grid.

Initial approach was made considering the first domain and geographical boundaries set in Portugal.

Several scenarios for different rates of plug-in vehicles introduction in Portuguese fleet and different energy generation sources mix percentages were studied with in order to obtain their impact in terms of energy (MJ) and CO2 emissions (t). First approach it is now completed and a paper was presented at the IAMF 2011 conference (entitled “Conventional, Plug-in Hybrid and Pure Electric Vehicle Fuel LifeCycle Comparison Considering their Connection to the Portuguese Electrical Grid and Consequent Impact in CO2 Emissions”).

Presently, studies are being carried out in order to understand the impact considering the other two domains also with geographical boundary set in Portugal. In the future these three domains will be further studied with enlarged geographical boundaries. The results are to be incorporated in a classification equation that will allow to obtain efficiency bands for light-duty vehicles.

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Senay Sadıç, FEUP, Turkey Starting year: 2009 PhD program: LTI Year of PhD: 2nd Estimated date of Completion: 2013

Title of the thesis Event and Risk Management in Dynamic and Collaborative SME Networks

Supervisors in Portugal: Jorge Pinho de Sousa (FEUP) and José Crispim (UMinho) at MIT: Stanley Gershwin Research progress and major scientific contributions Today’s dynamic business environments require the design of different, specific solutions in terms of business models. Collaborative networks are often a good response to these new requirements; they put together small, distinct, specialized companies (mainly SME’s) working together according to predefined common goals. Accordingly, one key objective in this context is to guarantee the necessary flexibility to satisfy business opportunities and have more bargaining power through the potential of specialized competences and skills.

The collaborative network approach requires the deployment of a community (often called a “breeding environment”) able to handle emerging complex business opportunities, splitting those opportunities into feasible smaller tasks and achievable goals, and finally creating a network from a predefined cluster of companies to perform these operations collaboratively.

The main contribution of this research project will be the design of a conceptual framework and a set of tools to support the detailed or operational planning processes in collaborative business networks.

The current state of the art responds mostly to intra-organizational planning issues with Advanced Planning Systems. However for inter-organizational planning situations no general solution or methodology have been figured out yet. Information asymmetry is the main motivation for focusing on collaborative planning approaches and for different levels of information sharing, different, innovative models and methodologies are required. In the perfect information case, Advanced Planning Systems would in general be able to respond to the needs of supply chain parties, but this assumption is almost never valid.

Another innovative contribution of this work will be based on extending the current literature models, used for the coordination of two distinct companies, to integrated network structured, multi-company models.

In a first phase of the project we have reviewed the literature to come up with different integration models. Our focus now is on developing optimization models that can respond to supply uncertainty in collaborative manufacturing. We are building hopefully robust models that can respond to production and transportation disruptions within companies. These models minimize cost and guarantee that production and distribution deadlines are met.

The next steps of the research intend to set up a framework for developing effective and efficient decision support tools for detailed operational planning of collaborative networks.

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Sérgio M. O. Tavares, FEUP, Portugal Starting year: 2007 PhD program: LTI Year of PhD: 4th Estimated date of Completion: 10/2011

Title of the thesis Design and Advanced Manufacturing of Aircraft Structures using Friction Stir Welding

Supervisors in Portugal: Paulo de Castro (FEUP), Pedro Vilaça (IST) at MIT: Thomas Eagar Main publication S.M.O. Tavares, et. al., ‘Friction stir welding of T-joints with dissimilar aluminium alloys: mechanical joint characterisation’, Science and Technology of Welding & Joining, Vol. 15(4), May 2010 , pp. 312-318.

S.M.O. Tavares, and P.M.S.T. de Castro, ‘Impact of Integral Structures in the Design for Manufacture and Assembly of Airframes’, Key Eng. Mats, 2011, Vol. 450, pp. 279-282.

P.M.G.P. Moreira, T. Santos, S.M.O. Tavares, V. Richter-Trummer, P. Vilaca, P.M.S.T. de Castro, 'Mechanical and metallurgical characterization of friction stir welding joints of AA6061-T6 with AA6082T6', Materials & Design, Vol. 30(1), Jan. 2009, pp. 180-187.

Research progress and major scientific contributions The design of aircraft structures depends upon multidisciplinary factors that must be analyzed concurrently in order to achieve higher degrees of optimization and economy of production. As an example, the introduction of advanced manufacturing processes for structural joining requires a detailed understanding of the mechanical behavior of the joint under service conditions, whilst simultaneously requiring analysis of the manufacturing, assembly, operation and maintenance procedures. The case of friction stir welding (FSW) was chosen since it is the object of large interest for structural joining by manufacturers of commercial aircraft and aerospace equipment. The development of new designs and manufacturing concepts and the understanding of the effects of replacing previous joining processes have been analyzed, taking into account distinct technological and economic aspects during the product and process development, thus creating opportunities for better acceptance. Several topics were explored as a result of the interaction with different universities, research institutes and industrial collaborations, giving an expanded analysis of the problem.

Research results include analysis of the impact in the replacement of joining processes in safety critical structures, mechanical characterization of the joints manufactured with FSW, analysis and modeling of the residual stress originated by the process, examination of main flaws and non-destructive techniques to detect them, investigation of the application of this process in fuselage assembly, cost and weight analysis and a final technology assessment based on the design for manufacturing and assembly assumptions. Through this research, two patents applications were submitted with new concepts for the use of this joining process in aeronautical structures, one of them in the scope of the internship at Airbus. The results indicate that the FSW alternative is certainly viable in terms of costs and weight savings, and, with limits to be stated in this thesis, is also suitable as far as fatigue behavior is concerned.

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Vasco Figueiredo Teles, FEUP, Portugal Starting year: 2009 PhD program: LTI Year of PhD: 2nd Estimated date of Completion: 07/2013

Title of the thesis Technology Roadmapping: The case of PRODUTECH – the Portuguese production technologies cluster

Supervisors in Portugal: João Claro (FEUP), José Manuel Mendonça (FEUP) at MIT: Randolph Kirchain Research progress and major scientific contributions A Roadmap provides a vision towards future possibilities for technology development and application.

This vision should be supported on a framework for assessing and communicating the complexities, dynamics, and uncertainties of such development. It eases the integration of new technologies into the companies’ business, and the creation of business opportunities which exploit emerging technologies, following the company’s strategy and planning. It can transmit the plans for resource allocation, sourcing and funding alternatives, as well as support risk management decisions.

The challenge of creating and sustaining the linkages between the technological resources and business goals leads firms and consortia to develop technology roadmaps (TRMs). The importance of those connections, and thus the need for the TRM, derives from the urge to innovate due to the hard competition. Additionally, when sectorial consortia are formed need to develop TRMs in order to create a common ground not only to define standards or norms, but also to move the sector as a whole towards the development of competitive technologies, solutions or products, while considering market needs or opportunities.

Nevertheless, despite the vision, goals, forecasts and paths that the roadmap can outline, the future is necessarily uncertain and this uncertainty should therefore be incorporated in the roadmapping exercise. Methods and tools as sensitivity analysis, scenario planning, flexibility and options thinking are considered relevant to minimize and deal with uncertainty.

On the other hand, in order to keep its importance and relevance, as well as to cope with the uncertainty and change, a TRM should be periodically updated and maintained. The TRM updating process revises not only the key drivers that triggered the initial TRM, but also the evolution of technologies, products, services and markets, while new elements within these categories are identified. Additionally, the TRM update frequency should be directly proportional to the industry’s clockspeed, as to maintain the TRM relevance and importance.

PRODUTECH, the Portuguese production technologies cluster, has been recently created and integrates not only technology producers but also their users within diverse industrial sectors. This factor presents the additional challenge of congregating several visions and goals into a joint TRM, since production technologies gather a myriad of different divisions.

At the current stage, we are revising the literature mainly under the topics of TRM, uncertainty, options thinking, scenario planning, and flexibility. Accordingly, our prospective contribution to science will depart from today’s identified limitations and opportunities, such as the relevance of integrating the uncertainty and updating concepts with the development of a roadmapping methodology, and aim at a result that can become a reference not only to PRODUTECH itself and its companies, but also to other industries worldwide.

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3.3.

Sustainable Energy Systems

3.3.1.

Overview

The Sustainable Energy Systems PhD program (SES), promoted by a set of Universities in Portugal, namely the Technical University of Lisbon (Instituto Superior Técnico – IST and Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão – ISEG), University of Coimbra (Faculty of Sciences and Technology FCTUC and Faculty of Economy FEUC), University of Lisbon (Faculty of Sciences - FCUL), University of Porto (Faculty of Engineering - FEUP) and with the collaboration of MIT, is a unique effort to generate new knowledge on clean energy systems that is academically rigorous and highly relevant to policy makers and industry.

The program was designed around the concept of energy systems as opposed to specific energy technologies because the real challenge behind developing an advanced, low-carbon energy future will be integrating and adapting a range of technologies to a dynamic regional context. To this end, we developed educational programs to provide students with the tools to understand and evaluate complex energy systems, as well as research programs to facilitate opportunities for students to apply these skills in a real-world context.

Three unique and essential aspects of the SES program include our multidisciplinary approach to energy education and research; the direct utility of our research for improved policy and industry development; and the opportunity for applied research on integrated energy systems. Rather than discuss each of these key program components conceptually, it is more useful to view the value of each of these aspects through some of the innovative research topics developed by our PhD students in a collaborative effort within their home universities, and through their extended research stays at MIT.

A multidisciplinary approach The SES educational program is anchored by a multidisciplinary core curriculum.

Students learn to approach complex energy challenges by leveraging tools from the fields of economics, engineering, policy analysis and management, among others.

While dissolving disciplinary boundaries within a single university represents challenge enough, the SES program was able to develop a coherent multidisciplinary program across multiple universities in Portugal and in coordination with MIT. This collaboration has created a platform for students to define unique and novel energy research topics, often at the nexus of two or more disciplines.

One of our third-year PhD students is working at the interface of architecture and energy efficiency engineering. During his classroom research, he recognized that the architectural demand for the aesthetic at the early stage of building design was completely disconnected from designing building shape to maximize energy efficiency. In response, he is developing a tool for optimizing building shape to balance architectural vision with key energy efficiency objectives.

Of course, addressing new buildings alone is not sufficient to reduce the environmental burden of the building stock. Other students are focusing on improving energy use in existing buildings by developing a multi-objective optimization tool to

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inform choices about the retrofit options. Also, linking multiple disciplines, their models balance economic, environmental, and thermal comfort metrics to inform retrofit design.

Advances in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) are being leveraged to enable energy efficiency monitoring and management in a promising research effort. The students are seeking to understand what types of information, data processing and communication are necessary to make an electricity grid “smart” from the standpoint of increasing the efficiency of end-uses. Their approach includes research from the fields of energy demand monitoring, consumer behavior and artificial intelligence.

Policy and industry relevance As an academic program, SES PhD addresses the fundamental requirement of any PhD research, namely that it must generate new scientific knowledge. However, our program goes a step further. We push our students to select topics that encourage them to create knowledge that can be applied directly towards the development of advanced energy systems, through either policy or industry channels.

Three fourth-year PhD students are finalizing high-quality research on policy-relevant topics. Recognizing the emergence of city leaders as key players in the energy policy arena, a student has focused her research on reviewing and consolidating metrics for sustainability to assist policymakers at the local level. She has already applied these metrics to two case studies: Porto (her home research city) and the City of Boston (during her extended research stay at MIT). Another student has approached the policy dilemma of balancing the liberalization of electricity markets while simultaneously promoting renewable electricity generation. Specifically, she is developing a methodology to optimize renewable energy feed-in tariffs to minimize carbon emissions while maximizing the influence of market forces to increase the economic efficiency of the system. In a third topic, a student’s research addresses the effects of transportation policy on automobile fleet composition, and the subsequent impacts on energy consumption, CO2 emissions and total cost. Rather than creating a “black box” optimization model, she has developed a simulation model where decision-makers are given the power to compare alternative scenarios to match their particular policy targets.

Meanwhile, a third-year PhD candidate is assessing the economic and environmental sustainability of biofuels from vegetable oils encompassing the whole life cycle of the systems analyzed, including policy-relevant local impacts such as deforestation, water pollution, and land use competition with food crops. The recent EU Directive 2009/28/EC and EPA’s Renewable Fuel Standard Program show the importance that policymakers are attributing to this topic both in Europe and the US. Three fourth-year students working at highly industry-relevant themes. One topic is based on identifying a clear set of metrics for corporate sustainability. The student is working to develop a set of key sustainability performance indicators that can be applied widely for sustainability benchmarking and performance assessment of corporations. On the more technical side, two students are working collaboratively to analyze the potential impacts of large-scale introduction of electric vehicles (EVs) on the power network. These students recognized early on their research that the major challenge in the transition to a clean energy future is not the development of 116

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individual technologies (such as EVs), but the integration of new technologies into the existing system infrastructure.

As an example of student research linking tightly with industry, a fourth-year student is developing a patented technology to strongly reduce the cost of photovoltaics (PV), cost being the main barrier for massive penetration of PV panels into the energy market. He is now refining his technology design in an MIT laboratory and his innovative design has already formed the technological core of a new startup company founded by Portuguese researchers.

Integrated energy systems applied research projects In terms of applied energy research, the SES Program has developed two major research projects that seek to integrate many of the individual student research topics and apply them to a real world energy system. The Green Islands Project focuses on developing a set of advanced energy systems modeling tools, including renewable resources and demand side management, that are applied to promote a sustainable energy future of the Azores archipelago, and the Sustainable Urban Energy Systems topic analyzes the many dimensions of the Lisbon and Porto energy systems.

A key focus of the Green Islands project is to develop an in-depth understanding of the dynamic energy supply and demand system on each of the nine islands. Since each island represents a small, isolated energy community, small perturbations or interruptions in either the fuel or electricity systems have a relatively greater impact than on large networked systems in the mainland. As the Azores moves towards a higher penetration of renewables in the electricity generation in the islands, a higher resolution monitoring and management system will need to be deployed to actively balance increasingly complex supply and demand pressures.

On the supply side of our Green Islands Project research, a fourth-year student is characterizing the complex patterns and probabilities of wind power production across all islands and all time scales (from hourly to annual). She has developed her research project while studying both in Portugal and MIT, as well as in collaboration with researchers in the Azores at the local university. Her research will produce invaluable analysis for future development of wind resources in the Azores with specific contributions towards scaling and siting future wind farms. Focusing on solar resources in the islands, a third-year student, whose research is partly financed by a Portuguese industrial photovoltaics company is testing a low concentration photovoltaic system in the Azores Another student is focusing his research on demand-side energy analysis with specific emphasis on developing a multi-criteria decision-making platform for targeting end-uses best suited for efficiency interventions, and then quantifying the effects of these policy measures in terms of energy and cost savings. His research will culminate in the development of an Energy Efficiency Action Plan for the Azores region.

The Sustainable Urban Energy Systems project operates on the thesis that the concentration of resource and material flows through urban centers represents both a challenge and an opportunity for the advancement of sustainability. By closely examining and characterizing these resource flows, researchers can highlight key entry points for efficiency measures or “closed-loop” material conservation 117

interventions. With ongoing rapid urbanization occurring globally, refining the resource “metabolism” of cities will play a key role in transitioning towards a sustainable future.

Using Lisbon as a case study, a fourth-year PhD candidate has focused specifically on creating a set of standard methods for analyzing urban material flows. He is working to re-characterize “static” standardized resource data sets into dynamic urban flows by developing a model that incorporates key additional parameters, such as material type categorization, resource conversion factors and lifespan calculations.

With eighty percent of the eleven million tons of material inputs to Lisbon categorized as non-renewable resources, he aims to link his research directly to improved government policy as well as new space for industrial activity.

Another student is applying integrated econometric methodologies with spatial analysis (GIS) to map the geographic distribution of material flows across the city of Lisbon. This innovative multi-method approach will allow decision-makers and urban planners to visualize resource flows across the cityscape in terms of total flows and by individual sectors.

A bright future The Sustainable Energy Systems Program began with a vision of an integrated education and research program designed to address the critical challenge of transitioning energy systems towards sustainability. Despite the occasional difficulty of coordinating a program of such breadth and ambition, the work produced by our students highlights the real success of our program in terms of developing innovative methodologies for energy research and preparing a cohort of future professionals that are well positioned to design and deliver an advanced energy future in Portugal and abroad.

Coordinators of Sustainable Energy Systems António Gomes Martins, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, University of Coimbra António Vallera, Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon João Peças Lopes, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto (PhD director) David Marks, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, MIT (PhD director) Paulo Ferrão, IST, Technical University of Lisbon

3.3.2.

Structure

The Sustainable Energy Systems doctoral program is a unified program for all the institutions involved in the SES program with a common core curriculum and common guidelines but with differentiated structures at a local level: FEUP (Porto), IST/ISEG/FCUL (Lisbon) and UC (Coimbra).

FEUP The SES PhD program at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP) covers all the three areas of the SES research: Energy Planning, Sustainable Built Environment and Advanced Electric Networks. The first year is filled with courses 118

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and early preparation of the research plan, on which students work full time for another three years. The curricular plan of the first year is organized along three base graduation profiles: Profile A: Energy Systems Planning Profile B: Sustainable Cities and Regions Profile C: Advanced Electric Networks In each semester students must take three of the mandatory courses and choose one of the optional courses presented in Table below in order to complete a total of sixty credits.

Structure of the curricular part of the SES PhD program at FEUP (first year) Course

Profile

ECTS

Mandatory/Optional

Semester

Energy, Environment and Sustainability + thematic work Energy Planning Energy Markets and Regulation Analysis and Simulation of Thermal Systems Signals, Dynamics and Control Introduction to Economics *

A,B,C

7.5

Mandatory

1st

A,B

7.5

Mandatory

1st

C

7.5

Mandatory

1st

A,B

7.5

Mandatory

1st

C

7.5

Mandatory

1st

Optional

1st

A,C

6

A,C

6

Optional

1st

B

6

Optional

1st

Economics of Natural Resources and Environment * Projects Evaluation and Externalities * Computational Intelligence and Power Systems

C

7.5

Optional

1st

A,B,C

22.5

Mandatory

2nd

Energy Efficiency

A,B

7.5

Mandatory

2nd

Market Simulation

C

7.5

Mandatory

2nd

Energy Demand Side Management

A,B

7.5

Mandatory

2nd

Electrical Systems with Renewables

C

7.5

Mandatory

2nd

Seminar

Optimization and Decision Support Techniques

A,C

7.5

Optional

2nd

Energy in Buildings

B

7.5

Optional

2nd 2nd

Forecasting

C

7.5

Optional

Methods for Optimal Power Flow

C

7.5

Optional

2nd

Wind Energy

C

7.5

Optional

2nd

* Modules offered by UTL/FCUL

UTL/FCUL At the Technical University of Lisbon (UTL) / Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon (FCUL), students have the opportunity to build a diversified curriculum with Economics and Policy courses at the School of Economics and Management (ISEGInstituto Superior de Economia e Gestão from UTL) and Environment, Technology, and Systems modules at the School of Engineering (IST - Instituto Superior Técnico from UTL), and/or the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon (FCUL).

Each student in the Doctoral Program creates a unique curriculum to fulfill her/his individual interests. The students have two mandatory courses, Seminar I and Seminar II, and then choose from a pool of optional courses (Table below) under the supervision of a designated faculty member, in order to complete 48 to 60 credits (ECTS).

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Structure of the Sustainable Energy Systems PhD at UTL/FCUL Scientific area Introductory courses Economics

Environment

Energy Systems

Energy Technologies

Course

ECTS

Mandatory/Optional

Semester

Introduction to Economics

6

Optional

1st

Introduction to Engineering

6

Optional

1st

Economics of Natural Resources and the Environment

6

Optional

1st

Econometrics

6

Optional

1st

Energy Systems Economics and Modeling

6

Optional

1st

Risk Management

6

Optional

2nd

Projects Evaluation and Externalities

6

Optional

2nd

Regulation Theory

6

Optional

2nd

Energy, Environment and Sustainability

6

Optional

1st

Energy in Transportation

4,5

Optional

1st

Ecological Economics

6

Optional

2nd

Energy Management

4,5

Optional

1st

Energy Systems Integration

6

Optional

2nd

Optimization of Energy Systems

6

Optional

2nd

Seminars I

3

Mandatory

1st

Seminars II

3

Mandatory

2nd

Energy in Buildings

6

Optional

2nd

Nuclear Energy

6

Optional

2nd

Optional

2n

Renewable Energy Resources6

UC The students of the SES Doctoral Program at the University of Coimbra (UC) have to complete the two mandatory courses and they choose other courses from a pool of optional courses (see Table below) in order to sum up a total of sixty credits (ECTS) in their first year.

The program is divided into two areas: • Buildings and Urban Environment • Energy Systems and Policy

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Structure of the SES PhD program at the University of Coimbra (UC) Scientific area Mandatory Courses

Course

ECTS

Mandatory/Optional

Semester

Research Design & Methods

3

Mandatory

1st

Thesis project (includes the SES doctoral seminar)

30

Mandatory

1st and 2nd

Buildings

Space organization and and Urban the Environment

6

Optional

2nd

Environment

Buildings and Environment

6

Optional

1st

Energy Management in Buildings

6

Optional

1st

Indoor Environmental Quality

6

Optional

1st

Seminar – Buildings and Urban Environments

3

Optional

2nd

Ventilation, HVAC, and Building Systems

6

Optional

2nd

Building Envelope - Outside Environment

6

Optional

2nd

Energy Economics and Markets

6

Optional

2nd

Energy Systems and Policy

Other elective

Environmental Economics

6

Optional

1st

Energy Management in Industry

6

Optional

1st

Seminar – Energy Systems

3

Optional

2nd

Renewable Energy Systems

6

Optional

1st

Transportation and Energy

3

Optional

1st

Decision Analysis

6

Optional

2nd

courses offered

Industrial Ecology

6

Optional

1st

by UC

Fundamentals of Operations Research

6

Optional

1st

Innovation & Entrepreneurism

3

Optional

2nd

Measurement and Data Acquisition Systems

6

Optional

2nd

Introduction to Energy Systems

6

Optional

1st

Energy Planning and Sustainable Development

3

Optional

2nd

Common guidelines At the end of the first semester students should find a faculty member at their university who agrees to be their Faculty Research Supervisor. Faculty Research Supervisors should advise the students on their research paper. At the end of the first year, the Faculty Research Supervisor will be asked to write a letter of recommendation for the student, assessing his/her potential for carrying out a PhD thesis successfully.

At the end of the first year in the PhD program, students will be evaluated in order to decide whether they qualify to proceed to the 2nd year of the program. This decision will be made at their host university, taking into account a recommendation by the SES Committee (with a representative from all the Portuguese universities offering the SES PhD degree and a representative from MIT).

In order to continue in the PhD Program, students must meet the following criteria: • Complete enough courses in order to obtain the required number of ECTS at their host school, • Complete the SES Doctoral Seminar, • Obtain a minimum average grade of 14 (out of a 0-20 scale) at the end of the first year, • Provide a recommendation letter from their Faculty Research Supervisor,

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• Prepare a research statement of up to 4 pages with a brief summary of the state of the art that outlines the research area of interest, hypothesis, research methodology, strategy for the completion of the research, and provisional schedule.

Students who do not meet the minimum criteria described above will not be invited to continue in the PhD Program, but if they have sufficiently completed the coursework requirements for the first year, they will be awarded a diploma of an Advanced Studies Program (DEA or DFA). This will be determined by their host universities.

Each qualified PhD student will be assigned a PhD Committee. This committee is responsible for monitoring and guiding the student’s progress through his/her research activities. Students should meet with the PhD Committee at least once per semester. Students who will be conducting research at MIT will be required to have an MIT Faculty member on their committee.

At the completion of year 2, PhD candidates shall produce a Thesis Assessment paper of about 20-30 pages reporting the state of the art, selected research questions, formal definition of the problem to study and modeling, hypothesis and methodologies to tackle the problem, data collected or plans for it and definition of study cases, tools to be used and any preliminary results. Students will meet with their PhD Committee to present and discuss the progress assessment report and receive feedback. If the PhD Committee determines that the student is not making enough progress on his/her research, this will be discussed with the student and next steps will be determined.

3.3.3.

Student highlights

A few students stand out from the Sustainable Energy Systems doctoral program because of the large number of publications in international conferences and in peerreviewed journals and also because of the outstanding quality of their work and the innovative contribution they brought to their field. These are: Patrícia Baptista who developed the theme of the environmental impacts that may result from a large scale deployment of electric vehicles, namely the identification of pollutants emissions applying a vehicle full life cycle analyzis. Patrícia spent some time at MIT: here is her comment about her experience there.

‘I spent seven months developing my research work at MIT in 2009. In terms of my research these months were decisive to integrate my work in the existing research and to have my co-supervisor contribution. The main positive aspects were the possibility to attend classes at MIT, great interaction with faculty and especially with my co-supervisor, the integration within MIT student’s community and the diversity of activities available on campus.’

André Pina who developed multi-scale energy models with high time resolution, regarding supply and demand dynamics for the optimization of investment in new generation capacity. This lead to a new application of TIMES, which allows to model the maximization of the penetration of renewable energies. The test bed is São Miguel island, at Azores. André has made a short but profitable visit to MIT and he describes below its outcomes.

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‘The objectives of my short visit to MIT were to share my research in the modelling of sustainable energy systems and coordinate with the local Green Islands team in terms of data availability and possible research cooperation. From this trip I was able to contextualize my thesis topic in the broader scope of the ‘Green Islands Project’ and guide my research to areas where there is a lack of knowledge.’

Filipe Soares developed simulation tools capable of evaluating the impact of different Electric Vehicle charging strategies in the operation of electrical grids. He also developed a statistical approach for assessing the impacts resulting from EV presence in a given electricity network, taking into account the patterns of mobility in a certain geographical area. Filipe carried out part of his research work at MIT: here is his opinion about the time he spent there.

‘The time I spent at MIT provided me the opportunity to contact professors and students working in the same research area as I and the possibility of having important discussions with them about my thesis topic. As a result of these meetings, some partnerships were established with several MIT students for publishing articles in international peer-reviewed journals. The valuable contact with MIT's industrial partners that work in subjects related with my research area was also very useful, since it has deepened my knowledge about the process of transferring technology from universities to industry.’

Pedro Almeida developed new control procedures to be adopted by electric vehicle battery / grid interfaces in order to make EV participate in primary and secondary frequency controls. Pedro developed some of his work at MIT: here is his opinion about this stay.

‘Being in Boston gave me the possibility of contacting people whose research areas are complementary to mine, both in the academic side and in the industrial side. I met battery manufacturers and research groups conducting laboratorial fatigue tests to different battery technologies, which is a topic of great importance for validating and assuring that the models I have developed for my thesis are in line with the current state-of-the-art.‘

3.3.4.

New courses and faculty involved

For the SES educational programs (PhD and Master’s) thirty-eight new courses have been specially designed. These courses are taught by fifty faculty members from the five participating Portuguese schools in this area. The MIT faculty participates with guest speakers in doctoral seminars which take place throughout the year. In the last academic year (2009/10) five MIT faculty members gave eight seminars of two hours each.

3.3.5.

Use of open-source community-based tools for learning

At FEUP students use the local platform called SiFEUP where the faculty posts all the information about the classes, including grades. Students can use this platform to communicate with each other and faculty.

The main platform for interaction between students and faculty for the students at IST/ISEG is the Google groups. This platform has been in operation since 2008 and 123

has currently 147 members, including students and faculty. It has a forum where the coordination posts conferences advertisements and important information about the courses’ daily activities, but also where students talk with each other about energy topics that they are studying. The Google group is also used to store information for each of the taught courses, in particular the syllabus, presentations, bibliography, faculty contacts. Important information like exams calendar, schedule, studies plan, course organizations and educational support documents are also stored here for students to have access. A new platform, using the Moodle system, has been developed to be used in the next academic year because it has more capacity and functionalities, which are needed for a growing number of students.

Faculty is asked at the beginning of each semester to send the syllabus of the course that he/she will be lecturing and important readings for students to read beforehand.

Each faculty is requested to send the PowerPoint presentations prior to the class.

Important course information, evaluations, and other materials are always sent to the SES contact point at IST/ISEG, whom redistributes the information to all the students through the Google group or by email.

The main platform for interaction between students and faculty at the University of Coimbra is the Nonio web-based system (https://inforestudante.uc.pt), which has been developed by a university spin-off software company. The system requires authentication, by entering the student's e-mail login and password and it allows the student to: • browse information about the courses (syllabus, objectives, etc.)

• browse schedule (calendar tool) • browse information about their teachers (profile, office hours, etc.)

• have access to lesson summaries • have access to class materials and notification about new materials inserted • have access to grades and notifications about published grades • receive and send messages (e-mail)

3.3.6.

Benchmarking

The Sustainable Energy Systems (SES) program is an integrated educational initiative offered across six schools (IST, ISEG, FCUL, FCTUC, FEUC and FEUP) in Portugal and in collaboration with MIT. The SES program offers both a Master’s of Business Engineering and a PhD in Sustainable Energy Systems. Both degree programs share a one-year (150 hours) cohesive core curriculum that includes classes in the disciplines of economics, engineering, and policy analysis as applied to energy systems.

Both programs challenge students to apply a systems approach to energy research with the ultimate objective of creating and applying knowledge for the design and implementation of sustainable energy systems. Participants have the opportunity to learn about the practical application of energy strategies through real-world case study research conducted in collaboration with industry partners. Both PhD and DFA graduates are able to develop the tools they will need to play leadership roles in implementing sustainable energy policy and developing new business opportunities on clean energy in the future.

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Benchmarking approach Currently, there are no standard quantitative metrics available for benchmarking the Sustainable Energy Systems degrees (MBE and PhD) against similar integrated energy graduate education programs at other universities. Further, since SES is a relatively new program, it is not yet possible to accurately benchmark outputs (number of theses, mean time to graduate, published materials, citations, career development by alumni, etc.) against other programs with multiple years of data on their graduates. Finally, a lack of published information about what is happening in other programs makes it difficult to apply consistent criteria for program comparisons, such numbers of candidates (applied, enrolled and graduated), dropout rate, etc.

As the program evolves, the potential for benchmarking will increase as more indicators become relevant and as we learn more about similar programs abroad.

That said, it is important that the role of benchmarking should not be overstated in terms of creating a myopic focus on unidimensional indices like numbers of research papers or citation indexes. These types of metrics can skew evaluation efforts towards rewarding small individual accomplishments when the broader objective of SES is to create integrated systems philosophy in energy research. Nevertheless, what follows is our attempt at an objective benchmark analysis based on the structure and course curricula offered by similar PhD and Master’s level programs.

Existing Sustainable Energy Systems programs There are many other programs offering both Master’s and PhD degrees in energyrelated research, but most of these initiatives do not include a structured educational program with the highly integrated, systems approach that is central to the SES Program. Internationally, the majority of programs being offered are Master of Science (MSc) degrees with heavy emphasis on engineering, with few universities offering PhDs or Master’s specifically in Energy Systems.

To our best knowledge, the only Doctoral Program in Europe that resembles the SES program in terms of providing a multi-university, interdisciplinary approach to energy systems is the Joint Doctorate Program in Sustainable Energy Technologies and Strategies (core member universities include: Comillas Pontifical University; Delft University of Technology; and KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Copenhagen).

Both the SETS and SES programs offer instruction in multiple disciplines, including the fields of economics, social sciences, environmental management, engineering, policy studies, and systems design. However, the SETS program resembles more of a consortium of partner universities that share their existing curricula, rather than an integrated program with a shared, custom-designed core curriculum on energy systems like that of SES program.

Other universities offering PhDs relating to Energy Systems analysis include Carnegie Mellon – CMU (Engineering and Public Policy Program with a specific focus area on Energy and Environmental Systems); the University of California at Berkeley (Energy and Resource Group); and MIT (Engineering Systems Division). In contrast to multiuniversity design of the SES and the SETS programs, these three programs all operate independently in terms of curriculum design and degree requirements (of course, there is collaboration between MIT and SES on research projects, but not in terms of an official joint curriculum). While these three programs emphasize integrated systems approaches to research in energy technologies and policy 125

design, only CMU has a depth of technical expertise in power grids that can compare to SES or the SETS programs.

Similar to the unique qualities of the SES PhD degree, the SES Master’s in Energy is innovative amongst its peers (other MSc programs) in terms of its multi-university structure. Further, the MBE students share the same core curriculum as the SES PhD students, allowing for cross-collaboration across the degree programs as well as between the universities. As a result, the MBE students are participating at a doctoral level of intensive instruction in the three main fields of energy study: Sustainable Energy Technologies; Energy Economics and Policy; and Smart Energy Networks.

The next table shows an effort to summarize the core characteristics of the SES programs for the Masters of Business Engineering and PhD degrees as compared to other energy programs (PhD and MSc levels) using the structural dimensions as discussed above: highest degree offered; multi-university collaboration; consistent core curriculum; and level of competency in the fields of Sustainable Energy Technologies, Energy Economics and Policy, and Smart Energy Networks.

As shown in the next table, the SES program has many characteristics in common with other energy programs but truly stands out in terms of being a multi-university collaboration that offers structured core curriculum at the PhD and Master’s level with a depth of expertise in energy technologies, economics and policy, and power networks. While the alignment of multiple universities around a common education and research platform is an ongoing challenge, it remains an important and unique characteristic of the SES approach to energy studies and continues to hold great potential for future program development. Long-term relationships with faculty both within and across universities should be further developed, especially pertaining to human resource development in Portugal, including the mentorship, development and retention of young faculty.

The Sustainable Energy Systems PhD and Master’s degree programs target a strategic niche in energy education and research by applying a systems approach to energy challenges. The systems approach permeates all aspects of the SES program from curriculum design to student topic selection to large-scale applied research projects. It provides students with the confidence to perform effective analysis in the context of complexity and uncertainty, which are both universal characteristics of real-world energy systems.

Finally, while the SES program represents real innovation in energy education and research, it is still a very young program relative to its competitors. As the program evolves and matures, faculty participants should seek opportunities to engage with counterparts at other universities to share lessons learned as well as remain aware of the state-of-the-art in energy research internationally. In this way, the program can build its reputation in the broader research community as a leader in advanced energy systems research.

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Structural Comparison of Energy Research Programs at Relevant Universities Program

Consistent Core

Sustainable Energy

Energy Economics

Smart Energy

Degree Offered

Highest

Formal Multi-University Collaboration

Curriculum

Technologies

and Policy

Networks

PhD

Yes

Yes

High

High

High

PhD

Yes

No

High

High

High

PhD

No

Yes

Med

High

High

PhD

No

Yes

High

High

Low

PhD

No

Yes

High

High

Med

MSc

No

Yes

Med

Med

Med

MSc

No

Yes

High

Med

High

MSc

No

Yes

Med

High

Low

MSc

No

Yes

High

High

Low

MSc

No

Yes

Low

High

Low

Sustainable Energy Systems SETS (Comillas, Delft, KTH) Sustainable Energy Technologies and Strategies Carnegie Mellon University Engineering and Public Policy Univ. of California - Berkeley Energy and Resources Group MIT Engineering Systems Division EPFL Engineering Systems ETH-Zürich Energy Science and Technology Imperial College Sustainable Energy Futures; Energy and Economics Stanford University ManagementScience and Engineering Aalborg Sustainable Energy Engineering

Note: For the subject areas, the values of “high, medium and low” reflect estimates of technical expertise in these areas based on the listed research areas and course offerings on each university’s website.

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3.3.7.

Educational initiatives

2007-2008 The main initiatives between Portuguese Institutions and the MIT during 2007-2008 were focused in the development and implementation of both educational programs and research activities. The main accomplishments were: • Open workshops in Lisbon (October - Program Launch; November - Energy Industry Workshop of 2007): introduced energy systems topics and goals to prospective partners, including the Portuguese energy industry.

• Research workshop in Porto (October 2007): introduced energy systems topics to the PhD students.

• Workshop in collaboration with the faculty and students took place in January 2008 under the invitation of the MIT to the AGS meeting in Boston.

• Frequent visits to Lisbon and Porto in the Spring of 2008: the MIT and Portuguese faculty further refined collaborative research and educational activities, and reviewed and selected applicants for SES PhD, post-doctoral and faculty positions.

• Talks at participating universities: Portuguese government sponsored workshops (e.g. EU, OECD): and with the assistance of Ciência Viva, several visits to grade schools to talk about energy efficiency, alternative energy supplies, environmental challenges.

• Several additional visits to MIT by Portuguese faculty and current PhD students for focused discussions between research and educational leaders regarding the details of the program, research topics, students and resources.

2008-2009 At IST/ISEG a Students Welcome Ceremony was organized on September 15th to help new students to familiarize with faculty, courses and program organization.

A welcome student’s ceremony took place on the 14th October in FEUP, with the participation of the local coordinators of the SES area, the national director of the MIT Portugal network, and Prof. Jorge Vasconcelos from the company New Energy Solutions.

In 2008-2009, collaboration between universities in Sustainable Energy Systems focus area was centered on the organization of the 2nd PHD Program Research Integration Workshop in Lisbon, in November 2008, and the Education Workshop in Coimbra in June 2009.

On February 17th 2009, the University of Coimbra hosted invited talks by Mr. Francisco La Fuente Sanchez (President of EDP Foundation) and Prof. Jorge Villar (Pontifícia Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul – Brazil).

The following events were organized at the University of Coimbra: • A seminar on energy audits in buildings, with Mr. Paulo Santos (ContaWatt) as guest speaker on March 20th 2009 • Invited talks on Negotiation, by Prof. Rudolf Vetschera (Faculty of Business, Economics and Statistics, University of Vienna) entitled, "Unfair strategies 128

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in the fair division of indivisible items" and "Integrating quantitative and qualitative methods in the analysis of negotiations" on the March 27th and 28th 2009 • Video-conference by the Prof. Philip Andrews-Speed, expert in Chinese energy issues, entitled "At these moments of international financial crisis, will China become the world banker for financing the global natural resources?” on 27th April 2009 • Two sessions regarding the theme “Innovation And Entrepreneurship In Companies” presented by Mr. José Alves (MARTIFER) and by Prof. José Basilio Simões (ISA) on the 15th April and 13th May 2009.

From February 2009 to July 2009, FEUP held a series of Internal Seminar presentations. In each seminar, two students made a brief presentation of their research topic and progress, followed by an open discussion fostered by faculty.

MIT faculty organized a one-week visit to MIT for the Master’s students of IST which was a great success amongst the students.

Several affiliated companies participated in lecturing in the SES Seminar I and Seminar II courses over the year and supported their employees to attend not only the MBE program but also the PhD program.

2009-2010 SES faculty and students participated in the CIÊNCIA 2009 event held in Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian between the 27th and the 29th of July, 2009. This is the major event in science and technology in Portugal with several high-level speakers and chairs.

At IST/ISEG a Students Welcome Ceremony was organized on the 23rd September at IST-Tagus Park, to help new students to familiarize themselves with faculty, the curriculum and overall program organization.

A “Teach the Teachers” faculty-training workshop on developing pedagogical skills for “Improving Student Learning and Knowledge Retention” was given by Janet (MIT Learning Lab) at FEUP on September 25th 2009.

A welcome student’s ceremony took place at FEUP on October 7th 2009 with the participation of the local coordinators of the SES area, the national director of the MIT Portugal network, and Mr. Pedro Sena Silva from the company Autosil.

The interaction with the other Portuguese institutions was reinforced through the organization of the 3rd PhD Program Research Integration Workshop in Coimbra on October 10th, 2009. This was a highly successful opportunity for interaction between faculty and students from MIT and Portugal. The one-week Sustainable Energy workshop for the IST MBE was once again offered at MIT and again, was considered very successful.

On November 20th 2009, the SES Master's students participated in the 1st MIT Portugal / Michael Page Career Advancement Workshop. This workshop focused on career development topics, including CV design, writing motivation letters for job applications, and interview preparation, etc.

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All the schools co-organized a workshop on the topic of modelling for energy planning which took place in January 2010 at IST, Lisbon. The event brought people from industry (REN, CEETA-ECO) and other institutions (LNEG, DGEG, FCTUNL) together.

In March 2010, the MBE students from IST visited MIT and engaged themselves in many discussions with MIT faculty, visited local energy companies in the Boston area and participated in several workshops of the MIT Energy Conference.

From March to June 2010, FEUP hosted a series of Internal Seminars. These focused on student presentations and discussion in a research colloquium format.

On June 17th, 18th, 24th and 25th 2010 the SES program offered a WoC session (Window on Companies), with the objective of promoting a discussion forum where companies and students would interact with industry leaders through presentations and discussion. The final aim of these sessions was to develop a stronger bond between industries of the energy sector and the SES program, demonstrating to both parties involved the added value of further interaction.

2010-2011 At IST/ISEG a Students Welcome Ceremony was organized on the September 17th at ISEG, to help new students familiarize with faculty, courses and program organization.

On September 11th, the University of Coimbra hosted the Welcome Session and Inaugural Lesson for all new students of the Energy for Sustainability Initiative to introduce them to the overall program structure and organization.

A welcome student’s ceremony took place at FEUP on the October 8th 2010 with the participation of the local coordinators of the SES area, the director of the school and Mr. Ricardo Sá from the company Sustainable Buildings.

Following the success of previous SES orientation and integration workshops, the 4th SES PHD Program Research Integration Workshop gathered faculty and students from all universities engaged in the Sustainable Energy Systems focus area to introduce and integrate SES educational and research initiatives.

On November 22nd, the University of Coimbra organized the initiative “Students meet companies” (2nd edition). This was an opportunity for students enrolled in the MSc and the SES PhD programs, faculty and many industry representatives to share ideas on energy research.

On November 25th, December 16th 2010, and March 17th, April 14th, 21st 2011 the SES program offered the second series of WoC (Window on Companies) seminars to promoting interaction between students and industry leaders, namely those of the following companies: Feedzi, Novabase, Endesa, CEEETA and APREN. For the third time, the MBE students of IST had one-week intensive teaching at MIT, from 26th February to 6th March 2011.

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The 4th SES PhD Program Research Integration Workshop took place at University of Coimbra on March 24th, 25th 2011. The students had the opportunity to interact with 3rd and 4th year students and faculty and discussed strategies for carrying out their research.

3.3.8.

PhD theses

This section shows the profiles of several students.

The home institution of each student is indicated on the first line as: FCTUC – Faculty of Sciences and Technoloy - University of Coimbra FCUL – Faculty of Sciences – University of Lisbon FEUP – Faculty of Engineering – University of Porto IST – Instituto Superior Técnico – Technical University of Lisbon

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Alexandre Lucas, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2009 PhD program: SES Year of PhD: 2nd Estimated date of Completion: 2013 Amount of time spent at MIT: 1 year (starting in Sept 2011)

Title of the thesis Impact of infrastructure and supply chains in Energy Use and CO2 Emissions on new light-duty vehicle technologies - A life cycle perspective

Supervisors in Portugal: Carla Silva (IST), Rui Costa Neto (IST) Research progress and major scientific contributions In Portugal the transportation sector is responsible for one third of energy use and it is now accepted by the scientific community that combustion emissions are strongly positively correlated. To achieve the environmental goals set by the EU by the 20-20-20 agreement and Portugal’s own ambitious goals, this sectors presents it self as an important intervention target. Various vehicle technologies are being considered for possible solutions to mitigate environmental problems and fossil fuel dependence.

However, for one to make conscious and informed decisions, a comprehensive comparison between the different technologies is mandatory. Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) is a technique that allows considering and integrating all value chain according to each technology, and to make valid comparisons. Various studies have used this technique to assess energy use and CO2 emissions, addressing the fuel life cycle “Well-to-Wheel” and also the vehicle’s materials “Cradle-to-Grave”, considering production, maintenance, and dismantling. However, none has considered the required infrastructures and supply chains in the system’s analysis.

This study will allow knowing the Energy use and CO2 emissions from construction; maintenance and decommissioning of support infrastructures and supply chains for different vehicle technologies in Portugal. Using Global Warming Potential 100 years (GWP100); and Cumulative Energy Demand (CED) for CO2 eq emissions and Energy Use evaluations respectively, several pathways will be considered. For the base scenario (Diesel and Gasoline fleet) the whole chain from extraction platform, refinery and refuel station is considered. For the Electric Vehicle (EV), the Portuguese electric mix allocated by contribution of conversion is considered plus the distribution system and charging points. For fuel cell vehicle, several pathways will be considered for H2 centralized production. As reference, the main databases taken in consideration are ECOINVENT, GREET and GEMIS using as LCA tool SIMAPRO software.

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Amir Safaei, FCTUC, Iran Starting year: 2008 PhD program: SES Year of PhD: 3rd Estimated date of Completion: 01/2013

Title of the thesis Life cycle optimization model for integrated cogeneration and solar systems

Supervisors in Portugal: Carlos Henggeler Antunes (FCTUC), Fausto Freire (FCTUC) at MIT: Stephen Connors

Research progress and major scientific contributions The objective of this doctoral research is to develop a modeling framework to optimize the building energy system performance by integrating cogeneration, solar and utility systems while considering the life cycle environmental impacts and economical implications to meet the building energy demand.

Optimization models will be developed within a framework that uses the results of the building energy consumption proďŹ le and life cycle assessment (LCA). Life cycle costing methodology is employed to assess the economic implications of the energy systems, while LCA results provide the coefďŹ cients of the optimization problem that is developed to consider both economic and environmental aspects.

In terms of hitherto achieved results, a mixed integer linear programming model has been developed to minimize the life cycle costs of meeting the building energy demand (power, heating, cooling) via a combination of renewable and traditional energy sources. The energy system consists of solar photovoltaic and solar thermal systems, three technologies of combined heat and power (CHP) generation, an absorption chiller and electric chillers to meet the cooling demand, and conventional energy systems, national grid and boiler. The possibility of selling excess on-site produced electricity to the grid in the context of the Portuguese legal framework as well as dynamic pricing of electricity at peak and off-peak hours are also taken into account. Additionally, the integration of demand-side resources into the model is also envisaged.

Taking a long time-horizon (thirty years in the present case), the model gives the optimum investment schedule as well as the operation planning of different sources of energy, to minimize the present worth of total costs. In addition, the model provides a good basis for energy-economic scenario analysis of alternative renewable and non-renewable sources for the building sector.

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Ana Gonçalves, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2007 PhD program: SES Year of PhD: 4th Estimated date of Completion: 12/2011 Amount of time spent at MIT: 6 months

Title of the thesis Urban Growth Modeling: Impact on economic and Energy Consumption Growth of a Country/Region

Supervisors in Portugal: Tiago Domingos (IST) at MIT: John Fernandez

Research progress and major scientific contributions This research presents an innovative way to study the growth of cities. Gathering different models from various areas of economics we aim to explain energy consumption and economic development, using a macroeconomic perspective. Most of the existent models use microeconomics which requires a higher level of detail in the data and a higher number of variables.

The development of this work can be separated in different stages: model urban size growth (in terms of population); create a model of energy consumption and economic development within a city which will depend on its size trends; and enroll case studies for Portugal and the United States.

At this point, both models for urban size growth and urban development are being developed. The possibility of applying Zipfâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Law to the ďŹ rst stage was studied but, after analyzing the results for Portugal, this option was dismissed for a dynamic growth model. For the second stage, different models and empirical studies have been gathered into a single set of equations that describe the trends of development in a city.

In the following months we will continue to develop the different stages of the research in parallel, testing the models with data that has already been gathered.

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Ana Rita Neves, FEUP, Portugal Starting year: 2007 PhD program: SES Year of PhD: 4th Estimated date of Completion: 9/2011 Amount of time spent at MIT: 3 months

Title of the thesis Methodology for energy sustainability assessment and planning at the local level

Supervisors in Portugal: Vítor Leal (FEUP), João Lourenço (IST) Main Publication Neves A.R., Leal V. 2010, “Energy sustainability indicators for local energy planning: Review of current practices and derivation of a new framework”, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 14, no.

9, pp. 2723-2735.

Research progress and major scientific contributions At a first stage, the major scientific contribution was the development of a set of energy sustainability indicators to be employed at the local level. This involved an extensive literature review of existing sets of sustainable development and energy indicators, the application of selection criteria, and the testing of the indicators with the municipality of Porto, and then asking two energy agencies in Portugal as well as the City of Boston in the United States to calculate the indicators. The methodological guide developed for the testing stage constituted a valuable help for the local authorities once they could find step-by-step guidance. The methodology adopted led to the identification of 18 indicators. At a time where local authorities are recognized as being important actors for implementing sustainable energy policies, by initiatives such as the Covenant of Mayors or the Local Government Climate Roadmap, the indicators become an important tool to evaluate the progress towards the achievement of the goals as well as to help local authorities in the choice of the most effective actions in the context of local energy planning. This research work was presented in two international conferences and a paper was published in a peer-reviewed journal (Neves, A. R. & Leal, V. 2010). At a second stage, another major contribution of my work will be to develop a methodology for decision-aiding in local energy planning, by making use of energy modeling and multi-criteria evaluation techniques. For this, it was crucial to start by structuring the problem of local energy planning using a problem structuring method. The cognitive mapping technique was adopted in interviews with the local actors for the identification of the objectives. A literature review of objectives, attributes and measures stated in local energy action plans and journals’ articles was also carried out. The methodology has started to be applied to a Portuguese municipality as a case study, for which the task of energy modeling for the base year 2008 and for the time horizon of 2020 was accomplished. The expected result of the application of the methodology will be to provide support to decision-making in local energy planning processes, through the identification of the set of measures that better satisfies the objectives of sustainable energy planning for a given local context.

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Anabela Carvalho, FCTUC, Portugal Starting year: 2009 PhD program: SES Year of PhD: 2rd Estimated date of Completion: 12/2013

Title of the thesis Thermal energy storage control for space conditioning systems based on a ground source heat pump

Supervisors in Portugal: Aníbal de Almeida (FCTUC), Manuel Gameiro da Silva (FCTUC) Research progress and major scientific contributions The increasing integration of renewable energy from intermittent nature has led to the need to consider new ways of managing the grid since a lot of this type of production is out of line with periods of increased demand. It is therefore necessary to develop solutions that allow the integration of production with energy consumption. Hence, thermal storage with phase change material (PCM) can be one of the potential solutions for this problem.

The main goal of this research is to analyze the feasibility of a latent heat storage (LHS) system coupled to a ground source heat pump in an existing building in Coimbra, exploring the potential for better management of the load profile and large-scale integration of intermittent renewable energy sources, in order to optimize the coefficient of performance of both the LHS system and the overall installation. This research proposal is integrated and will be carried out within the European Project from FP7 – GroundMed. The work consists of several steps including: selection of PCM, modeling and design of the storage system, definition of the algorithm control, design and installation of the control and monitoring system associated to the interface with the electricity grid (InovGrid), experimental tests, optimizing the control system in a dynamic electricity pricing context and evaluation of technical and economic performance.

So far, an extensive literature review was carried out about the PCMs already available and used in thermal storage systems in buildings. Based in the comparison of PCM’s properties it was possible to choose the PCMs more suitable for the desired range temperatures for heat storage (44 - 47ºC) and for cold storage (6 -9ºC). The PCM will be a salt hydrated, although the latent heat of fusion per unit mass is lower than in paraffin materials, the thermal conductivity is higher around 2 or 3 times, which is very important for the efficiency of the storage system.

The storage system is being designed to work as a partial-storage system with the purpose of leveling the load profile and reducing the heat pump consumption during on-peak hours, leading to lower electricity cost. During some winter nights there is already a surplus of renewable energy, which is projected to increase.

At the end of this work, it is expected that the combination of these technologies will result on a high efficiency solution for the space conditioning system of the Coimbra building. Furthermore, it may have a large application potential in Portugal, with the additional benefit of using intermittent energy, storing this energy to be consumed when necessary, thereby contributing to a higher efficiency of the electric system.

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André Pina, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2007 PhD program: SES Year of PhD: 4rth Estimated date of Completion: 2011

Title of the thesis Supply and Demand Dynamics in Medium and Long-term Energy Systems Modeling

Supervisors in Portugal: Paulo Ferrão (IST), Carlos Silva (IST) at MIT: Stephen Connors Main publications A. Pina, C. Silva, P. Ferrão, "The impact of demand side management strategies in the penetration of renewable electricity", submitted to the special issue ECOS2010 of Energy: the International Journal.

G. Souza, A. Pina, V. Leal, C. Silva, "The relevance of the energy resource dynamics in the mid/longterm energy planning models", accepted for publication in the Renewable Energy Journal.

A. Pina, C. Silva, P. Ferrão, "Modeling hourly electricity dynamics for policy making in long-term scenarios", submitted to Energy Policy.

Research progress and major scientific contributions The development of tools for the modeling of energy systems has allowed governments, energy agencies and private investors to analyze different scenarios and make better and more informed decisions regarding investments on renewable energies, energy efficiency plans, subsidies, and others.

However, the models that first began to appear had two very different scopes and were either prepared for the short-term analysis of energy systems operation or the long-term analysis of investment decisions in new generation capacity.

Currently, energy systems are undergoing a changing of paradigm with the goal of introducing large penetrations of renewable energy sources to offset the more polluting fossil fuel based generation. The high variability and intermittence of most renewable energy sources has led to the effort to increase the flexibility of energy demand through responsive demand technologies and behavioral changes. In order to define optimal timings for the introduction of large-scale renewable based generation it is necessary to take into account the impacts of these supply and demand dynamics.

The work being developed in this PhD thesis can be divided in three main issues. First, a comparison of high and low temporal resolution models was made to assess the importance of including electricity supply dynamics in the optimization of energy systems. This has shown that low temporal resolution models can lead to the overestimation of electricity generation by renewable energy sources. A hybrid methodology that combines the strengths of both modeling approaches was then developed and applied to the mainland Portugal case study. Second, the use of demand technologies to achieve a better match between electricity supply and demand has been analyzed. In this area, two works have been done to assess the introduction of electric vehicles and dynamic demand as enablers for the introduction of renewable energy and the reduction of CO2 emissions. Finally, the hybrid methodology developed in this work will be applied to a case study in the Green Islands Project to perform a high temporal resolution modeling that takes into account renewable energy dynamics and demand technologies as enablers of the transition of one island to a more sustainable energy system.

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António Abreu, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2009 PhD program: SES Year of PhD: 2nd Estimated date of Completion: 2013 Amount of time spent at MIT: 8 months

Title of the thesis Intelligent Power flow in Electrical Transmission Systems

Supervisors in Portugal: João Freire (IST), Pedro Santos (IT) Research progress and major scientific contributions The research work under development is based on the reduction of power losses in high-power electrical transmission and distribution systems (electrical grid).

The work explores the application of algorithms to attain optimized efficiency resorting to new power systems topologies. The algorithms include the modeling of the electrical grid taking into account real parameters of the grid, often excluded in this kind of analysis. For this purpose, a mathematics model was created and adapted to the referred application.

In order to better evaluate the system a new definition of energy efficiency was proposed. This definition includes reactive power as the critical parameter to reduce input power flow with no load power decrease.

The methodology was tested in loco at IST-Tagus Park campus, Porto Salvo, Portugal, between February 18th 2010 and February 17th 2011, namely in the following networks: electric, gas, water and AVAC systems.

The preliminary experimental results indicate that the proposed methodology is suitable to reduce demand power and CO2 emission (typically 10%). Furthermore, the implemented actions are in full agreement with the ECO.AP Portuguese government program (2010).

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

António Santos, FEUP, Portugal Starting year: 2008 PhD program: SES Year of PhD: 3rd Estimated date of Completion: 02/2012

Title of the thesis Defining new control and management solutions for security assessment and preventive control in transmission grids with large scale integration of wind generation

Supervisor In Portugal: João Peças Lopes (FEUP), Manuel Matos (FEUP) Research progress and major scientific contributions The introduction of competitive supply and corresponding organizational separation of generation, transmission, and system operation has resulted in highly stressed operating conditions. Moreover, regarding environment policies, the generation through renewable energy sources has been increased, which contributes to put more pressure on operating conditions and, consequently, place the systems closer to their security limits.

These approaches, together with the favorable feed-in tariffs, have increased the appearance of new wind farms connections to the network. Additionally, and independently of market conditions, the outlined procedures require that all wind generation should be completely absorbed by the grid. Wind power generation is increasing the uncertainty in system operation environment, because of its intermittent characteristic and behavior when facing disturbances.

To operate a power system with large share of wind generation closer to the traditional security limits, more sophisticated methods for security assessment are needed in order to take into account the probabilistic nature of uncertain variables in the decision-making environment. This Thesis aims to perform power system operation security analysis regarding the influence that voltage dips (originated by short circuits) could have on wind farms and consequently could lead to an uncontrollable cascading situation leading to widespread power outages. The work will be performed considering the Portuguese network, which had 17% of the total electricity demand provided from wind energy in 2010.

A part of that generation comes from wind generators able to withstand voltages dips and to support the network voltage after the detection of a fault, delivering reactive power.

The methodology used in this work is manly composed of two parts: a short circuit simulation and a risk evaluation. Simulating disturbances will let to make a post-contingency grid snapshot regarding wind farms point-of-connection’s voltages. Evaluating the probability of a short circuit occurrence and their severity at wind farms point-of-connections will let system operators quantify the risk associated with those contingencies.

The security assessment performed in this work followed by a risk assessment methodology, using probabilistic methods, will give security indices that allow the operator to react in advance and to be aware of wind energy inherent risks, preventing in this sense harmful situations. To enable a sustained growth of wind power in the Portuguese electrical network, this work will be very useful to operators when evaluating on-line network security, allowing to explorer electrical networks with large share of wind generation, with adequate security of operation levels. Also preventive control measures will be identified if insecure operating conditions are detected.

139

Ariovaldo de Carvalho, FCTUC, Brazil Starting year: 2009 PhD program: SES Year of PhD: 3rd Estimated date of Completion: 07/2012

Title of the thesis An Integrated Assessment Methodology Applied to the Brazilian Bioethanol Case

Supervisors in Portugal: Carlos Antunes (FCTUC), Fausto Freire (FCTUC), Samuel Niza (IST) at MIT: Stephen Connors

Research progress and major scientific contributions A macro Input-Output multi-objective optimization model combined with an uncertainty analysis (interval programming) has been developed to the assessment of the interactions between the energy use, GHG emissions, Gross Domestic Product and employment levels of the Brazilian Economic System. For that, a framework has been constructed utilizing the Brazilian System of National Account, the Brazilian Energy Balance and GHG emissions estimates. In addition a micro multi-objective Life Cycle-based model has been developed to assess the interactions between resource (energy) use, GHG emissions, employment level and cost related to the Brazilian Bioethanol system. In this step economic, resource (energy) use, costs and employment data has been utilized from different sources linked to the Brazilian bioethanol industry. Furthermore, both models will be integrated using hybrid models and matrix disaggregation methods.

The main contributions from this research come primarily from the integrative characteristic of the methodology developed, which proposes a more complete and original approach to address the supply chain of the Brazilian bioethanol sector. The combination of Input-Output Analysis (IOA) with Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methods provides an expansion of the analysis, which encompasses the whole economic system while assessing speciďŹ cally the bioethanol process. This fact contributes to a broader overview of the interactions between these systems on economic, social, energy and environmental perspectives compared with the previous Brazilian´s bioethanol IOA and LCA studies. Additionally, the multi-objective optimization combined with uncertainty analysis provides improvements in the previous assessment methods, because it contributes to incorporating some ďŹ&#x201A;exibility in the analysis, as well as offering a better knowledge on the trade-offs at stake between different evaluation aspects.

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Bernardo Silva, FEUP, Portugal Starting year: 2009 PhD program: SES Year of PhD: 2nd Estimated date of Completion: 2013

Title of the thesis Control and protection procedures for ancillary services provision from offshore wind farms using multiterminal HVDC links

Supervisors in Portugal: Helder Leite (FEUP) abroad: Nicholas Jenkins (Cardiff University)

Research progress and major scientific contributions To meet the 20/20/20 goals, European countries have started exploring their onshore wind resources, which in some cases may not be sufficient to accomplish the commitment. Some countries are thus targeting the exploration of offshore wind resources. Therefore, there are plans to install large amounts of deep offshore wind power plants, taking advantage of the abundant resource availability in terms of equivalent hours at nominal power as well as average wind speed. However, one obstacle of offshore wind farms is related to power delivering since it must rely on High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) cable circuits. There is a strong commitment on gathering the cable circuits to create a meshed multi-terminal HVDC (MT-HVDC) network with the objective of harmonizing the investment costs (€/MW) and creating a reliable and flexible infrastructure, which is able to respond as a Virtual Power Plant (VPP). This PhD topic aims at assessing the impacts on the AC protection system and AC networks operation arising from the presence of large amounts of offshore wind farms (WF) connected to the grid through MTHVDC networks (steady state and dynamics). Additionally, control concepts are being developed within the framework of this research to mitigate the integration problems and enhance the operation flexibility of offshore WF, providing them the ability to work as a VPP. At this phase of the research, a MT-HVDC network based on Voltage Source Converters (VSC) technology model has been implemented under Matlab Simulink.

Results from the impact assessment studies performed so far have identified the lack of voltage control capability (for steady state), no inertia and the lack of primary frequency control capability as potential barriers for a massive integration of offshore WF. Several control philosophies are being tested in this research for both steady state and dynamic operation. The steady state voltage control can be performed by independently controlling the reactive power delivered to the AC system (reactive power can be imposed by the Transmission System Operator - TSO via set-points), thanks to the adoption of VSC. The power sharing between converter stations has also been accomplished, allowing TSO to define the share of injected power on each AC node. The next steps of the research consist of designing local controllers to allow offshore wind farms to contribute on emulating inertial response and providing primary frequency support.

The main contributions of this work include developing local control loops in a communication-free framework for enhancing the MT-HVDC networks responding as a bulk power plant and supplying ancillary services for frequency and voltage support. Ultimately, these developments will contribute to the mitigation of the existing problems and will add flexibility to the MT-HVDC, allowing further WF penetration.

141

Cristina Camus, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2007 PhD program: SES Year of PhD: 4th Estimated date of Completion: 2011

Title of the thesis Economic, Energy and Environmental impacts of plug-in vehicles in the Electric systems utilities

Supervisors in Portugal: Tiago Farias (IST), Jorge Esteves (ISEL) Research progress and major scientific contributions In this research, the impacts on the electric utility systems, of mass adoption of Plug-In vehicles are studied for two different types of electric realities: a big electric system synchronized with other electric systems within the same region (a continental land); and a small isolated system (an island). For each case study, scenarios of EVs penetration were created to define the average daily energy needs for EVs recharging combined with scenarios of daily recharge profiles to obtain the hourly additional power demand and simulate the effects on power generation and electricity prices. According to the different technologies available in the system, scenarios of electricity mix and prices were generated for the years 2011 till 2020.

A dedicated methodology was developed with the help of two tools, electricity market simulator (EMS) and economic, energy and environmental impacts simulator (EEEIS). The EMS gives the supply curves per technology for the studied market and helps to define the rules to generate the supply curves for the simulations according to expected power installed in each technology and weather conditions imposed by the studied scenarios. Then, for each scenario of EV penetration/recharge profile and electricity production mix, EEEIS provides the expected load profiles, daily emissions and hourly electricity spot prices. The case studies were the Portuguese mainland as the big robust electric system where an electricity market operates and the Azores islands (S. Miguel) the isolated system case where the electric utility belongs to a regulated monopoly company.

Scenarios of EV penetration (energy needed) and recharge profile combined with the extreme cases of expected electricity production lead to different wholesale prices as well as fossil fuels use and emissions associated to charge the EVs leading to different cost of the EV energy per km. Simulations made for 2020 in a scenario of low hydro production (a dry year with about 45% renewable in electricity production) the price (including the wholesale plus the regulated net access plus retailer revenue) for 2 million EVs charging mainly at peak hours, could reach three to four times the price of the same 2 million EVs in an off-peak recharge. In a high hydro and other renewable production scenario combined with low wholesale prices, an off peak recharge could reach even lower values and reductions in primary energy consumption, fossil fuels use and CO2 emissions of 4%, 13% and 11% respectively were expected.

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Daniel Wiesmann, IST, Switzerland Starting year: 2008 PhD program: SES Year of PhD: 3rd Estimated date of Completion: 03/2012 Amount of time spent at MIT: 11 months

Title of the thesis Econometrics in Urban Metabolism utilities

Supervisors in Portugal: Paulo Ferrão (IST) at MIT: John Fernández (MIT) abroad: Inês Azevedo (Carnegie Mellon University)

Main Publications Daniel Wiesmann, Inês Azevedo, Paulo Ferrão and John Fernandez. Residential Electricity Consumption in Portugal: Findings from top-down and bottom-up models. Under revision in Energy Policy.

Research progress and major scientific contributions The first study analyzes the influence of socioeconomic factors, dwelling characteristics and urbanization on residential electricity consumption per capita in mainland Portugal for 2001 using multivariate ordinary least squares regression analysis. The analysis is performed on two different scales, on the individual household level and on the municipal level. In the field of residential electricity consumption modeling this is the first study that directly compares results on both scales. The results indicate a significant influence of the tested socioeconomic variables, dwelling characteristics and urbanization on consumption. The consumption of electricity is found to be income inelastic with an estimated elasticity of 0.128. This has implications for policy formulations, indicating that other factors than just monetary constraints will have an important influence on future consumption.

The second study conducted so far is focused on providing spatial resolution to the analysis of GHG emissions at an urban environment and characterizes land cover change induced greenhouse gas emission in the metropolitan area of San José in Costa Rica. The land cover model is developed using multinomial logistic regression, as well as using a Bayesian maximum likelihood classifier. Data sources for the analysis are Land Sat images from 1989 and 2001 and relevant terrain and climate information.

In the realm of satellite image classification, multinomial logistic regression has found little application and this study contributes to the introduction of that method into the field. Furthermore the land cover change modeling is not often used to calculate urban GHG emissions, and has never been developed for the study area.

In the second half of this PhD the objective consists of combining econometric modeling and spatial information and will be applied in a spatially explicit MFA model for Lisbon using bottom-up data sources. This is an innovative approach and will allow disaggregating flows by sector and with some spatial resolution. In urban metabolism there are only a few studies that use advanced statistical tools and include a spatial component into the analysis. .

143

Diego Issicaba, FEUP, Brazil Starting year: 2008 PhD program: SES Year of PhD: 3rd Estimated date of Completion: 09/2012

Title of the thesis Control Strategies for Smart Grids under Emergency Operation using Agent-based Technology

Supervisors in Portugal: João Peças Lopes (FEUP) Research progress and major scientific contributions Power distribution grids are designed to provide electricity with a certain level of adequacy and security.

In order to achieve a smooth transition from actual to the smart grids, the gradual modernization of the grid itself aiming at higher levels of reliability, the application of cooperative distributed/local control solutions, and the integration of renewable/distributed energy resources are required.

Under this context, the goal of this Ph.D. thesis is the development of control solutions for smart grids under emergency operation using agent-based technology. The work proposes a control architecture in which agents are responsible for the management and control of networks blocks of the distribution grids. Hence, blocks are abstracted as autonomous power systems, whose operation states and modes are classified. Agents will then perceive the operation state of its assignee, as well as take (and/or schedule) proper control actions aiming the system adequacy and security. Furthermore, agents communicate with each order to share relevant information to the system operation. In case of a fault, emergency and restorative agent-based control strategies are performed. The control architecture takes into account issues related with islanded operation in distribution grids with large-scale integration of distributed generation (DGs) and electric vehicles.

In order to evaluate the control architecture, a performance assessment approach for distribution grids was also developed. For this accomplishment, a combined discrete-continuous event simulation model was designed to emulate the distribution grid operation. Using the next-event time advance mechanism, the simulation approach produces sequences of operation states in a chronological order. Over the resultant operating cycle, distributional aspects from performance evaluation indices are assessed.

These indices comprise standard reliability indices, as well as figures of merit which aggregate information regarding inadequate delivered voltage conditions. Furthermore, DG integration along with islanded operation is evaluated using dynamic simulation.

Case studies were performed using modified versions of the IEEE test systems modeled in EUROSTAG environment. The simulation results show the effectiveness of the control architecture. The importance of considering steady-state and dynamic analysis into the performance evaluation is also highlighted, mainly in assessing the impact of DG integration on the distribution system operation. At last, we point out the simulation approach can be further applied to gather operation states which demand more DG integration detailed analysis from transient perspectives.

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Ehsan Asadi, FCTUC, Iran Starting year: 2008 PhD program: SES Year of PhD: 3rd Estimated date of Completion: 09/2013

Title of the thesis A Retrofit decision support system for improving energy efficiency and indoor environmental quality in buildings Supervisors in Portugal: Manuel Gameiro da Silva (FCTUC), Carlos Antunes (FCTUC), Luís Dias (FEUC) at MIT: Leon Glicksman (MIT) Main Publications IEhsan Asadi, José J. Costa and Manuel Gameiro da Silva, "Indoor air quality audit implementation in a hotel building in Portugal", Building and Environment (2011), doi:10.1016/j.buildenv.2011.01.027.

Research progress and major scientific contributions This research focuses on using optimization techniques to quantitatively assess technology choices for building retrofit strategies. The aim is to provide stakeholders sound information to support the definition of intervention measures aimed at minimizing energy use in the building in a cost effective manner, while satisfying the occupant/owner needs. First, the research will identify an extensive set of innovative retrofitting actions and renewable energy solutions suitable for retrofitting existing buildings in Portugal.

This set of alternatives will then be used as an input to a multi-objective optimization model to quantitatively compare the merits of different options. Then a set of representative buildings will be used to exploit the decision support system in practical settings.

As a first case study a semi-detached house in Coimbra is used for the development of the decision support system structure. Currently the system is able to assess the residential building energy consumption according to the Portugal regulation (RCCTE) and report the best set of actions regarding the minimum retrofit cost and maximum energy savings. More than 100 different retrofit actions are fed to the system, and the non-dominated solution reported to the user. When the cost criterion is optimized independently of the energy saving, choices of low cost are made, resulting however, in minimum energy saving. On the other hand, when the energy saving criterion is optimized independently of the cost, the actions with minimum thermal and solar transmittance (for windows) and higher thermal resistance (for insulation) are selected. To optimize simultaneously all objective functions, the Tchebycheff programming approach has been used. The result from the application of this approach demonstrates the feasibility as well as the strength of applying such techniques to the problem of energy efficiency improvements. The application of this systematic approach allows the simultaneous consideration of all available combination of retrofit actions. It also allows for the consideration of any logical, physical, technical or other constraints that may apply and permits the decision maker to guide the solution according to his/her preferences.

As the second case study, a representative set of Portuguese school buildings will be used to apply this decision support system.

The lines of research in the past have allowed addressing many problems as far as buildings renovation is concerned. However, most of them consider that a list of predefined and pre-evaluated alternative variants of the building is given. Although the problem faced by the decision maker is in fact a multi-objective opti-mization problem, characterized by the existence of multiple and competing objectives, a set of feasible and available solutions that are not predefined but are implicitly defined by a set of parameters, and a set of con-straints that should be taken into account to reach the best possible solution. So, this project is going to tackle the mentioned problems in academia and consequently building retrofit industry.

145

Filipa Amorim, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2007 PhD program: SES Year of PhD: 4th Estimated date of Completion: 2013 Amount of time spent at MIT: 1 week

Title of the thesis Promoting renewable electricity whilst stepping into liberalized markets. An evaluation of the FIT in Portugal Supervisors in Portugal: Victor Martins (ISEG), Patrícia Silva (FEUC), Jorge Vasconcelos (IST) at MIT: Steve Connors

Research progress and major scientific contributions The present incentive for renewable capacity is mostly determined by the level of guaranteed feed in tariffs (FITs), what makes it mostly autonomous from total electricity demand. Higher FITs entail higher generation levels that cover higher shares of demand. Only the remaining demand is satisfied in the market. If the market is already small, such as in the Portuguese case, lower demand can cause competition to decrease due to lower trading volumes.

FIT systems have been relatively successful in deploying renewable production in the current decade, but consequently costs have been increasing in the electricity system. As renewable electricity prices are generally higher than the reference acquisition price the supplier of last resort would be paying for the same amount of power in the market, over costs emerge. Ambitious targets for renewable capacity have been set by the government by 2020 and, with these, over costs are expected to continue growing.

In an era of progress in the integration and increased competitiveness of MIBEL, a new methodology to assess over costs, ex-post, has been proposed by calculating the sum of the differences of renewable electricity prices and hourly electricity reference acquisition prices weighted by renewable production.

Actual extra costs of “compulsory” hourly purchases of renewable power were compared to the alternative to acquire it in the market, bringing some flexibility into the current remuneration model, while preserving the stability of the expected FITs to renewable investors. This flexibility is particularly important as renewable sources vary erratically. Results from the applied methodology to 2008 and 2009 data show that FITs were set too high in the new market framework and that each consumer would have avoided paying an additional subsidy of approx. 3.2€/MWh in 2008, and, in 2009, of approx.

7.9€/MWh, if FIT were set to provide investors the same previously expected profitability.

In face of the new technical, economic and regulatory challenges, this research will bring insight to policy makers and to the regulator as it discusses how to efficiently accommodate growing shares of renewable power generation and intends to present a new methodology to estimate an optimal tariff design. This is a decision support mechanism for low carbon electricity markets that also takes part in the medium to long-term generation capacity investments choices, therefore, meaningful to utilities which look for the successful repayment of their investments.

146

MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Filipa Carlos, FEUP, Portugal Starting year: 2007 PhD program: SES Year of PhD: 4th Estimated date of Completion: 2012

Title of the thesis Prioritizing Renewable Energy Resources based on Environmental and Energy Quality Criteria

Supervisors in Portugal: Eduardo Oliveira Fernandes (FEUP) Maria do Rosário Partidário (IST)

Research progress and major scientific contributions The new energy paradigm calls for a higher integration of the environmental aspects in the planning processes as it is based on concepts such as diversification, decentralisation and use of natural renewable energy resources.

In practice, this paradigm translates into a planning process of proximity (at regional or local scale), where the energy demand and supply are connected and have to be prepared for the best matching according the available resources and types of consumption.

Besides the integration of the best environmental practices at regional level, the planning process for such energy systems will also contribute to global energy and environmental goals, including the reduction of CO2 emissions.

To ensure the integration of the best environmental practices, the planning process of energy systems needs a facilitator that can stimulate and consolidate a strategic vision supporting the necessary shift from current energy planning practice to future and more sustainable practices and outcomes.

The goal of the research work is to devise a framework that can help the move from energy planning based on a list of measures and mandatory actions to a more strategic concept based on the definition of strategic pathways that will drive more sustainable energy system at a regional level (considering the regional development level). Therefore, the result will be a contribution for the development of a new energy framework for the planning process of isolated energy systems integrating Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) to ensure an environmental and sustainable integration in energy planning systems.

Some of the work developed so far includes: a) The development of the energy conceptual framework for the planning of sustainable energy systems, based on a organization by energy quality (heat, driving force and electricity specific), management of the energy demand and matching between the demand and supply options; b) The characterization of the energy system in a practical case; c) Integration of the relevant environmental and sustainability strategic issues by the application key elements of a strategic based SEA approach; d) The identification of the potential for the energy vectors’ shift at the energy demand side according the quality criteria (heat, driving force and electricity specific); e) The design of scenarios for the evaluation of alternatives.

147

Filipa Reis, FCUL, Portugal Starting year: 2008 PhD program: SES Year of PhD: 3rd Estimated date of Completion: 2012

Title of the thesis Development of Photovoltaic Systems with Concentration

Supervisors in Portugal: Miguel Centeno Brito (FCUL), Gianfranco Sorasio (WS Energia) Main Publications F. Reis, M.C.Brito, V.Corregidor, J.Wemans, G.Sorasio, Modeling the performance of low concentration photovoltaic systems, Solar Energy Materials & Solar Cells 94 (2010) 1222–1226, doi:10.1016/j.solmat.2010.03.010 Research progress and major scientific contributions Photovoltaic (PV) is seen as a renewable energy with a huge potential to produce clean electricity during the peak demand hours. However, its cost has been inhibiting its expansion and has led to an increasing interest on concentration photovoltaic (CPV) systems. These systems allow a reduction of the cell area which is replaced by cheaper optical materials such as mirrors or lenses. The concept of CPV systems has been presented as a shortcut to place the PV technology in a competitive position as to the conventional electricity sources. Today many CPV configurations are available in the market; yet the question is: what is the optimal configuration to significantly reduce the PV electricity cost c€/kWh? This work is developed within the framework of a new CPV system, which is entitled as HSUN® technology, developed in collaboration with WS Energia. Our research focus on the development of a CPV receiver to integrate the HSUN technology. During the development of this receiver several models are being constructed manly addressing: the Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCoE); thermal management; and electrical performance of a CPV receiver. The main objective is to provide an optimal solution for the HSUN receiver. Moreover, the models are intended to be used as a decision tool for design of other CPV systems.

The work plan focus also on a complementary approach: the (C)PV potential. Three main tasks have been developed: i) data from over 110 PV systems (both flat plate and CPV), scattered across mainland Portugal was collected to characterize the mainland solar resource as well as improve the tool that determines the potential of different PV technologies; ii) the extension of this study to the Azores Islands within the MIT Portugal Program, Green Islands project, will further contribute for the mapping of the regional PV potential; iii) solar radiation and PV systems performance monitoring at the FCUL campus is under development.

148

MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Filipe Rodrigues, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2007 PhD program: SES Year of PhD: 4th Estimated date of Completion: 12/2011

Title of the thesis Energy Box: A smart home energy storage for the intelligent management of renewable and energy consumption in housing and small buildings services without compromising the human comfort

Supervisors in Portugal: Carlos Cardeira (IST), J. M. Calado (ISEL) at MIT: Leon R. Glicksman

Research progress and major scientific contributions The research has three main scopes: 1. Predict daily and hourly household energy consumption; 2. Renewal energy production required; 3. Proper storage energy technology.

To obtain a model able to predict daily household energy consumption, ANNs have been used. From the total of 1488 data sets, 50% were used for training, while the other 50% were used for testing. To obtain the desired model, the Levenberg-Marquardt learning algorithm was used and the best results were obtained for a network having 20 hidden neurons, 16 neurons in the input layer and 1 neuron in the output layer. Thus, based on the model obtained, the energy consumption forecast is quite rigorous (R2 and MSE reach values near or equal to 1) compared with consumption measured and recorded in each household. For each network, fraction of variance (R2) and mean squared error (MSE) values were calculated and compared, in order to assess the achieved models robustness based on different ANNs architectures.

Research work continues to focus on improving the prediction of hourly household energy consumption.

The major scientiďŹ c contributions of this work will be a model to predict daily and hourly energy consumption for each household, as well to identify the proper smart storage energy

149

Filipe Soares, FEUP, Portugal Starting year: 2007 PhD program: SES Year of PhD: 4th Estimated date of Completion: : 09/2011 Amount of time spent at MIT: : 2 weeks

Title of the thesis Impact of V2G Systems in Grid Operation and Expansion

Supervisors in Portugal: João Peças Lopes (FEUP) Main Publications J. A. Peças Lopes, F. J. Soares, P. M. Rocha Almeida, “Integration of Electric Vehicles in the Electric Power System”, Proceedings of the IEEE, vol. 99, no. 1, pp. 168–183, Jan. 2011.

Research progress and major scientific contributions This thesis aims to provide a valuable study about Electric Vehicles (EV) and Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) related approaches, which intends to alert all potentially interested parties for the various problems that will appear when EV start to be massively connected to the grid. Beyond the problems, it tries to develop adequate grid operation strategies, in a steady-state framework, to overcome all technical issues identified. To accomplish the referred objectives, it was first developed a conceptual framework for EV integration into electric power systems, providing a holistic perspective of this new reality with special attention on the electricity markets operation and on the networks technical management. This conceptual framework was developed taking into account the specificities of all the possible EV charging modes (dumb charging, multiple tariff policy, smart charging and V2G).

To successfully evaluate the impacts and benefits of adopting the previously mentioned EV charging modes, a simulation platform based in a stochastic method to simulate EV movement during one typical day, week or year and in a Monte Carlo method was developed. This computational application, allows performing a realistic evaluation of the steady state operating conditions of the grid, as well as identifying the network components that are subjected to more demanding conditions and that might need to be upgraded.

In order to evaluate the simulation platform performance, several networks and EV scenarios were tested. The power demand changes in a typical LV network with 30 conventional vehicles, 30% of them electric, are presented in the next figure. These results are referred to three EV charging scenarios: all EV in dumb charging mode, all EV in multiple tariff policy mode and all EV in smart charging mode. For the scenario that considers the multiple tariff policy, the period of lower energy price is between 23h and 6h, every day of the week.

150

MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Gonçalo Cardoso, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2007 PhD program: SES Year of PhD: 4th Estimated date of Completion: 09/2011

Title of the thesis Decentralized Energy Production Towards a Sustainable Built Environment

Supervisors in Portugal: Paulo Ferrão (IST), Ana Barbosa-Póvoa (IST) Research progress and major scientific contributions The work developed so far has focused on understanding the potential for distributed energy production to be used effectively to supply the energy demand in buildings, while taking advantage of the possibilities for technology integration that may rise due to the simultaneity of different end-use loads. This may happen, for instance, when electric and heating loads combine in such a way that cogeneration becomes attractive or even when combining different storage and production systems to reduce power costs by lowering demand peaks.

Given that the number of possibilities for technology options is nearly countless considering what is currently available in the market – internal combustion engines, turbines, fuel cells, solar systems, storage systems, heat recovery system and so on, it becomes necessary to adopt an efficient strategy when designing these local energy supply systems, which in this case is done by the use of DER-CAM, a detailed optimization model using mixed integer linear programming to find optimal technology portfolios in a technology neutral environment.

Data requirements for DER-CAM models include economic parameters, such as interest rates or maximum allowed payback times, energy prices, both when purchased from utilities or in the form of fuel, technology investment and maintenance costs, technology technical information, weather data and hourly energy demand profiles by end-use. This allows the algorithm to find not only an optimum installed capacity for each technology, but also the running schedule associated with it.

In order to adapt DER-CAM to the Portuguese scenario the work has been divided two-fold. Firstly, it was necessary to adapt the algorithm in order to allow for generic fossil fuels other than natural gas, as well as implement specific policy related measures, such as different feed-in tariff coefficients for different technologies. All other data was then collected for a wide range of buildings, creating a database focusing on residential buildings, office buildings, nursing homes, educational facilities and commercial buildings, allowing different types of loads to be analyzed.

Results so far show that there is some potential for this distributed energy production, although in Portugal loads are typically not favorable, even when high heat ratios are present. This is due mostly to the specific relation between electric and heating loads, as simultaneity plays a crucial load in the need for storage systems, which may render co-generation solutions economically unattractive.

When looking at potential CO2 savings, on the other hand, results indicate that there is a significant role to be played by local energy production, not only as a result of applying renewable technologies (photovoltaic and solar thermal), but also when recovering heat from conventional ones.

151

Gonçalo Mendes, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2008 PhD program: SES Year of PhD: 3rd Estimated date of Completion: 07/2012

Title of the thesis Integrated Community Energy Systems for Portugal: An integrated approach

Supervisors In Portugal: Paulo Ferrão (IST) abraod: Chris Marnay (UC Berkeley), Christos Ioakimidis (Universidad de Deusto) Main Publications G.Mendes, C. Ioakimidis, P. Ferrão, On the Planning and Analysis of Integrated Community Energy Systems: A Review and Survey of Available Tools. Renew Sustain Rev (2011), doi: 10.1016/j.rser.2011.06.67 M. Stadler, C. Marnay, M. Kloess, G. Cardoso, R. Sharma, G.Mendes, A. Siddiqui, J. Lai, O. Mégel., Optimal Planning and Operation of Smart Grids with Electric Vehicle Interconnection, Journal of Energy Engineering, 2011.

Research progress and major scientific contributions The introduction of localized groups of electricity sources and loads, able to operate islanded or connected to the centralized grid, the so called microgrids, has been predicted by many past studies which focused on solving the main technical issues that arisen with these new systems. Nowadays the emergence of such infrastructures is certain and the adequate modeling and planning of microgrids constitutes a new and exciting challenge. Economically and at the community level, this kind of modeling gives us insights on the energy costs which make all the associated technologies, Distributed Generators (DGs), Plug-in Electric vehicles (PEVs), etc. Accessible to the people and allows for elaboration of rankings which will contribute to the development of the Best Available Technologies (BAT). From the environmental point of view, a number of authors alerted to increasing concerns with local, regional and global emissions increases from DGs in a future scenario of distributed energy (Acidification, Smog formation, Global Warming etc.). In that sense, an integrated evaluation of sustainable energy systems must consider coupled economic and environmental suitability.

A very important aspect in this research is that the modeling approach is economically done on the customer side to make sure investments are attractive to communities, where the whole research is centered. The objective here is to access how to evolve in the energy system without excessive dependence on public entities or major corporations. Thus, the main contribution of this work will be a characterization of the value of communities for attaining more flexible and efficient distributed energy systems, in the context of Portugal. This is specifically attained by community DG, PEV or energy efficiency investments or coordinated demand-side management measures.

The PhD thesis will be composed of two main contributions: First, the economic and environmental potential for the introduction of ICES in the context of PT is assessed based on collected representative data for the different regions. In these runs, with the aid of DER-CAM, a number of research questions are answered regarding the adoption of DG, energy efficiency measures and plug-in electric vehicle interactions. In the second part, grounded on the initial achievements, an ESCO inspired business model is developed with the aim of introducing the ICES concept in the Portuguese market environment.

Major outputs of this work will be a tool package capable of perform fully integrated economic and environmental analysis of microgrid systems which will support future research or economically-oriented activity in this field. The application of this work to Portugal will serve as a base case for future worldwide research in the field reinforcing the recognition of the country as a laboratory of energy research.

152

MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Gustavo de Souza, FEUP, Brazil Starting year: 2007 PhD program: SES Year of PhD: 4th Estimated date of Completion: 12/2011 Amount of time spent at MIT: 6 months

Title of the thesis Contributions to demand energy planning by selecting the most efficient physical measures when building an Energy Efficiency Action Plan in a multi-criteria environment Supervisors in Portugal: Vítor Leal (FEUP) at MIT: Stephen Connors Research progress and major scientific contributions My work can be divided into three main stages. The first stage is the development of a methodology to disaggregate national or regional energy systems into the most representative end-uses within domestic, service, industry and transport sectors. The first part of the work is already done. The second part of the work is related to find relevant criteria that represent the general interests from decision makers when building an energy efficiency plan. At last, the work proposes a tool where the national or regional energy system can be modeled and projected into the future, energy efficiency measures can be applied and their outcomes can be quantified and evaluated. The tool is already under development using MATLAB®.

The major contributions are: A method to quantify and do the breakdown of the main energy end-uses found in the sectors of the economy. Also, using this method, a way to consider (use and quantify) a huge amount of EE measures (physical basis) reflecting the different sectors, end-uses and carriers.

Another contribution is to evaluate alternatives to build a energy efficiency action plan (several sectors and several energy carriers) using a MCDA approach.

153

Hana Gerbelová, IST, Czech Republic Starting year: 2008 PhD program: SES LTI Year of PhD: 3rd Estimated date of Completion: 12/2012

Title of thesis Carbon Capture and Storage Technology Implementation into the Portuguese Energy System

Supervisors in Portugal: Paulo Ferrão (IST) abroad: Edward S. Rubin (EPP/CMU), Christos Ioakimidis (Universidad de Deusto) Research progress and major scientific contributions Combustion systems at power plants, cement plants, and several other industrial processes are the main stationary sources of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in Portugal. These installations are large point emitters and therefore are suitable candidates for the application of CO2 capture and storage (CCS). The objective of this research is to establish a framework for quantifying the impacts of CCS technology implementation at these large point sources of CO2.

A detailed source-sink matching is crucial to understand the relationship between the emissions sources and the storage opportunities in order to determine hypotheses for the implementation of CCS and to assess the impact of CCS on emissions reduction. For this purpose, a map of mainland Portugal was created by ArcGIS software showing major industrial CO2 emission grouped by clusters, showing the emissions location and intensity, and potential storage site. This overview enables to plan further technical, economic and environmental assessment. The Integrated Environmental Control Model (IECM) software was performed to carry out a techno-economical analysis in study case of retrofitting Sines power plant with a MEA-based CO2 capture unit and pipeline transportation of CO2 to the potential geological storage site in Portugal. The results show additional energy requirement to operate the capture unit on a base plant, which is demonstrated by the 15 percentage point reduction in net plant efficiency. The total capital requirement would be double with the addition of the capture unit and the cost of electricity (COE) also increases, proportionally, from $60/MWh without CCS to $119/MWh with CCS. The profitability of CCS increases further with higher CO2 prices. For a price $60/tonne CO2, COE from the capture-plant is slightly lower than that from the non-capture case, making CCS more profitable.

The implementation of CCS will have an influence on national electric power production, share of emissions reduction available from the electricity generation sector and cost of meeting emissions targets. Therefore the TIMES model tool was used to perform the representative Portuguese electricity system over the period 2005-2050 and examine how the current national and international policies, environment restrictions and electricity demand would influence the future electrical energy system choices in terms of technologies options, fuels, CO2 reductions and costs. The designed scenarios in this case study lighted up the possibilities for CCS technology application in an economic viable manner. The less costly technology with CCS is Integrated Gasification Combine Cycle and a crossover carbon price, where the levelized cost is the same with or without CCS, 34 €/tonne of CO2 in 2030.

If the carbon price will be above 50€/tonne of CO2 it is economically preferable supply all fossil power plants with CCS through 2050. No permit would have to be purchase under EU-ETS if in 2035 at least 50% of power plant will include CO2 capture unit.

154

MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Helena Monteiro, FCTUC, Portugal Starting year: 2009 PhD program: SES Year of PhD: 2nd Estimated date of Completion: 08/2013

Title of thesis Extended Life-Cycle Assessment to Improve the Overall Performance of Residential Buildings: Energy, Environmental, and Economic assessment towards a life-cycle enhanced house

Supervisors in Portugal: Fausto Freire (FCTUC) Research progress and major scientific contributions The research goal of the PhD is to develop an extended life-cycle assessment model to improve residential buildings design towards life-cycle passive (low-carbon) houses, focusing on contributions of passive systems, namely the building envelope. So far, a life-cycle model has been developed for a single-family house located in Portugal and seven alternative exterior walls have been comparatively assessed for the same house using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology. Three life-cycle impact assessment (LCIA) methods (Cumulative energy demand, CML 2001, Eco-indicator’99) have been used to determine the extent to which the results of a LCA are influenced by the method applied.

The results calculated lead to three main conclusions: i) the most significant life-cycle phase and process depend on the operational pattern assumed – when heating and cooling loads are reduced, the use phase impact decreases and material production becomes the most significant process; ii) the wood wall house is the solution with the lowest impact for most categories; iii) although some inconsistent results were obtained between LCIA methods (for toxicity categories), five impacts categories (global warming potential, ozone layer depletion, abiotic depletion, acidification, and eutrophication) present robust results that permit a straightforward comparison between the LCIA methods used.

In the next months I will be expanding the model to include end-of-life scenarios and the economic dimension. The energy saving potential of different constructive envelopes and design solutions shall be estimated and iteratively improved (from business-as-usual to efficient and extremely efficient ones) at MIT through energy building simulation in order to achieve a minimum consumption level (passive house) for different Portuguese locations. A Multi Criteria Decision Analysis approach will be developed to handle the tradeoffs between the different environmental impacts and economic costs of assessed solutions.

The research will contribute to assess and select improvement options for residential buildings within the Portuguese context towards a very-low-energy house concept assessing the life-cycle trade-offs between energy consumption, environmental impact and costs, which is a main challenge of the transition to a low-carbon, resilient and affordable building sector. The model developed shall give insights about a range of LC preferable solutions for each climatic region, which so far have not been done for Portugal. This research is directed to support building stakeholders (architects, building designers) and policy makers.

155

Hrvoje Keko, FEUP, Croatia Starting year: 2008 PhD program: SES Year of PhD: 3rd Estimated date of Completion: 06/2012

Title of thesis Generation Coordination in Complex Systems with Stochastic Reservoirs

Supervisors in Portugal: Vladimiro Miranda (FEUP) at MIT: Stephen Connors (MIT) Main Publications J. Wang, A. Botterud, R. Bessa, H. Keko, L. Carvalho, D. Issicaba, J. Sumaili and Vladimiro Miranda, "Wind Power Forecasting Uncertainty and Unit Commitment", Applied Energy, accepted for publication.

Research progress and major scientific contributions Contemporary electric power systems contain diverse types of generation capacities and along with conventional sources include renewable sources (e.g. wind, biomass, solar). The power sources have to be coordinated in advance in order to meet the demand effectively. While the conventional ones have dispatchable prime movers, the renewable sources’ behavior is less controllable and stochastic. In the near future, electric vehicles emergence is expected, affecting the power system operation. The increase in demand due to EVs should be adequately modeled and integrated into the coordination as well, along with renewables. In this context, new tools and methods for efficient operational management and planning respecting the system constraints will be required by system operators.

The thesis deals with short term (day-ahead) generation coordination for a system including diverse electricity generation portfolio and storages. The modeled storages include new, volatile storages based on small individual contributions, e.g. a fleet of EV batteries with connections permitting two-way energy exchange. This type of storage exhibits highly stochastic behavior with spatial and temporal dependence.

The deliverable of the thesis consists of an efficient algorithm for short term (i.e. day-ahead) operational coordination including uncertainties coming from stochastic sources and stochastic storage. In the studies performed, the forecasting errors are confirmed not to be Gaussian, so non-parametric methods of uncertainty modeling are preferred and used. The developed uncertainty models are based on statistical scenarios, in order to correctly capture inter-temporal dependencies, necessary to model systems including storage. A scenario reduction approach based on clustering of the Monte Carlo sampling based scenarios is developed and tested, in order to tractably represent the stochastic sources related uncertainty. A platform for consistent evaluation of the obtained stochastic optimization results is also an integral part of the thesis, permitting the analysis of diverse operational policies.

The primary contribution of the thesis is the direct integration of the uncertainty models for stochastic sources and stochastic storage into an algorithmic method for short term generation coordination.

156

MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Joana Abreu, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2007 PhD program: SES Year of PhD: 4th Estimated date of Completion: 2011 Amount of time spent at MIT: 11 months

Title of the thesis Uncovering the potential for demand response in the residential sector

Supervisors in Portugal: Jorge Vasconcelos (NEWES), Francisco Câmara Pereira (FCTUC), Paulo Ferrão (IST) at MIT: David Marks, Stephen Connors abroad: Inês Azevedo (Carnegie Mellon)

Research progress and major scientific contributions The present research is centered on the residential consumer of electricity and is based upon experimentation and knowledge discovery. Following experimental design methods, a smart meter experiment involved participants from the Municipality of Oeiras (treatment and control), with the primary objective of accessing the effects of feedback and social pressure in residential electricity consumption in Portugal.

Secondary objectives include studying routine behaviors, and using clustering and segmentation techniques to characterize the population involved in the experiment. The experiment is designed to include one of the most effective drivers of behavioral change: social pressure and the need for humans to adjust and follow the norm. Additionally, it enables an opportunity to analyze residential load profiles and to identify those characteristics of demand that combined with the time of use and lifestyles of the individuals may indicate the potential for demand response.

Achieving the potential of energy efficiency and conservation on the residential sector remains to be a challenge. That is partly because society is increasingly dependent of electrical appliances and development is associated with consumption of goods and of commodities. Infrequent billing, low energy prices, and an increasing dependence of electricity all contribute to the current situation of generalized lack of interest with energy consumption in everyday decisions. Adding to that fact, decisions made in the house lack the medium to long-term foresight that implies that larger investments in the present will pay off in energy savings in the future. Such behaviors, easier to replicate in the home, but often not representing the way people take decisions at work, reveal hyperbolic discount rates. In a carbon constrained future, restricted by uncertain supply security energy efficiency in the residential sector starts to be perceived, by utilities and politicians as a supply option (megawatts). Yet its real potential lacks to be established. The experiment has ended in September 2010, but preliminary results are already being prepared for publishing.

157

João Lagarto, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2007 PhD program: SES Year of PhD: 4th Estimated date of Completion: 12/2011

Title of thesis Electricity Market Simulation for Market Power Evaluation and Market Price Forecasting

Supervisor in Portugal: Álvaro Martins (ISEG), Jorge de Sousa (ISEL), Paulo Ferrão (IST) Research progress and major scientific contributions This research work proposes in one hand to evaluate the competitive behavior of supply side agents in an electricity market and in the other hand to forecast the market clearing price.

To carry out this research a model based on conjectural variations is being developed. This model embodies the conjectural variation parameter which represents the competitive behavior of each supply side agent.

To evaluate the competitive behavior of supply side agents this parameter is estimated given data concerning power plant and fuel characteristics, electricity market data and CO2 emissions prices. To forecast market clearing prices the competitive behavior of each supply side agent is given as well as power plant and fuel characteristics. The model also includes unit commitment, hydrothermal coordination and market splitting mechanism for congestion management between transmission networks.

The advantages of using conjectural variations models is the fact that these models can in one hand filter the influence in market clearing prices of the competitive behavior of supply side agents from the influence of other fundamentals such as demand variations, fuel prices, and hydro and other renewable production. On the other hand, these models allow the representation of different levels of competition ranging from perfect competition to Cournot competition and even collusive behavior.

The major contribution of this research work is to provide a new approach to study the behavior of supply market agents in an electricity market.

The model developed was applied to evaluate the competitive behavior of the major supply side market agents in the Iberian electricity market (IBELM). One of the analyses made was the evaluation of changes in the competitive behavior of Spanish firms with the beginning of the IBELM. The results show that Spanish firms changed their behavior towards more competitiveness after the beginning of the IBELM. This higher competitiveness was also noticed from the fact that monthly average prices were stable while fuel costs increased, which leads to the conclusion that Spanish firms had not pass-through to consumers the increase in fuel costs.

Moreover, the results also showed that the competitive behavior of each firm is closely related with its price-cost margin, that is, with the difference between the market price and the marginal cost of the most expensive power plant of the each firm that has worked, and is also close related with the total quantity produced by each firm.

158

MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Jorge Borges, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2007 PhD program: SES Year of PhD: 4th Estimated date of Completion: 2012

Title of the thesis Designing the Travel Experience

Supervisors at MIT: Steve Connors abroad: Christos Ioakimidis (Universidad de Deusto) Research progress and major scientific contributions To drive an Electric Vehicle (EV) it is necessary to have a charged battery. To assure this, an infrastructure system is needed that is connected to the grid and that can provide parking charge (so that EVs can charge in homes, offices, public parks, etc) and ongoing charge (so that travelers can refill their EV power in a fast process, like a Fast charging station). But the Economics behind the EV Infrastructure are still subject of research. The work developed has focused on the creation of a Fast Charging Station Business Model that analyzes the economic viability of a Fast charging station over a period of 20 years, simulating a fast charging price for drivers that optimizes the Station profits and still be competitive when compared to fuel prices at gas stations, for the Portuguese case. Results show that the fast charging price is almost 3 times higher than charging an EV at home during the night but is 38% cheaper than refuel a diesel ICE vehicle and 66% less expensive than refuel a gasoline ICE vehicle. A risk analysis of the Fast Charging Station was developed that analyzes the risk for investors using a Monte Carlo simulation that calculates the profit and rentability probability distributions. The VAR (Value at Risk) obtained for the Fast charging Station Profit represents 2% of the investments, which indicates a low risk project.

To study a possible interaction between the EV infrastructure and EV massification, a business analysis and comparison was developed between two possible business models on the Electric vehicle’s infrastructure: Pay & Charge; and Charge as Service, taking into consideration the benefits versus costs for all stakeholders: drivers, energy suppliers, Fast charging stations and EV industry, for the Portuguese case. The objective is to create services, combining the different components of the electric mobility such as the EV, battery and charging infrastructure. The Pay & Charge model intends to simulate the business as usual (BaU) scenario and in the Charge as Service model the battery and the EV charging are combined in a service. The simulator results show that if the EV Demand increases over 30% of that in the Pay & Charge scenario (BaU), the Charge as Service model is profitable for all stakeholders and although the Driver would pay more at the end of the contract, he will benefit from a lower EV initial investment, less risk regarding the battery and a possible fast charging price reduction due to an increase on EV demand. The work developed has focused on the Economics of EV infrastructure, allowing to understand the price to charge an EV from the drivers point of view and how profitable can be the EV infrastructure business for investors, helping to plan a strategy for a better EV massification. .

159

Julija Vasiljevska, FEUP, Republic of Macedonia Starting year: 2007 PhD program: SES Year of PhD: 4th Estimated date of Completion: 10/2011

Title of the thesis Optical Microsystems

Supervisors in Portugal: João Peças Lopes (FEUP), Manuel A. Matos (FEUP) Main Publications N. D. Hatziargyriou, A. G. Anastasiadis, A. G. Tsikalakis, J. Vasiljevska, “Quantification of economic, environmental and operational benefits due to significant penetration of Microgrids in a typical LV and MV Greek network, European Transaction on Electric Power, vol. 21, pp. 1217-1237, March, 2011.

Research progress and major scientific contributions This thesis aims to contribute in the development of new emerging concepts within the distribution network by proposing advanced control functionalities for management of large scale integration of micro-generation, controllable loads and storage devices. The approach developed in this thesis is based on a massive employment of the microgrid (MG) concept in the distribution network followed by its extension into the multi-microgrid (MMG) concept, as a potential way to facilitate large scale integration of micro-generation (μG).

The work focuses on development of specific control functionality (an optimization procedure) built at Medium Voltage (MV) /High Voltage (HV) level in order to deal with time intervals of technical constraint violations, such as excessive branch overloads and/or voltage drops due to natural load growth. Such functionality helps manage the MV distribution network in stressed operating periods by sending requests for controllable (non-critical) load curtailment/shifting and/or controllable (fuel-consuming) μG dispatch and/or storage dispatch within each MG. A set of benefits, may therefore be attributed to the DSO. Among these benefits one should stress the postponement of grid reinforcements due to expected load growth.

Proper identification and allocation of costs and benefits among different stakeholders is a crucial aspect towards removing potential barriers for the MG and multi MMG concepts deployment. The MMG impact assessment is modeled as multi-attribute problem where several attributes correspond to the relevant criteria chosen in regards to the costs and benefits attributed to the DSO for several alternatives found credible to reflect different possible deployments of the MMG concept. DSO preferences are captured through trade off values, where the different evaluation criteria are aggregated in a way that helps the Decision Maker – DSO understanding the influence of each aspect in the final evaluation, helping, in this way, in defining the best development strategy. Uncertainties are kept through the creation of mutually exclusive scenarios that are further analyzed using the regret concept.

160

MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Kiti Suomalainen, IST, Finland Starting year: 2007 PhD program: SES Year of PhD: 4th Estimated date of Completion: 08/2011 Amount of time spent at MIT: 6 months

Title of the thesis Wind speed dynamics in synthetic wind speed scenarios for energy systems modeling

Supervisors in Portugal: Paulo Ferrão (IST), Carlos Silva (IST) at MIT: Stephen Connors Main Publications K. Suomalainen, C. Silva, P. Ferrão, S. Connors, 2011, Synthetic wind speed scenarios including diurnal effects: Implications for wind power dimensioning. Submitted to Energy: Special Iss. Advances in Energy Studies in January 2011.

K. Suomalainen, C. Silva, P. Ferrão, S. Connors, 2011, A method for a including diurnal effects into synthetic wind data for energy systems planning: Validation in the Azores islands. Submitted to Renewable Energy in October 2010, under revision.

Research progress and major scientific contributions The research is focused on wind dynamics through a methodology has been developed to design synthetic wind speed scenarios taking into account the resource's natural variability at hourly, daily, seasonal and annual temporal scales. The methodology includes diurnal effects of the wind, which in turn allows the quantification of surpluses and shortages of wind power in different wind regimes. This is particularly important to design high penetration wind energy systems such as in islands and constitutes the main contributions of the present research.

The current research presents a new methodology for taking into consideration the variability of a renewable energy resource, wind, at different temporal scales (hourly, daily, seasonal, annual) in generating scenarios for energy systems modelling, which is critical to design of high wind energy penetration energy systems. It is argued that Markov models and auto-regressive (moving average) models, generally used for synthetic wind speed data generation, do not contain sufficient low frequency information related to seasonal and diurnal wind patterns, especially for small and medium sized energy systems. Under high penetration wind scenarios, the daily pattern of the wind, as well as its magnitude, become increasingly important to energy system modelling and design. This new methodology is applied to various locations in the Azores, Portugal, to evaluate the impact of diurnal effects on wind power dimensioning and to quantify surpluses and shortages during different periods of the day. Statistical analysis indicates that there are strong seasonal differences in both the magnitude and shape of the wind within a given day that will affect energy system design and performance. The methodology being developed evaluates the frequency of different wind day-types, such as afternoon winds or morning winds, along with the magnitude of wind for varying locations in the Azores with different quality wind resources. The data used represents three location types: coastal, mid-island and offshore locations in the Azores archipelago. Application of the new methodology indicates that the inclusion of diurnal wind characteristics for the analysis of future energy systems provides better design information, especially as it pertains to generation investment requirements to meet island specific renewable penetration targets, and intra-day surpluses or shortages of wind generation in small energy networks.

161

Lauro Ribeiro, FCTUC, Brazil Starting year: 2009 PhD program: SES Year of PhD: 2nd Estimated date of Completion: 2013

Title of the thesis Economical Evaluation of Emerging Biofuel Technologies: The Microalgae case study

Supervisors in Portugal: PatrĂ­cia Silva (FCTUC) at MIT: Stephen Connors Main Publications Ribeiro, L. A.; Silva, P.P.V. The role of microalgae in the deployment of biofuels: contrasting renewable energy technologies. In: International Journal of Technology, Policy and Management (IJTPM), 2011.

(Extended Abstract Accepted)

Research progress and major scientific contributions The proposed study aims to analyze the market and development of emerging biofuels technologies with an emphasis upon cultivating microalgae and assess the economic and technological factors that could be critical to the success of this technology.

The purpose of this study is to verify who are the key players in this emerging market, analyze the present economical and political situation, evaluate possible opportunities and weaknesses and forecast ways to enhance the economic viability of largescale microalgae biofuel industries and compare this emerging technology with other technologies that can replace our oil consumption. The study aims to make the intersection of three major areas of knowledge: the Economic Policies to handle the deregulation of the energy industry (with analysis of the incentives, regulatory constraints and price signals coming from the Power Exchange), with processes of technological diffusion and economical evaluation of companies within this market.

Technological advances in cultivation and extraction of oil from microalgae are scientiďŹ cally well known, and should continue to move forward in the coming years with increasing investment in R&D in this area. However, with the emergence of several new private companies in this sector, it is evident the need of a study of the economics of cultivation of microalgae and the ability to produce biofuel in an economically viable manner. This study could help, not only private algae biofuel companies so that they could decide on what product mix to explore, but would help governments when deciding what policies to adopt to enhance this technology.

162

MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Leonardo Bremermann, FEUP, Brazil Starting year: 2009 PhD program: SES Year of PhD: 2nd Estimated date of Completion: 09/2012 Amount of time spent at MIT: 19 months

Title of the thesis Impact Evaluation of the Large Scale Integration of Electric Vehicles in the Security of Supply

Supervisors In Portugal: Manuel Matos (FEUP), João Peças Lopes (FEUP) Research progress and major scientific contributions The expected increase in the mobility by Electric Vehicles (EVs) will give rise to significant changes in today’s electricity sector, creating a need for developing new tools for technical and economic management and decision support. The impact of EVs deployment will also be assessed accepting additional amounts of renewable energy in the power system, once the EVs will increase the load in the valley hours or by the operational reserve that it would represents. Alternative or complementary schemes, as those based on battery changes, also will be addressed. The monitoring of security of supply is needed to evaluate the reserve level to avoid load curtailment and waste of energy provided by renewable sources. A tool, based in JAVA platform, has been developed to calculate traditional reserve indices (static and operational ones) including EV models in this assessment to aid the System Operator (SO) in its decision making tasks. The number of EVs is a discrete random variable that is often modeled by a Poisson distribution. It is assumed that a physical zone is divided in areas such as: residential area, industrial area, etc. The objective of this model is catching, along of the day, the number of EVs in each area to compute the equivalent EVs load. Each area has a typical load profile that represents the ordinary behavior of consumers, and also it illustrates a possible EVs load profile on the different types of Charging Points. The summation of these profiles may represent the EVs impact in each physical area on different regions. In analogy of the generation stochastic process, the number of EVs that arrive to charging their batteries, and the time that EVs remain charging it, are a set of random variables that characterize the EVs behavior as a stochastic process. A second model also has to be develo-ped. It is regarding the power availability in the batteries that could be injected in the grid. This last model should be capable to estimate the power available, the associated costs to the charging/discharging process taking into account the life-cycle of the batteries. The estimate should take into account the uncertainties involved in this process. The preliminary simulations were based on the IEEE RTS 79 HW (Reliability Test System) modified in order to include more renewable sources into the system. The results corroborate that there is a dislocation of the peak load when the smart charging strategy is used. Also, these preliminary results show a slight increase in the renewable source use when there is a large deployment of EVs in the electric system.

163

Leonardo Rosado, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2007 PhD program: SES Year of PhD: 4th Estimated date of Completion: 08/2011 Amount of time spent at MIT: 1 month

Title of the thesis Urban Metabolism: Contributions to establish standard methods to analyze Urban Material Flows

Supervisors in Portugal: Paulo Ferrão (IST) at MIT: John Fernandez Main Publications Niza, S., Rosado, L. & Ferrão, P. 2009. Urban Metabolism Methodological Advances in Urban Material Flow Accounting Based on the Lisbon Case Study. Journal of Industrial Ecology. Volume 13, Number 3.

384-405.

Research progress and major scientific contributions Urban areas have become one of the main focal points to tackle sustainability problems. The urban metabolism of a city depends on anthropogenic and natural physical flows of energy and materials, what might be studied by Material Flow Analysis (MFA). The work developed makes a contribution in the field of Urban Metabolism, by providing a standard method to measure the MFA that can be applied to different Urban areas, namely in European Countries. By analyzing Urban areas in detail the contributions of this research work to the MFA methodology relate to the identification of specific characteristics of flows in the Urban context opposed to country wide economies. An important contribution is the identification of key data sets and how to use them in order to analyze an Urban MFA to characterize products and goods into material types, lifespan, economic activity origin and destination, among others. It also includes establishing a link between flows and environmental impacts, a field still being developed in the MFA theory. A first model for flows of resources in the Lisbon city was built, and the link between MFA and environmental impacts was analyzed by accounting the household consumption of goods and measuring its embodied energy. Some results are: Lisbon city material inputs were 11 million tons in 2004, about 7% of Portugal material consumption; Total outputs are 2.149 million tons. More specifically, Non-renewable material resources represent almost 80% of the total material consumption. In preparation is an MFA for the Lisbon Metropolitan area. The effort put on developing a better methodology for Urban MFA aims at providing better answers to urban planners and companies that deal with resource management. By providing more detailed information about flows of resources, for example better waste or energy management policies can be applied.

164

MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Leonel Carvalho, FEUP, Portugal Starting year: 2008 PhD program: SES Year of PhD: 3rd Estimated date of Completion: 10/2012

Title of the thesis Optimization of Large Scale Power System Problems with New Tools

Supervisors in Portugal: Vladimiro Miranda (FEUP) at MIT: Stephen Connors Main Publications V. Miranda, L. M. Carvalho, M. A. da Rosa, A. M. Leite da Silva, C. Singh, "Improving Power System Reliability Calculation Efficiency With EPSO Variants," Power Systems, IEEE Transactions on, vol.24, no.4, pp.1772-1779, Nov. 2009.

J. Wang, A. Botterud, R. Bessa, H. Keko, L. Carvalho, D. Issicaba, J. Sumaili and Vladimiro Miranda, "Wind Power Forecasting Uncertainty and Unit Commitment", Applied Energy, accepted for publication.

Research progress and major scientific contributions The growing complexity and the demanding targets of power systems are originating very large scale problems whose solution becomes problematic not only because of their nature (non-linear, nonconvex, non-differentiable, discrete variables, time-dependent constraints, etc.) but mostly because of the increasing size of the set variables. For that reason, it is imperative to develop new methodologies to address the solution of very large scale problems, providing satisfactory solutions in the engineering sense, i.e., acceptable, obtainable in useful time and competitive with alternative processes. Power system reliability assessment is a topic where the models addressed are complex and, depending on the detail of the evaluation, may require notable computational resources.

In this context, one is interested to prove Population Based Methods (PBM) as an alternative to the state-of-the-art approach chronological Monte Carlo simulation (MCS). Attaining this objective is of particular complexity because one has defined a non-trivial problem to apply to PBM: a chronologic representation. PBM models have been applied with success on state space representation but there is no work published using a chronological representation, which is interesting because it is of much larger complexity and size. Additionally, new computational trends and the combination of PBM with other computational intelligence algorithms can also be explored to systematically diminish the computational effort.

Aiming at acquiring important knowledge regarding power system reliability assessment topic and at creating a benchmark target whose performance must be overcome by the PBM model, a state-of-theart chronological MCS platform was developed. This tool assesses reliability considering failures of the generating units and of the transmission network. As a side result of validation process of this tool, studies on the impact of the stochastic behavior of renewable, intermittent and dispersed generation on the adequacy of several configurations of IEEE RTS-79 were performed. These preliminary studies have shown that, in order to do a fair comparison on the actual load carrying capability of different generating technologies such as wind or thermal, a criterion based on the average maximum energy that generating units are able to provide at in a year of operation should be used instead of a criterion based on their generating capacity. Under the average maximum energy criterion, it is proven that the granularity and the disperse nature of wind energy can provide the power system with an improved adequacy than a large thermal unit.

165

Manuela Carreiras, FCTUC, Portugal Starting year: 2009/2010 PhD program: SES Year of PhD: 2nd Estimated date of Completion: 2014

Title of the thesis Establishment of a methodology for decision support to regional energy planning

Supervisors in Portugal: Luís Dias (FEUC), Carlos Henggeler Antunes (FCTUC)

Research progress and major scientific contributions The main objective of energy planning is to define a strategy to meet energy needs with reduced costs to the economy and the environment. To achieve the results at a national level, planning must also include plans and actions at a regional level. Energy planning has procedures for decision-making enabling an integrated, multidisciplinary and participatory approach. However, decision-making is nowadays a process which lacks transparency and does not always reflect the regional energy potential and stakeholder’s opinions. The current tools for decision support used in the energy planning process revealed being incomplete and individualized, according to the requirements of each study. There is no standard methodology that can be applied to all planning processes that incorporate the different dimensions of sustainability in a similar manner, as well as the participation and involvement of stakeholders.

Most studies are carried out at national level and, often, the implementation of measures on a regional scale is not possible. The territory’s details, the difficulty in accessing or allocating data, and the characterization of the energy in such a small territory present a challenge working at this level. What seems to be missing in research until now, are multi-criteria studies on regional energy systems with multiple energy carriers. To achieve these results, it is essential to include an analysis of regional characteristics, identifying the available energy resources, mapping the supply and demand data, carrying out a survey of the characteristics and interests of stakeholders, analyzing possible strategies for optimum use of energy, working the degree of uncertainty through simulations of scenarios and iterations by assigning weights to the planning components for the creation of a preferred plan. This can be done by using Multi-Criteria Analysis.

For this PhD research, a methodology is being developed for energy planning based on multi-criteria analysis to support decision-makers at a regional level, by working together with the Regional Energy and Environment Agency of Centre Region of Portugal (AREAC). The development of this methodology is based on an "applications-driven" approach. The validation and generalization of the methodology is made through its application to different case studies and scenarios, with emphasis in energy efficiency, GHG emissions reduction and socio-economic aspects. Furthermore, this research also aims at contributing to the development of decision-support tools in the energy planning process.

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Maria Kapsalaki, FEUP, Greece Starting year: 2007 PhD program: SES Year of PhD: 4th Estimated date of Completion: 09/2011 Amount of time spent at MIT: 8 months

Title of the thesis Strategies for the design of Net Zero Energy Buildings

Supervisors iin Portugal: Vitor Leal (FEUP) at MIT: Leon Glicksman Main Publications M.Kapsalaki, V.Da Silva.Leal Recent Progress on Net Zero Energy Buildings. Submitted to Journal of Advances in Buildings Energy Research Vol 5, 2011: ISSN: 1751-2549 E-ISSN: 1756-2201

Research progress and major scientific contributions My PhD thesis is related to residential Zero Energy Buildings in respect to climate and resource diversity. At the moment a software tool is being developed in MATLAB that based on a given geometry type and geographical location, determines the energy needs, flows and a life cycle economic analysis for many envelope, energy services and local offset equipment while next steps involve the testing and application of the software- tool and the development of an optimization algorithm. So far, the tool is able to perform the annual final energy needs calculation which is based on the RCCTE calculation methodology (the Portuguese regulation that measures the thermal performance of buildings). The RCCTE method is a steady state method based on the heating degree days (HDD). The tool takes as input parameters that characterize the building envelope, the energy services and micro-generation equipment and the economics. More specifically as regards the building envelope the input required includes the: useful area, shape factor, height, adjacent area, internal area, insulation levels for the roof and the walls, inertia, infiltration, window type, shading, ventilation and orientation; regarding the equipment providing the energy services and the micro-generation ones the input related involves the heating system, cooling system, domestic hot water system (DHW), lighting, electric appliances, type of photovoltaic (PV) module and wind turbine; finally the economics related input covers the costs for insulation, windows, shades, heating cooling and DHW systems, electric appliances and microgeneration systems. Besides the calculation of the energy needs the tool sizes the micro-generation equipment needed to offset the consumption, as well as the heating, cooling and DHW systems and can give an estimation of the initial cost. At the moment an optimization algorithm is under development which will analyse all the possible combinations of the input parameters and give the optimum solution regarding the following: lowest initial cost, lowest yearly energy bill and lowest cost in a life cycle of 10 and 20 years. The final step of the research will be to test and apply the software-tool for different geographical locations and different types of buildings.

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Marta Mota, FEUP, Portugal Starting year: 2007 PhD program: SES Year of PhD: 4th Estimated date of Completion: 07/2011 Amount of time spent at MIT: 12 days

Title of the thesis Corporate Reporting Towards Sustainability - Towards an assessment method for comprehensive and universal sustainability reporting Supervisors in Portugal: Eduardo Oliveira Fernandes (FEUP), Isabel Soares (FEP)

Research progress and major scientific contributions Measuring social corporate performance is a current challenge for companies and academia.

Monitoring the evolution of the sustainability performance of each company is still hampered by the use of a very broad set of indicators, most of them with a qualitative character, hardly used for benchmarking activities. In some cases, selected indicators are not quite adjusted to the company core operations or to the specific challenges of the business sector. That raises the following questions: What must constitute the core of the sustainability corporate reporting? What must be identified as critical to be measured and reported in a commonly understood language? How to develop and assess a method that allows for transparency, accountability and benchmarking?

The main contribution of this work is the identification of a relevant set of Sustainability Key Performance Indicators (SKPI´s) for the European energy sector. It is also expected to provide better understanding on the relation between corporate sustainability and financial markets. Electric Utilities, by their own nature and scope, are intended to be accountable to various stakeholders, while dealing with challenges emerging on a global scale.

The hypothesis that market tends to recognize the corporate sustainable behavior is core of this thesis.

Employees, consumers and society value a company with social and environmental concerns, increasing its ability to survive in the long run. On the other hand, companies with no environmental or social concerns incur in direct or indirect losses regarding reliability and image, which usually, lead to loss of value. Presently, the valuation of a company in financial markets increasingly reflects not only shareholders expectations, but also other stakeholder’s appreciation. Market recognition is used in this research as a “proxy” of general stakeholders recognition. To evaluate the market recognition of corporate sustainable behavior, we use volatility of corporate shares. It is expected that companies having more concerns about sustainability would present lower volatility on their stock prices. The methods used in this research include statistical techniques and econometric models to identify the correlation between indicators and perform the analysis of volatility. Econometric models are also applied to study the relation between SKPI from a sample of energy companies and their performance on financial markets. The preliminary results achieved indicate a correlation between sustainability reporting practices and the position of energy companies in the market, allowing the identification of explanatory factors.

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Miguel Covas, IST, FEUC, Portugal Starting year: 2007 PhD program: SES Year of PhD: 4th Estimated date of Completion: 12/2011

Title of the thesis Sustainable Data Centers -Holistic Strategies and Methodologies to Develop a Sustainable Data Center

Supervisors in Portugal: Carlos Silva (IST), Luis Dias (FEUC) Main Publications Covas, Miguel, Silva, Carlos and Dias, Luis, Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis for Sustainable Data Centers. European Journal of Operational Research, 2011 (under review).

Covas, Miguel, Silva, Carlos and Dias, Luís. On locating sustainable Data Centers in Portugal: problem structuring and GIS-based analysis, Computers, Environments and Urban Systems, 2011 (under review).

Research progress and major scientific contributions This thesis aims to develop a methodology to analyze and support the decision making for the development of a Sustainable Data Center, by using geographic information systems and multi criteria decision analysis (MCDA), taking into account the technical, socio, economic and environmental criteria of the decision. With the methodology which was developed, we were able to identify the most interesting locations to implement a Sustainable Data Center. From the 4.050 parishes in Portugal, it was possible to identify 62 which are potentially interesting to develop an efficient Data Center (which represents only 1,5% of the total initial set of alternatives). Geographically, these potential areas are in north of Lisbon and near the coastline (where there is a higher number of hours with average temperatures below 21 ºC per year). Taking into account the 62 pre-determined parishes, an MCDA was applied for sorting the parishes to install Sustainable Data Centers, considering technical, social, economic and environmental criteria. The required criteria are heterogeneous, imprecise and difficult to trade-off. The evaluation was formulated as a multi-criteria sorting problem and it was analyzed using the outranking MCDA method ELECTRE TRI through the IRIS software. This work used IRIS in an original way by evaluating separately the different sustainability axes (economic, environmental, social and risk), using a common qualitative scale (the sorting categories) of four levels. The results show that there are 19 parishes out of the 62 that are non-dominated solutions, i.e., potentially very good for the development of a Sustainable Data Center. The model developed streamlines the selection process by reducing the search space and consequently minimizes costs and time spent in the search process.

The energy demand and the environmental impact of future Data Center development are highly dependent on the climate of the site location. An analysis of the Portuguese reality has shown that if existing DCs in Lisbon were built in one of the regions selected in this study (north of Portugal) then the annual energy savings could represent over 45,8 GWh, 21.567 ton/CO2 avoided emissions and a saving of 3,212 M€ per year.

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Nuno Clímaco Pereira, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2007 PhD program: SES Year of PhD: 4th Estimated date of Completion: 11/2011 Amount of time spent at MIT: 12 months

Title of the thesis Energy-Efficient Retrofit of Buildings in Lisbon (study about 1960’s - 1970’s typologies)

Supervisors in Portugal: Luísa Caldas (FA-UTL), Manuel Correia Guedes (IST) at MIT: Leon Glicksman (MIT)

Research progress and major scientific contributions The objective of the research is to develop a methodology for a global building stock analysis in order to, in the end, define the best available retrofit options by building type for the adopted case study of Lisbon. The analysis began (during 2009/2010 period) by the Pombalino typology one of the more antique and standardized typologies, built before 1919. This study represented a test bed for the casestudy typology (60-70’s), which is now under progress.

The first task towards achieving the proposed goals was the categorization of the existing building stock, according to building type, age of construction, and typical construction methods used, based on the information of a sample of 200 buildings. The next step was the thermal modeling using Energy Plus (through Design Builder) simulating both a virtual and an existent building of each typology.

As a main task of the research comes the validation of these models through the results of a detailed 1 year field monitoring of 6 existing buildings (parameters: comfort, energy, occupation, air infiltration). A step of the most importance to give an added accuracy to the reference model inputs in order to have a solid base to work on the potential impact of energy-efficient retrofit measures. As a current task different energy-retrofitting measures are being simulated using the models, and prioritized in terms of return-on-investment periods. For the Pombalino test-bed study (developed during early 2010), the retrofit measures contributed to a thermal energy reduction of 49.2%. And in the free-float mode, to a better comfort of the occupants, equivalent to less 780 discomfort hours per year (24% less).

The final objective is to assess the potential for energy reductions at the urban level, by an optimal package of measures chosen for the specific chosen building type (1960-70’s); and to develop a methodology to implement the outputs of the research in large-scale rehabilitation schemes, which is very likely to be happening in a near future, following an integrated and comprehensive analysis for the different stake-holders.

The main contribution of this research is the methodology development for analysis of city and countries building stock, using the more accurate figures and validating the thermal simulation models results with monitoring data from the field. This validation will allow more accurate results and a more informed decision-making concerning options for buildings energy retrofit.

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Patrícia Baptista, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2007 PhD program: SES Year of PhD: 4th Estimated date of Completion: 09/2011 Amount of time spent at MIT: 7 months

Title of the thesis Evaluation of the impact of new vehicle and fuel technologies in the Portuguese road transportation sector Supervisors in Portugal: Tiago Farias (IST), Carla Silva (IST) at MIT: John Heywood (MIT) Main Publications Patrícia Baptista, Mário Tomás, Carla Silva. Hybrid plug-in fuel cell vehicles market penetration scenarios. International journal of hydrogen energy - 35 (18) 2010.

Patrícia Baptista, Catarina Rolim, Carla Silva. Plug-in vehicle acceptance and probable utilization behavior. Submitted to Transport Policy, 2010.

Patricia Baptista, João Ribau, João Bravo, Carla Silva, Paul Adcock, Ashley Kells. Fuel cell hybrid taxi life cycle analysis, submitted to Energy Policy, 2010.

Research progress and major scientific contributions The urge for energy security of supply, air quality improvement in urban areas and CO2 emissions reduction are pressing decision makers/manufacturers to act on the road transportation sector, introducing more efficient vehicles and spanning the energy sources. For that reason, it is expected that, in the near future, the transportation sector will face considerable changes.

This PhD research is focused on the Portuguese road transportation sector and aims at evaluating the impacts of introducing new vehicle technology, energy sources and other policy and mobility options.

For that purpose a fleet model tool for Portugal, named Projections for Alternative Transportation Technologies Software (PATTS), was developed. PATTS is capable of generating scenarios to evaluate the impact of introducing new vehicle (conventional, hybrid, plug-in hybrid, electric, fuel cell and natural gas) and fuel technologies (fossil fuels, biofuels, electricity, hydrogen, etc.) in the transportation sector, mainly in terms of primary energy consumption, CO2 emissions and local pollutants emissions considering a life-cycle analysis (LCA). A LCA framework means that a certain vehicle technology powered by a specific fuel must include in its LCA not only its utilization stage (Tank-to-wheel) related to driving the vehicle, but also the fuel production stage (Well-to-Tank) and the vehicle itself manufacturing/maintenance/recycling (Materials Cradle-to-Grave). Additionally, the cost for the user is also accessed in these scenarios.

More than having a tool to run different scenarios to assess the scale and timing of impact of specific options, guiding maps were designed in order to know which options to follow to achieve specific targets. Indicators that quantify mobility, vehicle technology and energy pathway evolution were created and correlations between these indicators and energy consumption, CO2 emissions and cost were obtained. These innovative correlations provides a powerful tool for both academia and decision makers to compare policy options for the road transportation sector.

171

Pedro Almeida, FEUP, Portugal Starting year: 2007 PhD program: SES Year of PhD: 4th Estimated date of Completion: 09/2011 Amount of time spent at MIT: 2 weeks

Title of the thesis Impact of Vehicle to Grid in the Power System Dynamic Behaviour

Supervisors in Portugal: João Peças Lopes (FEUP) Main Publications J. A. Peças Lopes, F. J. Soares, P. M. Rocha Almeida, “Integration of Electric Vehicles in the Electric Power System”, Proceedings of the IEEE, vol. 99, no. 1, pp. 168–183, Jan. 2011.

Research progress and major scientific contributions The purpose of this thesis is to identify grid operational management and control strategies that should be available with the presence of vehicles with plug-in capabilities. There is a high potential for Electric Vehicles (EV) to participate in several power systems services. This thesis focuses on the possible effects and benefits of EV connections on the systems dynamic behaviour, regarding in particular the participation in frequency control related ancillary services provision. Therefore, two research paths are pursued: primary frequency control and secondary frequency control In order to enable the provision of these controls a conceptual framework for EV integration into electric power systems was developed. Within this framework a market structure was proposed, where individual EVs are provided with market visibility by an aggregation unit, the Aggregator. For secondary reserves provision, after market closure the Aggregator receives set-points from the Automatic Generation Control (AGC) unit and distributes them among the EV it manages. For primary control, each EV must react locally to frequency deviations due to the need for fast action procedures (below 15 seconds) and send to the Aggregator a record of their activity for posterior remuneration for their service.

Using the proposed framework, two case studies were developed: one for primary frequency control in an isolated system and other for AGC operation in an interconnected grid.

In the first case study, a sudden drop in the wind speed was simulated, which led to the reduction of the active power production of the existing wind generators. Being a weak grid, such event leads to a large frequency deviation. However, when EV react to frequency changes the system is able to keep frequency closer to the reference value. The evolution of frequency was evaluated when the isolated system is subjected to the described event, with and without EV participation in frequency control. It was verified that EV only need to temporarily reduce their consumption value to improve the performance of the system.

In the second case study, a two-area system was studied and a load increase in area 1 was imposed.

The evolution of frequency and the interconnection power flow were evaluated for the studied period.

When EVs participate in AGC operation, frequency and tie lines power flow are restored much quicker and smoother way.

172

MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Pedro Fazenda, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2009 PhD program: SES Year of PhD: 2nd Estimated date of Completion: 2013 Amount of time spent at MIT: 2 months

Title of the thesis Energy Efficiency Monitoring and Management to Promote Sustainable Behaviors

Supervisors in Portugal: Pedro Lima (IST) at MIT: Una-May O’ Reilly

Research progress and major scientific contributions Buildings are responsible for a considerable amount of the global energy bill. In Portugal, for example, they use 30% of the final energy, 35% of the primary energy and 60% of the electricity. Building resources should be carefully managed to achieve high efficiency and minimum waste, while still promoting a comfortable environment and social satisfaction with the working and living spaces. Over the past few years many articles have been published on the subject of Smart/Intelligent Buildings (SBs). The definition of intelligence, as defined in the artificial intelligence community, can be viewed as a property of a system that thinks like humans; thinks rationally; acts like humans or acts rationally, depending on the focus of the definition and how it is measured. In SBs, the term assumes a functional approach and is normally associated with the integration and automation of systems and functions to operate in ways that provide a responsive, effective and supportive environment, within which organizations can meet their performance objectives. SB can integrate the many systems that are part of the building and will act towards minimizing energy misusage and operating costs by manipulating available parameters, within an optimization space compliant with the comfort of the users of the building. The SB can monitor values of energy use and other parameters associated to user comfort, such as temperature, indoor air quality and lighting, and try to discover patterns and habits that may be associated to energy waste. With this information, users can be informed of the actual power consumption values, and be made more aware through feedback notification of their good behaviors, with impacts in the promotion of sustainable habits. The focus of the PhD thesis includes aspects of knowledge representation for the domain of intelligent energy systems, using description logics, and machine learning with planning under uncertainty. Following the literature review, some of the work that was executed this year included the use of a Markov Decision Processes to control the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system in a way that adapts to the behavior of the tenants, while maintaining operation needs to a minimum. The idea is to reduce the HVAC system operation when the building or space is unoccupied and dynamically explore the heating and cooling set-points that satisfy user comfort, while minimizing the needs for thermal energy. The concepts of reinforcement learning, MDPs and Q-learning agents were studied and applied. A simple toy problem for room temperature control was formulated and a Q-learning agent was used to solve it. Future work will include extending the idea to the entire building while including other variables like e.g., lighting. This can include the creation of new algorithms to accomplish the proposed objectives while dealing with the complexity of the domain, partial observable environments and limited actuation capabilities..

173

Pedro Vicente, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2009 PhD program: SES Year of PhD: 2nd Estimated date of Completion: 2013

Title of the thesis Nonlinear dynamics of arrays of floating point-absorber wave energy converters with inter-body and bottom slack-mooring connections.

Supervisors in Portugal: António Falcão (IST) Main Publications Vicente, P.C., Falcão, A.F.O., Justino, P.A.P., Nonlinear dynamics of a tightly moored point-absorber wave energy converter. Ocean Eng., 2010, under revision.

Research progress and major scientific contributions The main aim of the research work is to contribute to the major development of wave energy converters, particularly offshore point absorbers. It focuses on the numerical and experimental modeling of arrays of energy converters and their mooring systems.

Emphasis is given on theoretical and numerical modeling of the wave-device hydrodynamic interaction, to the operation of the power absorption mechanism, to the hydrodynamic interference between devices within an array and finally, to the influence of the mooring system in the devices operation, either isolated or inserter within an array.

A numerical and experimental study of the nonlinear effects introduced by the mooring system on the floating devices is proposed, analyzing their interference on the converters oscillating motion and on the energy absorption process.

Different configurations for the arrays and moorings are analyzed. In particular, considerations are given to (linear and nonlinear) modeling in the moorings by catenary cable ("slack mooring") and by cables under tension ("tight mooring") and their specific interference with the wave energy absorption process.

Model testing is planned to be done, initially at a small scale (about 1:80) in a wave flume at IST and afterwards, at a bigger scale of about of 1:35, in the irregular wave tank, at the Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto.

On the wave tank, irregular waves will be generated, simulating sea states representative of the wave climate under study (possibly the pilot area at the west coast of Portugal). Measurements will be performed on the displacement (with an optical tracking system already existing at the wave tank), on the mooring forces and on the power absorbed (with a simulator of the power take-off system).

Work already performed on the dynamics of arrays of floating point-absorber wave energy converters with inter-body connections resulted in a paper published in the proceedings of the International Conference on Ocean Energy – ICOE2010. Work on the nonlinear dynamics of a floating wave energy converter reacting against the sea bottom through a tight mooring cable resulted in a paper published in the proceedings of International Conference on Ocean, Offshore and Arctic Engineering – OMAE2010 and also in one paper submitted to the Journal of Ocean Engineering which is under revision.

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Reza Fazeli, FEUP, Iran Starting year: 2008 PhD program: SES Year of PhD: 3rd Estimated date of Completion: 07/2012 Amount of time spent at MIT: 6 months so far (9 months expected)

Title of the thesis Development of a multi-criteria evaluation framework for alternative light-duty vehicle technologies

Supervisors in Portugal: Vitor Leal (FEUP), Jorge Pinho Sousa (FEUP) at MIT: Stephen Connors, Christopher Zegras Main Publications R. Fazeli, V. Leal and J.P. Sousa, A multi-criteria evaluation framework for alternative light-duty vehicles technologies, International Journal of Multi Criteria Decision Making, Accepted (in Press), 2011.

Research progress and major scientific contributions This work could be divided into three main phases. In the first phase entitled “Flash Forward”, the effort is dedicated to find the best alternatives for mid-term transportation planning. This phase includes several steps: • Identification of main alternative fuel technology combinations applicable for light-duty vehicles (LDVs), through literature review, • Comprehensive attributes characterization of the different alternative fuel technology vehicles for current and for (expected) future stages, • Development of a Multi Criteria Analysis model to evaluate the alternative fuel technology vehicle fleet and applying a sequential Screening methodology in order to reduce a large set of alternatives to a smaller set that most likely contains the best choice.

• Application of the methodology to three different geographical contexts (e.g. Portugal, UK and Iran), in order to assess the most adequate technology for each context.

Currently, the first phase is finished and the results achieved from the developed model are being analyzed. An integrated scenario analysis to evaluate the impact of several factors is being followed.

In the second phase, our approach is to focus on the transition period for adoption of favorite alternatives resulted from first phase. System Dynamic will be applied in order to tackle the transitional issues including consumer acceptance, and relation between infrastructure development and sustained adoption of alternative fuel vehicles.

On final phase, the target is to try to incorporate the transitional issues into the multi-criteria decision making procedure. The plan is to evaluate the impact of different decision maker’s attitude on the final results and assess the resilience of the results.

175

Ricardo Abrantes, FCTUC, Portugal Starting year: 2009 PhD program: SES Year of PhD: 2nd Estimated date of Completion: 08/2013

Title of the thesis Pre-compression Cycle application, study and sustainability analysis – Study of the pre-compression cycle applied to internal combustion engines using oxygen and hydrogen Supervisors in Portugal: Manuel Carlos Gameiro (FCTUC)

Research progress and major scientific contributions The proposed work is a preliminary study of a proposed thermodynamic cycle to be applied to internal combustion engines. This cycle uses admission technologies in order to achieve a clean, more efficient combustion with a simpler and cheaper technology.

The purpose of the study is to evaluate the performance of the technology when oxygen and hydrogen are used. The evaluation will address sustainability issues at an ecological end economical point of view, and a power and efficiency performance characterization will also be addressed.

Although the expected efficiency increase, the low weight and volume, zero emissions performance and increased hydrogen lifecycle, some problems are expected and the success of the technology depends on the performance of other systems that are not object of the study.

The study will address the transportation and power storage sectors. Benefits for both sectors are expected by the application of the technology developed in this research work. Preliminary results suggest real efficiencies of about 80%.

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Ricardo Bessa, FEUP, Portugal Starting year: 2009 PhD program: SES Year of PhD: 2nd Estimated date of Completion: 2012

Title of the thesis Development of methodologies for technical and economic management of aggregation agents of electric vehicles Supervisors in Portugal: Manuel da Costa Matos (FEUP) Main Publications R.J. Bessa, M.A. Matos, “Economic and technical management of an aggregation agent for electric vehicles: a literature survey”, European Transactions on Electrical Power, vol. 20, 2011. DOI: 10.1002/etep.565 M.A. Matos, R.J. Bessa, “Setting the operating reserve using probabilistic wind power forecasts”, IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, vol. 26, 2011. DOI: 10.1109/TPWRS.2010.2065818 J. Wang, A. Botterud, R. Bessa, H. Keko, L. Carvalho, D. Issicaba, J. Sumaili and Vladimiro Miranda, "Wind Power Forecasting Uncertainty and Unit Commitment", Applied Energy, accepted for publication.

Research progress and major scientific contributions Different business opportunities will emerge with the proliferation of electric vehicles (EV). It is foreseen the emerging of electricity retailers for electrical mobility, which is generally called in the literature as an EV aggregation agent (aggregator in abbreviated form).

The aggregator serves as a middleman between the EV owners and the electrical utilities or electricity market. In this thesis a more elaborated EV aggregation agent is explored, which by exploring the smart-grid concept (e.g. bidirectional communication) offers more services than common load aggregators. The aggregator controls the individual EV charging to increase its competitiveness, and decrease the EV owners retailing price by minimizing the cost of purchased electricity. Hence, the aggregator presents purchasing bids in the electricity market for satisfying the consumption of all EV under contract. Moreover, it is also possible to offer ancillary services bids, such as secondary reserve.

The objective of this thesis is to develop decision-aid tools for the aggregator which characterize uncertainties and promote optimal decisions under risk based on its attitude towards risk. Furthermore, the impact and value of different degrees of availability of the relevant information will be studied. The problem will be addressed taking into account economic and technical aspects in a multicriteria formulation.

The expected outcomes and scientific contributions are a conceptualization of the aggregator role and business model, as well as algorithms that manage the uncertainty and support the aggregator decisions.

The progress and main achievements made until now were the following: • elaboration of a complete overview of the economic and technical potential of electric vehicles in the electricity market, as well details about aggregator’s business models; • definition of an aggregation agent framework for participating in the electricity market; • identification of the EV variables that it is necessary to forecast for this problem; • optimization approaches, to support the aggregator participation in the day-ahead and reserve sessions (upward and downward) of the electricity market, were developed and tested.

177

Rita Paleta, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2009 PhD program: SES Year of PhD: 2nd Estimated date of Completion: 2013

Title of the thesis Remote Autonomous Energy Systems Design for Developing Countries

Supervisors In Portugal: Carlos Silva (IST)

Research progress and major scientific contributions Energy systems are a critical infrastructure, with direct impact on a country´s economic development and social welfare. In developing countries, a lot of effort is being made on the design and implementation of energy systems that are environmentally and economically sustainable and that can also be a driver for economical development through innovation.

The main scientific achievement of this PhD work will be a rural electrification model which takes into account a development evolution pathway to estimate the Remote Autonomous Energy System (RAES) configuration progression, merging technical-economical aspects with the sustainable development paradigm. This energy system’s design model will allow, by acknowledging some basic characteristics of a rural village (e.g. population, geographical resources, climate data or even economical or industrial activities’ expectations)to define a strategy in order to provide energy services to a certain village, always respecting the sustainable development paradigm.

To achieve that, and regarding an industrial partnership with Finertec Energia SGPS SA, it will require not only a careful case-studies’ data analyses but also a sustainable energy pathway definition, based on internationally accepted energy and human development indicators. The final PhD phase will consist on establishing the validation, and consolidation of the RAES implementation model.

At present, an existing solar villages project’s data was analyzed and optimized. In that way, there were defined the base energy demand scenarios, crucial to accomplish the thesis objectives; the following stage will consist on the indicators choice and its model incorporation.

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Rui Gomes, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2007 PhD program: SES Year of PhD: 4th Estimated date of Completion: 11/2011

Title of the thesis Wave energy extraction from oscillating bodies: numerical modelling and experimental testing

Supervisors in Portugal: Luís Gato (IST), António Falcão (IST) Main Publications R.P.F. Gomes, J.C.C. Henriques, L.M.C. Gato and A.F.O. Falcão. IPS 2-Body Wave Energy Converter: Acceleration Tube Optimization. International Journal of Offshore and Polar Engineering, 20(4):247–255, 2010.

M. F. P. Lopes, J. Hals, R. P. F. Gomes, T. Moan, L. M. C. Gato, A. F. de O. Falcão. Experimental and numerical investigation of non-predictive phase control strategies for a point-absorbing wave energy converter. Ocean Engineering, 36(5): 386-402, 2009.

Research progress and major scientific contributions This work deals with the modeling and development of wave energy converters. Three technologies are studied throughout this work: a pitching plate, a two-body heaving device and a floating oscillating water column. Numerical analysis and geometry optimization are carried out for each device when subjected to a real wave climate by using a frequency domain model.

Special emphasis is made to the parameters that most influence the dynamics of each device, particularly the power take-off system parameters. A time domain model is developed to assess the nonlinearities present in the power take-off system. Experiments with scale models in a wave flume and in a wave tank are presented to validate the numerical results and assess influence of the effects ignored in the numerical models. A correlation was derived from experimental results to include viscous effects in the numerical model.

Optimization results show that more than one geometry can maximize the average annual power extraction. An economic criterion that includes the construction cost is used to choose the optimal geometry. In an oscillating water column, the air chamber compressibility effect, when correctly tuned with an optimal geometry can provide a considerable increase in the average power extraction. From the optimization of axisymmetric offshore devices, it is verified that the annual average power increases as the diameter and the length of the device increases. Therefore, these parameters require limitations.

Numerical results presented a good agreement with experiments.

Future work will include the study of control strategies to increase the average annual power extraction of each device.

179

Sérgio Casimiro, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2008 PhD program: SES Year of PhD: 3rd Estimated date of Completion: 2012 Amount of time spent at MIT: 12 months

Title of the thesis Optimization of CSP + D power plants in isolated areas, and potential business models

Supervisors in Portugal: João Farinha Mendes (LNEG) at MIT: Steve Connors at Universidad de Deusto: Christos Ioakimidis

Research progress and major scientific contributions The work plan is defined now, together with all the institutions that are going to be involved. Our interests with this thesis are two. Firstly: obtain a tool that can give an idea of the feasibility of Concentrated Solar Themal Power plants (CSP) coupled with desalination, as many of the areas in the world where CSP has the biggest advantage are in areas where the lack of water is an important issue.

Secondly: Understand the optimum point between electricity and water production of such a power plant in a case scenario (a Mediterranean Island for example), and if possible understand business models that can be applied to deploy this technology in similar locations. Electricity prices are different throughout the day, week and period of the year, and as water production can be stored with relatively ease, it is important to study the possibility of such a production mix, and related costs to the energy system to which they may be connected. A tool called the Solar Advisor Model (SAM) was created by the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) that is capable of analyzing the feasibility of CSP power plants for electricity generation. We are interested on creating an add-on to their model. The aim is that the updated version of SAM can analyze the costs of installing and running a CSP power plant with desalination capacity in a determined location defined by the user. As the SAM is based mostly in TRNSYS (a tool that simulates transient performance of thermal energy systems) for its technical assessment, it is proposed to create a deck in this model to simulate the operation of the desalination plant, so that it can work with the other blocks created in SAM for the analysis of the CSP plants for electrical production. A second stage will consist on the update of the technical economic model of SAM to have into account the water production of the combined plants (CSP+D). The second part of the PhD will consist on using a case study, preferentially of an isolated energy system in a location where water may also be scarce, to evaluate the optimum solution for the usage of such type of CSP+D power plants, and potential business models. The results obtained from analyzing the usage of CSP plants for electricity production in Portugal indicate that in scenarios with low CO2 prices CSP will have a low expression in the electrical production. Only if CO2 prices reach between 40 and 50 €/tone then CSP becomes the main option for electrical production.

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Vanessa Mateus, FEUP, Portugal Starting year: 2009 PhD program: SES Year of PhD: 2nd Estimated date of Completion: 07/2013

Title of the thesis Energy efficiency in cities: setting a hierarchy of measures for energy savings in the urban context

Supervisors in Portugal: Eduardo Oliveira Fernandes (FEUP) at MIT: John Fernandez

Research progress and major scientific contributions The goal of the thesis is to identify a small set of effective technical strategies which are able to provide a substantial reduction of primary energy demand and carbon emissions associated to the urban residential sector for the Oporto municipality.

It is intended to develop a holistic approach where both top-down - urban stratifications, for the identification of neighborhood/dwelling study-areas - and bottom-up energy modeling techniques will be employed. An optimization analysis will be performed in order to identify low-carbon pathways for this economic sector. For the analysis it will be considered the actual conditionings of the building stock (environmental and physical), the most relevant end-uses and drivers for residential energy demand, and the quantification of the potential reduction of primary energy consumption and carbon emissions that can be achieved when energy conservation strategies, both passive and active are implemented at local level. Different energy conservation strategies can be employed at the building scale, from bioclimatic architecture, the implementation of energy-efficient building materials and dwelling equipments, to building-integrated renewable energy supply technologies.

Furthermore it will also be analyzed the influence of urban morphology characteristics (e.g. building stock density and pattern) and building typologies on residential energy demand profiles.

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Vasco Granadeiro, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2009 PhD program: SES Year of PhD: 3rd Estimated date of Completion: 08/2012 Amount of time spent at MIT: 12 months

Title of the thesis Optimization of Building Shape and Materials for Low Energy Consumption (provisional)

Supervisors in Portugal: José Pinto Duarte (FA-UTL), João Ramôa Correia (IST), Vítor Leal (FEUP) at MIT: William J. Mitchell (deceased, June 2010)

Research progress and major scientific contributions Typically, architects and engineers see building design from different perspectives. To conceive a shape for a building, an architect will mostly consider aesthetics and architectural context, and will not be so meticulous with energy efficiency, the engineer’s only concern. If the architect and the engineer could develop their own shapes for a certain building, the first would present a beautiful shape but probably inefficient and the second would present a simple shape, probably a box, very efficient but not aesthetically appealing.

The shape is the main variable to be defined in the early design stages and it is decisive for the energy behavior of the building throughout its lifetime. In the typical work process, the architect defines the shape, therefore his shape is the starting point. This research suggests a methodology to increase the energy efficiency of the starting shape, changing it through optimization, but within the architect intentions for the shape, within his flexibility for it. This way, the building shape will satisfy both the interests of the architect and the engineer. The selected method to embody flexibility was the design of rules to generate shapes (instead of the design of one shape), using the Shape Grammars formalism.

The variables in these rules allow the generation of a great variety of shapes, and these are the variables to be optimized. The objective is to optimize the shape for a certain location and after optimize the shape and the materials together, since the latter exert a large influence on the energy performance.

An existing set of design rules (called a grammar) was selected as a case study to develop the methodology – the grammar of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Prairie Houses – and programmed into Matlab, involving up to 60 variables. Matlab was linked to Energy Plus to automatically run an energy simulation to any generated shape to know its energy consumption (e.g. for the Lisbon climate). Next step is choosing an optimization algorithm to optimize the variables, being the energy consumption the objective function. Literature points to evolutionary algorithms as the best options, such as genetic algorithms or particle swarm optimization algorithms. After, materials, which are now constants, are going to be variables to optimize along with shape. Once the selection of materials enters the problem, makes sense to look at energy consumption from a life cycle perspective, which will be a new objective function.

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3.4.

Transportation Systems

3.4.1.

Overview

The Doctoral Program in Transport Systems (DPTS) is a joint degree offered by the University of Coimbra, the University of Porto, and the Technical University of Lisbon.

The schools directly involved in the program are FCTUC, FEUP, and IST , respectively, that is, the engineering schools of the three universities.

The DPTS was offered for the first time in the academic year of 2010-2011, to replace the separate doctoral programs in transport previously offered by the three universities, after being approved by the recently established Agency for the Accreditation and Assessment of Higher Education (A3ES). It is, to the best of our knowledge, the first doctoral program ever approved by this agency, with the decision being justified as follows: “It's a well-organized program, engages the three top Portuguese institutions in the area of transport systems, most of the more qualified professors and researchers, has the support of important research centers, establishes a healthy integration of facilities of the three schools, has clear, well identified, and objectives and fulfills an area which is short of 3rd degree technical staff that can't be easily obtained in other countries”.

The goal of the DPTS is to prepare students to become leading actors in the transport world by: • Providing a solid scientific education covering both the methodological approaches and institutional factors required to understand the transportation enterprise as an intermodal integrated system; • Conducting cutting-edge research for the development of a world-class transportation system for passengers and freight in Portugal; and • Working with industrial, government, and laboratory collaborators to provide added value to the program through research collaboration and teaching involvement.

Areas The DPTS covers all transport systems topics, from transport policy and planning to infrastructure design and maintenance, at the various spatial levels (from international to local), and for the various modes (air, rail, road, etc.).

Up to now, the main focus areas have been: • • • • • •

Air transport systems; High speed rail systems; Land-use/transport systems; Innovative urban transport modes/services; Intelligent transport systems; and Traveler information systems.

Of the sixty-eight students currently involved in the DPTS (or separate predecessor programs in the three participating schools), thirty-three have an FCT-MIT Portugal scholarship, nineteen of whom have already presented their “Thesis Project” successfully, and seven have already spent a significant amount of time at MIT.

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The theses of these seven students illustrate the wide variety of subjects and approaches currently being pursued within the DPTS. Two of the theses address air transport topics: congestion at airports and equity in air transport. One fits into the AirNets project, whose objective is to develop analytical tools to assist aviation authorities and air carriers to cope better with airport congestion, one of the major problems faced by the air transport industry. The other one deals with an important issue raised by the liberalization of air transport, because this leads air carriers to abandon non-profitable routes.

The area of high-speed rail is also represented with two theses. One of them is being carried out within the framework of the HSR-Life project. Specifically, it aims at assessing the feasibility of combining passenger and freight service in a HSR line, using Lisbon-Madrid as a case study. Within the other thesis, which is part of the HSR-Risk project, a methodology for line planning capable of coping with geotechnical, seismic and hydrological risks are being developed.

Intelligent transport systems is the research area of one of the theses. Its main objective is to assess the safety benefits of Variable Speed Limits (VSL) in urban motorways and, based on the results obtained, provide recommendations on the best strategies for their application.

The remaining two theses can be seen as a contribution to the overall goal of the DPTS of training researchers and professionals capable of addressing transport problems – particularly in urban/metropolitan areas – from a system-level perspective.

One of the theses, included in the SOTUR project, is analyzing how institutional design and decision-making mechanisms affect the overall performance of a transport system. The other thesis looks at the implications of an ageing society with respect to travel demand, thus providing important information to take into account when designing transport services for the future.

Coordinators of Transportation Systems António Pais Antunes, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, Univ. of Coimbra (PhD director) Chris Zegras, Urban Studies & Planning, MIT Luís Picado Santos, IST, Technical University of Lisbon Jorge Pinho de Sousa, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto José Viegas, IST, Technical University of Lisbon Richard Neufville, Engineering Systems Division, MIT (PhD director)

3.4.2.

Structure

The DPTS has a total (expected) duration of three years. In the 1st year, students make a doctoral program of 60 ECTS. This program comprises two mandatory (“M”) curricular courses – “Research Methodologies” (6 ECTS) and “Thesis Project in Transport Systems” (30 ECTS) – and four optional (“O”) curricular courses. At least two of the optional courses must be chosen among the ones listed in the next table.

The remaining ones can be chosen among any other doctoral courses offered by the participating schools or by any school with which they have doctoral collaboration agreements. The 2nd and 3rd years of the DPTS are dedicated to the preparation of a doctoral thesis of 120 ECTS. The curricular units listed in the following table are

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typically taught by faculty of two participating schools. Lectures are given in the school where the professor usually teaches, and broadcast to the other schools by videoconference.

The activity of a student of the DPTS takes place as follows. When the student is admitted, the director of the program in the respective host school, having heard the interests of the student, designates a tutor amongst the faculty involved in the DPTS or any other faculty member of the school approved by the Scientific Committee. The tutor helps the student to design her/his course plan and to become acquainted with all the research areas ongoing in the participating schools, other Portuguese schools, and in the international scene. This aims at helping the student to identify until May of the 1st year a suitable research area and a supervisor (or supervisors) for her/his future doctoral thesis, according to her/his research interests. The course plan and the supervisor of each student have to be approved by the Scientific Committee. With the support of her/his supervisor(s), the student must submit a thesis project specifying a research topic and a work plan by the end of the 1st year. The student must make a presentation and discuss the thesis project before a jury designated by the Scientific Council of the host school. Once the thesis project is approved, the student can start the preparation of the doctoral thesis. An Accompanying Committee including the supervisor(s), one element of the Scientific Committee, and one representative of a participating school, other than the host school, will meet at least once a year to assess the progress accomplished by the student.

Structure of the doctoral program in Transportation Systems

Course

ECTS

Mandatory/Optional

Road Traffic Management

6

Optional

1st

Research Methodologies

6

Mandatory

1st

Transport Demand Modelling

6

Optional

1st

Transport Infrastructure and Operations Optimization

6

Optional

1st

Risk and Decision-Making

6

Optional

1st

Highway and Airport Infrastructure Engineering

6

Optional

2nd

Business Models and Contracts

6

Optional

2nd

Transport Policies and Institutions

6

Optional

2nd

Railway infrastructure design and maintenance

6

Optional

2nd

Simulation of Land-Use/Transport Systems Simulation

6

Optional

2nd

Thesis Project

30

Mandatory

Annual

3.4.3.

Semester

New courses and faculty involved

For the Doctoral Program in Transportation Systems six new courses have been specially designed. The courses are taught by twenty-one faculty members from the Portuguese participant schools. MIT faculty participation is currently being defined as the new structure of this program was only put in place this academic year (2010/11).

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3.4.4.

Use of open-source community-based tools for learning

The transportation systems coordination is creating this year (2011) a platform on Moodle.

3.4.5.

Benchmarking

In this section, we give information on the nine doctoral programs in transport against which we chose to benchmark the doctoral program in Transportation Systems. These are top-quality programs offered by well-known research universities. We include five programs from four European countries, two of which of a size similar to Portugal (The Netherlands and Denmark), and four from North America.

Polytechnic University of Catalonia - Programa de Doctorado Ingeniería e Infraestructuras del Transporte Location: Departamento de Infrastructura del Transporte y del Territorio, Departamento de Ingeniería Mecánica, and Departamento de Organización de Empresas.

Structure • Teaching stage: 60 ECTS included in one or several Master courses, preferably those associated with the doctoral program.

• Research stage: Defense of a thesis proposal, and preparation and defense of doctoral thesis. Teaching stage should be finished before the research stage is initiated.

Areas • Planning and design of transport infrastructure networks • Mathematical analysis and numeric modeling of transport systems and their territorial impacts • Organization and operations of transport and logistics systems • Analysis of the connections between spatial development and transport networks • Economics, financing, and assessment of transport infrastructure construction and exploitation.

Admission requirements: Diploma in Engineering – mainly Civil (“Caminos”) and Industrial – or similar (Architecture, Economics, etc.).

PhD in Transport – Imperial College Location: Centre for Transport Studies, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Areas • Travel behavior and transport modeling • Transport technology and telematics • Transport operations • Transport and environment • Transport policy and regulation • Railway operations and management • Geomatics • Port operations and logistics

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• Air transport operations and planning • Freight transport and logistics • Safety Admission requirements: Applicants for a research degree (MPhil/PhD) should have or expect to obtain a first or upper second-class honors degree or equivalent, in a relevant quantitative discipline (e.g., Engineering, the Physical Sciences, Environmental Science, athematics/Statistics, Computing, Economics). A Master's degree (not necessarily in transport) may be advantageous, but is not essential.

PhD in Transport – University of Leeds Location: Institute for Transport Studies, Faculty of Areas • Transport and energy • Understanding travel behavior/choices • Freight: Mode choice in freight transport • Air/high speed rail • Transport policy and the low carbon society • Modeling network interactions • Transport and environment • Human factors and highly automated driving • Impairment and driving performance

These two milestones are of particular importance: • Assessment of the first year: Students seeking a PhD are initially registered with 'provisional' status. At the end of the first year progress is reviewed and the registration status changed, subject to a successful upgrade. This upgrade is an assessment of performance, and takes the form of a written report and oral presentation to a panel. The primary aim of this and other processes is to help keep the student on-track for successful completion.

• Feedback at the end of the second year: Towards the end of the second year students submit a paper about their progress, which is considered by both supervisors and their Postgraduate Tutor. This includes an updated plan to detail the student's path to submission, for approval prior to registering for year three.

Admission requirements: Applicants for a research degree should have or expect to obtain a first or upper second-class honors degree or equivalent, preferably in a quantitative discipline. A Master’s degree (not necessarily in transport) may be advantageous, but is not essential. Candidates should have a clearly specified and achievable research goal.

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Structure Timeline and milestones of a PhD in Transport at the University of Leeds Month

Tasks

Outputs

1-3

Induction Discuss and agree the Training Plan Initial training course – ‘Starting your PhD’ Core reading Literature review Define objectives Prepare for mock upgrade Attend UTSG conference Compete mock upgrade

Personal Training Plan

4-6

Short literature review Mock upgrade note

7-9

Develop methodology Prepare upgrade report

Draft upgrade report

9/10 12

Upgrade examination Deadline for upgrade

PhD upgrade report Revised Plan

Year 2 13-15

Core research

16-18

Conference paper (e.g. UTSG)

19-21

Core research Prepare conference paper Core research and draft chapters

22-24

Submit end of Year 2 paper and Plan

Year 2 paper and Plan

25-27 28-30

Apply Plan – develop journal paper (e.g. convert conference paper) Complete core research

31-33

Submission of chapters to supervisors

34-36

Review draft thesis Write-up and submit thesis

Year 3

Note: different timescales / milestones apply to MPhil and part-time PhDs.

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Conference/journal paper

PhD thesis

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PhD in Transport – Delft University of Technology, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Radboud University Nijmegen, University of Twente, and University of Groningen Location: TRAIL Netherlands Research School on Transport, Infrastructure and Logistics (“TRAIL is a collaborative initiative of five Dutch universities, and has been accredited as research school since 1997”).

Structure The activity of a student is established according to personalized PhD agreements specifying an education and training plan, a research plan, a publication plan, and an agreement on support and supervision.

The education and training plan includes general introduction courses on the interdisciplinary TRAIL fields of interest, courses to overcome possible initial deficiencies in knowledge or skills of PhD candidates, and in-depth courses on skills and scientific topics in the specific scientific area to which the PhD program contributes The PhD agreement is made up within the first half year of the TRAIL membership of a new PhD by the student together with his supervisor and promoter and approved by the scientific director of TRAIL. The arrangements are monitored on annual basis and can be revised if necessary. The arrangements and procedure can be tuned to the criteria of and be included in the regular, (annual) personnel evaluations as performed by the participating faculties in TRAIL. The whole of the PhD agreement and the course program are based upon the required final attainment level of students and are tuned to strengthen the career perspectives of alumni.

Areas • Mobility • Transport • Logistics • Traffic • Infrastructure • Transport systems

PhD Studies in Transport – Technical University of Denmark Location: Department of Transports of TUD Structure • 1st semester: 30 ECTS of courses (at least 20 made from dedicated PhD courses) • 2nd to 6th semester: PhD research, complemented with teaching (3 months), project work on a relevant field (6 months), and visit to foreign university.

• The student is expected to publish “3-5 international papers (preferably in journals) during the study”.

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Areas • Traffic safety • Decision modeling • Transport economics • Transport models (ModelCenter) • Traffic modeling • Logistics and intelligent transport systems Admission requirements: Master’s degree completed with B (ECTS scale), 76 (percent), or 8.4 (Danish 7-step scale).

Interdepartmental Doctoral Program in Transportation – MIT Location: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (administration) Structure • The program requires the completion of at least 150 units of a program of study by the student, the successful completion of a General Examination, which consists of both written and oral components, and the submission and defense of an acceptable dissertation.

• The program of study consists of: • The doctoral core program: at least six subjects totaling at least 66 units that represent the student’s area of specialization. The six subjects must include at least two “methodological” subjects and two “transportation” subjects. The core defines the student’s area of in-depth knowledge.

• The remainder: a set of subjects in transportation and related fields. As part of the remainder, a breadth area consisting of three subjects (at least 27 units) defining a knowledge base in a field distinct from the student’s core program, but complementary to that focus. The relevance of this breadth area to the student’s transportation interests must be explained as part of the student’s program proposal. The remainder of the program may include up to 45 units of graduate level subjects taken elsewhere.

• The General Examination is expected to be taken no later than the fourth semester of graduate study. The written exam is administered first, followed in about two weeks by the oral exam. The written exam is a take home, open book examination. It consists of four separate questions administered over four consecutive days. On Day One all students will be given a common question covering core subjects. On Days Two, Three and Four, students can choose two out of three questions from the following areas: Transportation Demand and Economics; Transportation Supply and Operations; and Transportation Planning and Policy. The oral exam consists of the presentation and discussion of a research paper (possibly based on student’s master’s thesis) of up to seven pages submitted prior to the beginning of the written exam. Although questions usually focus on the student’s oral presentation, specific questions related to the student’s doctoral core program and the student’s response on the written exam may be asked.

Admission requirements: Students currently registered in an MIT master’s degree program, as well as students with or working toward a research-based masters degrees (i.e., with a research thesis) from other schools.

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PhD Program in Transportation Engineering – University of Maryland Location: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (administration) Areas • Transportation planning and policy • Traffic operations and control • Travel demand analysis • Transportation operations research • Public transportation systems • Air transportation systems • Freight transportation and logistics Structure • Completion of eight courses beyond the student’s MS program requirements.

These courses must be determined by the student in consultation with and subject to the approval of the student’s supervisor.

• Successful completion of a PhD Qualifying Examination. This exam is administered in three parts: (1) a one-day written examination covering transportation systems engineering fundamentals and methodological basics; (2) a two-day written examination covering the student’s areas of specialization in Transportation; and (3) an oral examination.

• Successful defence of a research proposal. After the qualifying exam is passed, the student will form a PhD dissertation committee in consultation with his/her research supervisor. This committee must consist of a minimum of 5 graduate faculty members, including at least one “external” member who will serve as the Dean’s Representative. The “external” member must be from the University of Maryland at College Park but not from the Engineering School. A dissertation research proposal must be prepared, presented to, and approved by this committee.

Admission requirements: Applicants must have a minimum GPA of 3.5 to apply to the Doctoral Program and a GRE with scores of at least 650 in the quantitative and analytical parts. Applicants with lower GPA's and/or GRE may be considered and accepted in a provisional basis if other indicators of ability are exceptional (letters of recommendation, prior experience ...).

PhD Program in Transportation Technology and Policy – University of California Davis Location: Institute of Transportation Studies Areas • Technology track: systems-level planning, analysis, management, and design of advanced transportation technologies (especially vehicle propulsion and “intelligent transportation systems”).

• Policy track: public policy and planning issues related to transportation, especially the social and environmental impacts.

Structure • The PhD degree will require completion of course requirements and a dissertation. The normative time for a PhD is 4 years.

• Students must complete 54 total units (including units completed toward a relevant MS) from 7 core courses, as well as at least three additional technology or policy courses in the chosen track and one additional course

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in the alternate track. At least 2/3 of all credits must be at the graduate level.

The core courses are in the following areas: Transportation Technology, Transportation Policy, Transportation Systems, Research Design, Economics, and Transportation Models and Quantitative Methods (2).

• First-year students must make the Transportation Orientation seminar and the Leadership, Professionalism, and Ethics seminar.

• Students must make the ITS seminar every quarter for 2 years and some number of research units every quarter for the entire program.

• Students must pass the PhD Qualifying Examination.

Admission requirements: Students normally will have earned a minimum grade point average of 3.5 and must also submit GRE scores and three letters of recommendation. International students are expected to achieve a minimum score of 550 on the paper-based and 80 on the iBT Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL).

PhD Program in Transport and Logistics – University of British Columbia Location: Centre for Transportation Studies, Sauder School of Business Areas: the program is a cross field within Business Administration, or (and) interdisciplinary across the University. Although the program is designed to meet the needs of individual students, there are two main streams: one focusing on transport economics and policy analysis, and another focusing on logistics and supply chain management.

Structure A typical schedule for a PhD student in the program might be: • Year 1 Fall - Research Methods and two or three electives • Year 1 Winter - advanced topics in transportation and two or three electives • Year 1 Summer - Summer research paper • Year 2 Fall - Teaching Methods and two or three elective courses • Year 2 Winter - three or four elective courses • Year 2 Summer - Comprehensive exam • Years 3 and 4 - Preparation of presentation of thesis proposal and preparation and defense of thesis.

A list of about 20 elective courses is available for both the Transport Economics and Policy Analysis Stream and the Logistics and the Supply Chain Management Stream.

Admission requirements: “Students applying for our PhD program are expected to have a good master's level training in quantitative methods. Those who do not have such a training are encouraged to apply to our Masters of Science (MSc) program in Transportation and Logistics before going on to a PhD. Students who qualify for an admission into the PhD program but do not have adequate backgrounds in some areas may be required to take some prerequisite courses”.

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Conclusion Over the 4-5 years of the post-graduate education network, it was possible to set up a Doctoral Program in Transport Systems (DPTS) offered jointly by the three Portuguese engineering schools with the strongest transport research groups. The program is attracting on average 15 students per year, an amount that we believe is consistent with the available supervision capabilities and the country’s R&D needs.

The comparison of the program with world-leading doctoral programs in transport reveals similarities and differences. With respect to structure, the most different are perhaps the programs offered by the English schools (Imperial College and University of Leeds), especially because they do not involve a (significant) teaching component.

The most similar are probably the programs offered in the smaller European countries – TRAIL in the Netherlands and the Technical University of Denmark – as they both involve a teaching component in the 1st year followed by a research component. In the case of TRAIL, not only is the program offered by a consortium of schools (including the Delft University of Technology and the Erasmus University Rotterdam), but also the size of the teaching component is exactly the same as in the DPTS (60 ECTS). In the North American universities (MIT, University of Maryland, University of California Davis, and University of British Columbia), the programs are more complex, because of a longer teaching period and the existence of a general examination. As regards the focus areas, the DPTS is certainly close to programs clearly based on engineering schools – such as the programs of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, the Imperial College, the MIT, and the University of Maryland – but, in so far as we could understand, differences to the other pro-grams are small. Also, no significant differences were noticed in relation to admission requirements – a Master’s degree (with a good mark) is in principle necessary, but the principle is not strictly applied.

The first steps towards a competitive doctoral program in transport systems based in Portugal were made, but there is still plenty of ground to cover before the ambitious goal it pursues can be fully met. In particular, it is necessary to make a thorough assessment of the program after the completion of the current edition – in close collaboration with MIT. The improvements this assessment will allow to make will be crucial to enhance the probability of success of the program.

3.4.6.

PhD theses

This section shows the profiles of several students.

The home institution of each student is indicated on the first line as: IST – Instituto Superior Técnico – Technical University of Lisbon FCTUC – Faculty of Sciences and Technoloy - University of Coimbra FEUP – Faculty of Engineering – University of Porto

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Abdur Boy Berawi, FEUP, Indonesia Starting year: 2008 PhD Program: DPTS Year of PhD: 3rd Estimated date of Completion: 2012

Title of the thesis Development of Railway Track Degradation Model for Maintenance Optimization on HSR

Supervisors In Portugal: Raimundo Delgado (FEUP), Rui Calçada (FEUP) Main publication Berawi, A.R., Delgado, R., Calçada, R., Vale, C. (2010). Evaluating Track Geometrical Quality through Different Methodologies. International Journal of Technology, Vol. 1, ISSN:2086-9614, pp.38-47.

Research progress and major scientific contributions In recent years, studies on track degradation in the field of railway have attracted a great deal of attention. Intensive research activities have been carried out by many organizations with aims to secure a high level of safety and reliability of infrastructure system. Since failure will contribute to the significant economic losses, many railway infrastructure managers (IM’s) spend a substantial proportion of budget on the Maintenance and Renewal (M&R), which makes up a considerable part of total railway operating cost and accounts for up to 70% from total life cycle cost (LCC) of track infrastructure. With this huge amount of financial expenditure, undoubtedly, a small reduction on the maintenance cost would bring a significant impact, particularly on the overall LCC. In order to accomplish this objective, understanding the track degradation process and its impact on the safety of train operations are highly important. Recognizing any changes on the track condition from time to time and consequences of maintenance on the track performance will enable us to estimate the residual lifetime of the asset. The accurate life cycles, including any maintenance activities need to be performed during functional life thus can be drawn and by doing so, the railway company may reduce the operational and maintenance expenditures in a systematic way without endangering the traffic safety.

In this work we sought to develop a new approach that can predict a change of track quality by investigating the transition process through stochastic deterioration and intervention model analyses.

The method then will be optimized with respect to parameters of interest (e.g. allowable tolerance value and track layout influence) to obtain the optimum maintenance schedule for the actual railway network system. The model is supposed to be able to capture the progression and dynamic nature of degradation process which can minimize the long-term mean life cycle costs. Currently, we have identified different techniques of track quality assessment used around the world. Based on the review, the most appropriate techniques have been selected and putted into practice in the quality measurements of the railway. With this approach, we are able to predict the likely rate of track degradation within the period of investigation by using simple linear regression.

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Alda Metrass Mendes, FEUP, Portugal Starting year: 2007 PhD Program: DPTS Year of PhD: 4th Estimated date of Completion: 12/2011 Amount of time spent at MIT: 18 months

Title of the thesis Air transportation design for effective and efficient service to small remote communities: Policy options under regulatory reforms

Supervisors in Portugal: Álvaro Costa (FEUP) at MIT: Richard de Neufville Main Publication Metrass-Mendes, A., de Neufville, R. (2011), Air transportation policy for small communities: lessons from the U.S. experience (submitted for publication) Research progress and major scientific contributions The last decades have witnessed a global trend toward airline deregulation, with significant impacts on national provisions for air service of smaller communities. One of the consequences of liberalization is that the carriers are no longer constrained to serve routes, and may thus neglect service to less profitable destinations with lower density traffic. Deregulation can therefore have detrimental effects on small remote centers.

Though many governments agree on the obligation of preventing discontinuity of service to these communities, there is no common accord on how national air transportation policies should be designed to support this objective. While some nations have opted for full deregulation and to sustain the service through subsidies paid to carriers competing for contracts, others chose to maintain the status quo and others to carry on lighter forms of regulation in hybrid forms. Different national contexts also result in that a solution that is appropriate for one country may not be the most successful for another.

The working hypothesis is that the analysis of multiple worldwide experiments with air service of small remote communities will allow the identification of best practices. The main argument is that the policy design that works better in each case can be acknowledged, and thus provide a good starting point for further policy formulation and recommendations.

The research for the world best practices in policy design is developed from the evaluation of mature experiences of the U.S.A. government, Canada and the Northern Territories, and Australia, and the assessment of progress toward deregulation in countries like Portugal, Spain, and Brazil, according to two criteria: effectiveness and efficiency. The study will make recommendations for the design of air transportation policies for countries where deregulation and the provision of small communities are under discussion, derived from the reference cases.

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Ana Costa, FCTUC, Portugal Starting year: 2008 PhD Program: DPTS Year of PhD: 3rd Estimated date of Completion: 08/2012 Amount of time spent at MIT: 12 months

Title of the thesis Risk Assessment and Management for High-Speed Rail Systems based on Scenario Descriptions under Uncertainty

Supervisors in Portugal: Maria Conceição Cunha (FCTUC), Paulo Coelho (FCTUC) at MIT: Herbert Einstein Research progress and major scientific contributions Planning of High-Speed Railways (HSR) must consider multiple and uncertain future conditions, including natural phenomena such as flooding, earthquakes, etc. Various alternatives can be adopted for corridors and technical solutions, which may yield considerably different overall performance. A survey was firstly conducted among experts from industry and academia to identify and characterize risk factors for high-speed rail lines in different ground conditions. The results reveal the need to address the problem and reflect both industry and academia’s concerns regarding the issue. Useful answers were obtained for the quantification of the risks involved. A major achievement was the development of a framework of analysis, which represents a significant advance with respect to current approaches to the problem. A computational tool was subsequently coded to allow dealing with all the information needed. This user-friendly tool was developed in C# language linked to a powerful database, the Microsoft SQL Server 2008. It allows the consideration of search space properties through descriptive property layers, the HSR design specifications and costs, an optimization model and the implementation of the Simulated Annealing Algorithm (SAA) to solve the model. Applications to case studies of increasing complexity and magnitude have been performed in order to estimate the SAA parameter combination yielding the best results and to highlight the influence of problem specifics in the process. Results are currently being analyzed for the completion of a paper to be submitted to an international journal in the field of operations research. These applications of the tool and model report to a scenario of normal operational conditions. Future developments will include scenarios of extreme conditions and application of the tool to a real HSR case study. Connectivity with Geographic Information Systems is possible if the data is available in a proper format. On completion of the research, decision aid tools based on robust optimization techniques will be available considering scenarios with an importance degree to be specified by the decision maker. These will enable the consideration of geotechnical, seismic and hydrological risks for HSR in order to achieve solutions that performs well for the different scenarios considered, even if they do not represent the best solution for a particular scenario within the infrastructure’s lifetime.

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Ashenafi Weldemichael, FCTUC, Ethiopia Starting year: 2009 PhD Program: DPTS Year of PhD: 2nd Estimated date of Completion: 08/2013

Title of the thesis Optimization based approach for land-use/transportation policy making

Supervisors in Portugal: António Pais Antunes (FCTUC) at MIT: Christopher Zegras Research progress and major scientific contributions Urban areas are socio-economic centers. They accommodate majority of the world population and greatly contribute to national economies. At the same time there have been concerns on how these urban areas are evolving and their contribution to environmental and living qualities. These areas are faced with challeng-es of high energy consumption, urban sprawl, reduced life qualities and pollution.

In response to these challenges, policy options have been developed in line with strategic goals like sustainability. The chal-lenge still remains in the ability of testing the effectiveness of these policy options. This research address-es a question of whether measuring effectiveness of policy options can be facilitated by linking an optimi-zation framework to land-use/transportation interaction model and whether optimal strategies can be pro-posed by combining explicit land-use, transportation, pricing and regulatory policies at different ranges. To answer these questions, the dissertation first develops a strategic, optimization-based tool that gener-ates optimal strategies and then it tests the performance of these optimal strategies using UrbanSim—a detailed, comprehensive land-use/transportation model.

This optimization based modeling methodology has number of advantages. It is quick and effective because it focuses on iterative procedure of searching an optimal strategy rather than one by one strategy testing; and it is innovative because it might result in new policy combinations. The landuse/transportation interaction model is a strategic model that considers groups of households and firms as decision making entities. The optimization framework has efficiency, equity, living-quality and robustness as objectives within the environmental, institutional, social, and budget constraints. The tool will be tested on a Portuguese city. If successfully completed, the tool is expected to take a considerable part in the decision making process of the urban area and it will add to the knowledge of optimization-based approaches for land-use/transportation systems. As a prescriptive model, the tool provides set of optimal land-use/transportation strategies taking into consideration the responses of urban agents.

Using similar concepts, a small scale model is developed and tested on a hypothetical urban area. It targets at providing a policy option, whether to allow expansion, considering accessibility, density and cost. Initial results show that such an approach can provide guidance for decision makers. It can facilitate the process of choosing appropriate policy and can help in understanding responses of urban agents.

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Carlos Azevedo, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2008 PhD Program: DPTS Year of PhD: 3rd Estimated date of Completion: 2012 Amount of time spent at MIT: 12 months

Title of the thesis Safety criteria for the management of variable speed limits

Supervisors in Portugal: João Cardoso (LNEC), José Viegas (IST) at MIT: Moshe Ben-Akiva Research progress and major scientific contributions The main objectives of this research thesis are: the integration of safety assessment models in the stateof-the art traffic micro-simulation tools by developing accident prediction models for the urban motorway environment; the identification of the safety benefits of Variable Speed Limits systems (VSL) in urban motorways and recommend best strategies for its application; and the study of the ITS effects on driver behaviour to identify which of the related changes may influence road safety.

Regarding the thesis tasks, the student has: undertaken a comprehensive review of existing APMs, driver behaviour models and application of VSL signs for network efficiency; collected part of the data needed for the case study; designed and calibrated a Portuguese urban motorway pilot site in the micro-simulation application MITSIMLab (developed at MIT); worked with the ITSLab (MIT) on the new developments of MITSIM driver behaviour models and core-structure; started a sensitivity analysis on the existing driver behaviour model parameters; and started the design of the APM that will be integrated with MITSIMLab. Besides the continuation of the case study simulation and the design of the APM, further tasks to be undertaken by the student are: modelling of the VSL system, definition of its control strategies and evaluation of their effectiveness in reducing accident risk; and conclusions and recommendations of best strategies in the application of VSL systems in Portuguese urban motorway sites.

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Carlos Marques, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2009 PhD Program: DPTS Year of PhD: 2nd Estimated date of Completion: 05/2013

Title of the thesis Emerging Energy and Technology Patterns in Transportation Systems and the Kondratieff Waves Theory

Supervisors in Portugal: Rosário Macário (IST) at MIT: Amedeo Odoni Research progress and major scientific contributions The general objective of the proposed PhD research is supported on the analysis of the state-of-the-art on economic long waves, also known as Kondratieff’s waves. This should allow setting up a macrobehaviour dynamic model that is able to merge the fundamental energy, environmental, economic, social, technological and political trends, helping to unveil the most likely “futures” for transportation in the horizon 2030. The research hypothesis proposed is that the Long Waves theory associated to system dynamics’ modelling constitute a relevant economic predictive approach to frame and point out the pathways for the next energy and technological paradigm shift in the economy and transportation in particular, which seems bound to occur somewhere during the first half of the XXI century. The key objectives for the research work are therefore: - To establish a sound knowledge base on the impact of the economic “Long Waves” on technology and energy patterns in transportation - To design a macro-behaviour system dynamic’s model that is able to simulate impacts of fundamental energy, environmental, economic, social, technological and political trends with a likely influence on transportation - To setup likely “futures” for transportation across the first half of the XXI century derived from emerging economic , technological and business patterns, linking to major trends & drivers in this sector This should allow overlaying the predictive context associated to the theory on Kondratieff Long Waves to the likely occurrence of breakthrough developments in a variety of fields highly relevant for transportation such as, engine technology, energy sources, information technology (including ITS), materials’ engineering, bio-engineering, societal organization and new governance models across regions and countries. The work devised in this research plan is expected to help building sound informed scenarios on what can societies and economies expect for the years ahead, what are the options, the risks, and above all, how could the transportation system and stakeholders in general prepare and adapt for what is likely to be a global “creative destruction” period.

Research progress so far includes the delivery and acceptance of the thesis Research Plan during the first semester of 2010. Current activities remain focused on the state-of-the-art review that precedes the development of a model envisaging to establish a relationship between long wave economic cycles and technological disruptive advancements in areas relevant for transportation.

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Diana Carvalho, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2007 PhD Program: DPTS Year of PhD: 4th Estimated date of Completion: 08/2011

Title of the thesis Fighting Parasite Circulation through Online Parking Space Reservations

Supervisors in Portugal: João de Abreu e Silva (IST) Research progress and major scientific contributions Cruising for Parking and the consequent circulation under low speed, derived from the uncertainty about the existence and location of a parking spot (parasite circulation), are problems that, although located, can cause major damage in terms of time spent by drivers, fuel consumption, emission of pollutants and cause of accidents. Also, they represent a major loss of efficiency of the private car.

In this dissertation, we study a system of online parking space reservations on the street, in urban areas, with the objective of reducing parasite circulation and its environmental impacts and congestion.

We want to improve the efficiency of the private car by eliminating the uncertainty factors (via a reservation) that lead to parasite circulation and its negative consequences. It has been demonstrated that even a small reduction in parking search times would bring important benefits to the environment.

This approach is an alternative to increasing the offer of parking spaces or their prices solely, and correspondent disadvantages.

The conception of this Online Reservations System, besides its framing within Intelligent Transportation Systems principles, was made with consideration to Policy aspects, namely the pursuits of Sustainability, Equity and Acceptability, besides Efficiency, that materialized into targeting discretionary travel, designing restrictions of use (of frequency and duration) and eligibility criteria for selected spaces and the introducing of an added revenue from the service, to justify and mitigate the potentially lowered turnover of these parking spaces.

The work developed includes a bibliographical review of relevant themes for this System, such as Parking Planning and Management, Role in Modal Choice and Economic Development and Effectiveness of Parking Policies, as well as the analysis of existing Parking Reservation Systems. We were then able to evolve into local measurements of Cruising for Parking in Lisbon, which resulted in peaks of 24% share of traffic cruising for parking and daily averages of 10% share, in an avenue very well served by transit, with off-street parking available nearby. These results supported the need to tackle parasite circulation and the validity of testing such a parking reservations system. Full creative System design has also been carried, with attention to enforcement mechanisms, promotion of Modal Transfer, user education and strategies to mitigate difficulties of implementation.

Currently, a study of demand for such a System is being carried within the SCUSSE project, and the conceived system will be simulated in Transims to assess potential gains in Transportation System performance, and to determine the best percentage of spaces to be allocated from regular to prereserved use. System implementation and maintenance costs will also be analyzed, in order to find adequate prices that will respect demand and provide the desired profitability to be applied in improvements to the remaining Mobility System.

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Diana Leal, FCTUC, Portugal Starting year: 2008 PhD Program: DPTS Year of PhD: 3rd Estimated date of Completion: 08/2012 Amount of time spent at MIT: 6 months

Title of the thesis Goods Traffic on High Speed Railway Line LisbonMadrid

Supervisor in Portugal: Luís Picado Santos (IST) Research progress and major scientific contributions High Speed Rail (HSR) investments have been a subject of great interest for the Europe Union. Given that these require large public investment, once decided, it is important to think about how to use the system in the most efficient way. The motivation for the study leads to interest in the MIT of MultiAttribute Tradespace Exploration (MATE) method and its applicability in the development process for several types of products and situations. The method has been show to enable better concept decision making in space system applications, however it has never been applied to the analysis of a transportation problem as in this implementation of a HSR project. The MATE method was selected with the purpose of analyzing the trade-off between a certain number of criteria and to be able to understand the possible range of solutions and apply this methodology to deal with complex transportation problems as is the HSR line project. The main objective is to use MATE applied on the future LisbonMadrid HSR line. This methodology addresses the feasibility of the introduction of freight on the operation of the line admitting that the rolling stock will be of the same type of the passenger’s rolling stock and that freight will use the open slots beyond passengers’ service. This procedure integrates technical data from rail operators and also data provided by stakeholders with a strong interest in the evaluation of different strategic scenarios and helping in the decision making process about decisions on HSR line. Until now the work done was mainly related with data acquisition and data analysis from interviews done to the most important stakeholders involved. The strategic scenarios are being set-up in order to define the most appropriate framework regarding passengers and cargo decisions. It is expected that within the next months it will be possible to have an application of MATE treating the described HSR case and by this way making the validation of a powerful tool for the study of complex transportation problems that was not yet accomplished in this scientific field. The research is now part of the EXPRESS research project set up under the MIT PORTUGAL. The project mainly seeks the establishment of the overall socio-economic impact of that rail line.

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Filmon Habtemichael, FCTUC, Eritrea Starting year: 2009 PhD Program: DPTS Year of PhD: 2nd Estimated date of Completion: 2013

Title of the thesis Improved Active Traffic Management System for Motorway Efficiency

Supervisor in Portugal: Luís Picado Santos (IST) Research progress and major scientific contributions The thesis is part of a project all about actively managing motorway space and more specifi-cally the lanes of motorways in real-time conditions. The concept is that, the infrastructure will be treated as a mega-sensor (intelligent infrastructure) and relating it with in-vehicle sensing systems (intelligent vehicle) for better road traffic management schemes. It aims at harmonizing or regulating speed difference between vehicles within the same lane and across adjacent lanes as well (leading and following vehicles in the same lane and vehicles to the right and left lanes, if any) by use of dynamic traffic management strategies. In doing so, the driver’s (and his vehicle) state and level of competence to drive at a prescribed speed will also be accessed for increased safety, better throughputs of available motorway space and probable reduction in emission, which secures sustainability of motorways. The intention the research to identify all the pros and cons of such improved active traffic management system of motorways with respect to socio-economic and legal terms, and to address the feasible business model for its implementation. Microscopic modeling of a typical Portu-guese motorway in a Portuguese driving environment will be simulated and analyzed.

The objectives of the project are twofold: (1) To pave a way for introducing Active Traffic Management of motorways (like use of variable speed limit, hard-shoulder running and adaptive merge control) onto selected Portuguese urban motorways under Portuguese driving environment and circumstances. (2) Improving active traffic management of motorways by considering the driver’s level of competence and accordingly setting compensatory and constraining measures to restricting the driving freedom of drivers.

203

Francisco Furtado, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2009 PhD Program: DPTS Year of PhD: 2nd Estimated date of Completion: 09/2013

Title of the thesis Railway Scheduling and Capacity Analysis on Mixed Traffic Corridors (provisional title)

Supervisor in Portugal: José Viegas (IST) Research progress and major scientific contributions In Europe several proposals have been made to develop rail freight corridors, since for the moment a network exclusively dedicated to freight is to cost prohibitive, these corridors will (for the moment) have to be implemented in lines were there are passenger services. In the USA case the situation is a mirror image, most of the planned high speed passenger services will be implemented in lines were at present there are freight services (that will be maintained). Although with different goals, both this challenges address a similar problem, how to organize traffic in the most efficient manner and what infrastructure investment will be necessary to accommodate this new train services. The overall objective of the thesis is to contribute for the best possible answer to these challenges.

The major progresses up to now were: Literature review on the overall railway planning process with particular focus on the timetabling and allocation of train’s problem; discussion on the techniques used to solve these problems, especial focus on Agent Based (AB) approaches; comparison of strengths, weaknesses and complementarities between AB and optimization techniques; review of methods used to evaluate capacity on railway corridors and networks; state of the art of software tools in use by the industry for railway management; state of the world regarding the railway freight market, worldwide in Europe and Portugal; discussion on several European Union (EU) funded research projects whose objective is to foster the market share of the freight sector, as well as EU regulations that share the same goals and have a direct impact on infrastructure investments and on traffic management; similar discussion for the USA case; and development of an AB methodology for analysis of timetables and congestion in saturated railway corridors with mixed traffic (were several passenger and freight services coexist).

The key scientific contributions of this thesis will be: To enhance the combination of agent based methodologies and optimization, towards the development of a tool that allows a more efficient use of the railway infrastructure and capital available for its improvement. To achieve this automatic scheduling and rescheduling of trains will be made.

Besides the operational constrains that railway traffic has to comply with, the traffic management will be organized according to the economic and social value of each train/service operating on the railway network, as well as on the strategic goals the decision makers have set for the rail network and on each of the train services specific requirements.

204

MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Gonçalo Caiado, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2008 PhD Program: DPTS Year of PhD: 3rd Estimated date of Completion: 2012

Title of the thesis Modelling the Vulnerability of Complex Transport Network Systems: An Application to Seismic Risk in Urban Environment

Supervisors in Portugal: Rosário Macário (IST), Carlos Oliveira (IST) at MIT: Joseph Sussman Research progress and major scientific contributions Past experience shows that strong earthquakes cause a tremendous impact in terms of both material damages and human losses. While the majority of these losses occur during - or shortly after - the quake, it is recognized that a significant proportion of human losses also take place in the following hours or days. Those post collapse losses can happen either by lack of intervention capacity or by the inability to reach critical locations. The latter will be the focus of our work.

In parallel, urban planning practices at local level rarely take into consideration concerns related with blockage scenarios in case of earthquake. As a result, potentially dangerous situations which could otherwise be avoided are not addressed in the planning process. In fact, when planning or managing urban road networks, seismic risk concerns have typically been tackled exclusively through a structural link-by-link approach.

In this context, the research hypothesis of the current work is that the impacts on the performance of road transport infra-structures for emergency response functions can be minimized when facing a major earthquake, namely by the introduction of measures, not only in terms of infra-structural reinforcement but also in terms of network connectivity and activities location. Thus, this thesis aims at presenting an innovative methodology focusing on strengthening urban road network resiliency in seismic scenarios based on three main dimensions: i) network connectivity; ii) land use, and; iii) demand pattern.

Potential applications of this work include urban planning micro and macro scale solutions to be included in specific instruments (including, among others, urban planning instruments and policies; urban master plans; renewal policies; emergency plans and protection of critical mobility assets programs).

The specific results obtained so far include: i) the literature review; ii) the development of a framework for assessing urban road network vulnerability; iii) the construction of a GIS (Geographic Information System) project for the model validation (Lisbon city case study), and; iv) the building of a programming tool (in VBA) to identify possible road network blockage scenarios.

205

Gonçalo Santos, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2009 PhD Program: DPTS Year of PhD: 2nd Estimated date of Completion: 2013

Title of the thesis Car-sharing: an integrated system adapted to user’s needs

Supervisor in Portugal: José Viegas (IST) Research progress and major scientific contributions Today’s society expresses an intense concern about energy and pollution problems. Oil is becoming scarcer and the level of pollutants in the atmosphere is increasing. This is leading to an energy revolution framed by the words sustainable, clean and efficient. Inevitably, transportation systems will need to change in order to face the new challenges ahead. To promote a sustainable urban mobility, there is a need to change the way people see their private vehicles. The car needs to be seen as another alternative of the system and not the main and only option. To promote a change on this type of behavior, local authorities need to promote car-sharing as a public service to serve the need for cars in urban areas.

Car-sharing is an on-demand service, based on a membership program that gives people the option to use a car for short periods of time (less than a day), when they want, to go wherever they intend to, without the need to own one. It preserves the access to the car main features, at the same time that allows important savings on private and public resources (time and money; space and environment).

The most adopted car-sharing system is based on round trip movements. Round trip car-sharing systems can be easily controlled because each car is linked to a particular station, but in many cases it would still imply large periods of idleness of the car resulting in the need of having to have a much larger vehicle fleet.

In order to bring car-sharing to the next level, there is a need to break with the traditional ways of carsharing and adapt it to users, taking advantage of the available technology. A modern car-sharing system needs to have a large fleet to provide a decent availability per square meter, must allow simultaneously round trip and one way movements with no limitations concerning the delivery time (flexible return times and stations), and allow members to park vehicles at available parking spaces on streets.

The research for this thesis addresses the design of a car-sharing system with one-way movements based on survey data; the development of a model to forecast the optimum geographical position of vehicles based on current vehicle data and demand historical data; and simulate a one way car-sharing system in the metropolitan area of Lisbon taking in consideration the future technologies like electric vehicles and the electric vehicle charging grid. At this time, we finished the tests to the web survey (included in SCUSSE project) that will be available online in a few days.

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

João Pita, FCTUC, Portugal Starting year: 2008 PhD Program: DPTS Year of PhD: 3rd Estimated date of Completion: 07/2012 Amount of time spent at MIT: 12 months

Title of the thesis Optimization of Air Traffic Network Design under Congestion

Supervisors in Portugal: António Pais Antunes (FCTUC) at MIT: Amedeo Odoni, Cynthia Barnhart Main Publication Pita, J., Barnhart, C., Antunes, A. "Optimization model for integrated schedule design and fleet assignment models under congestion", submitted to Transportation Science.

Research progress and major scientific contributions Air traffic flows have increased considerably over the years, as the world economy became more globalized and tourism became one the main industries on the planet. One of the main implications of the air traffic increase is congestion at airports, which has tremendous impact on airlines and passengers. As different agents in the air transportation system, airlines and civil aviation authorities that protect the public interest have distinct goals. To cope with these problems two optimization models were developed aiming to assist both airlines and civil aviation authorities.

To assist airlines an integrated schedule design and fleet assignment model has been developed which takes aircraft and passenger delay costs explicitly into account. The objective is to maximize the expected profits of an airline that faces a given itinerary-based demand and operates in congested, slot-constrained airports. Both airline competition and airline cooperation are dealt with in the model in a simplified manner. The model was applied to a case study involving the main network of TAP Portugal (31 airports and 100 daily flights legs). The results suggest that profits can increase, while diminishing the total number of flights and increasing slightly the passengers’ average connecting time. The computation effort involved in the application of the model is sufficiently small to allow its real-time utilization in IATA scheduling conferences.

Currently, a second optimization model is being developed to be applied to a busy, congested, and slot-constrained air transportation network with the objective of analyzing the impact of alternative slot allocation policies, including their effect on expected delay time at airports. First, we study the existing situation in terms of total costs of the system, passenger demand per flight-leg, slot distribution, and expected delay time and cost. Then we apply a cost minimization optimization model to evaluate possible improvements in the system by reducing or reorganizing the number of slots to reduce expected delay. This analysis takes into account the current market power of each airline, and the passenger demand per flight-leg. An application using data from the 34 busiest airports in Europe will be performed soon.

207

Maria Spandou, IST, Greece Starting year: 2009 PhD Program: DPTS Year of PhD: 3rd Estimated date of Completion: 2012 Amount of time spent at MIT: 5 months (out of 12)

Title of the thesis Institutional Design as Performance Factor in Urban Mobility Systems

Supervisors in Portugal: Rosário Macário (IST) at MIT: Joseph Sussman Research progress and major scientific contributions The main objectives of my PhD dissertation are the following: (i) obtain a sound knowledge base on the relation between institutional design theory and performance management, (ii) understand and assess the decision-making mechanisms in the transport policy, planning and operations level, as well as the interrelations and interactions among stakeholders, and the vertical consistency between levels of decision and (iii) identify and assess the influence and impact of institutional design parameters of Urban Mobility Systems on the individual and overall system performance. Methodologically, the main directions of my research can be summarized as comparative quantitative and qualitative analysis (multi-methodological approach), from a theoretical and empirical perspective.

Because of the great number of fields and disciplines involved in the problem that I am researching on, a large-scale literature review with references to transportation, institutional analysis, management, economics, public policy, political science, industrial organization, etc is considered essential and has been the main work progress so far. Of course this is an ongoing process. The opportunity of having access to the libraries’ material and other databases at the MIT, as well as personal communications with MIT academics in various of these fields, have been very beneficial for this phase of my dissertation. Under the guidance of my supervisors I attended lectures that could assist my research and improve my knowledge and abilities in certain areas, such as Contract and Organizational Economics, System Dynamics, Negotiations, Presentation skills, Publications etc. Furthermore, my participation throughout the fall semester in the High Speed Rail/Regions and Managing Metropolitan Mobility Group meetings has also given me opportunities for discussion and exchange of ideas.

My contribution so far is the development of a comprehensive and interdisciplinary framework that would allow for systematic and well-grounded analysis of the research problem I am tackling, which in a future phase, complemented by the appropriate modeling and other scientific tools and data, would assist stakeholders that need to address organizational, financial/funding and performance issues, in order to achieve better efficiency, effectiveness and sustainable development of the Urban Mobility System.

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Merkebe Demissie, FCTUC, Ethiopia Starting year: 2009 PhD Program: DPTS Year of PhD: 2nd Estimated date of Completion: 09/2013

Title of the thesis Estimation and prediction of road traffic status with information from different sources

Supervisors in Portugal: Pedro Bizarro (FCTUC), Gonçalo Correia (FCTUC) Research progress and major scientific contributions Previous studies have identified different ways of measuring traffic status and mobility trends of urban road network. The studies have been forced by the fact that knowing mobility trends and status of traffic in urban road network is considered to be very essential to design congestion mitigation strategies from strategic up to operational level. However, due to expensive installation and maintenance cost, primary data collection methods either human observation or different forms of remote sensing (embedded magnetic loop detectors, automatic video feed-based counts, etc) haven’t been extended to the entire transportation network.

Road network data collection coverage has significant role on the success of any Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) applications. Fail to collect information from the entire road network leads different traffic management sectors to relay on the information from part of the network, and in some places the usual practice is to offer advisory only on the location where data collection facilities exist and replacing historical average data to compensate for unavailable data.

This thesis proposes a solution of using additional source of information where there is limited road network sensor coverage to estimate and predict road traffic status. It considers information and data from facilities that are not primarily dedicated for traffic data collection purpose. GPS equipped regular buses and taxies will be used as moving sensor that detects traffic information directly from the traffic stream. On the other hand, information from cellular network is going to be used to capture the pattern of vehicular and pedestrian traffic. The thesis further focuses on developing a framework to estimate and predict road traffic status on road segments where there are no dedicated data collection facilities.

Potential contributions of this thesis work include: engaging already existing facilities for traffic data collection purpose, which reduces installation and maintenance costs. Employment of information from multi-sources that will improve the quality of estimated traffic parameters to gauge traffic in urban areas, which was previously estimated solely from the information by fixed sensors. Employment of moving sensors (probe vehicles) will avoid the problem of point detection and gives wider network coverage.

209

MohammadHajizamani, IST, Iran Starting year: 2009 PhD Program: DPTS Year of PhD: 2nd Estimated date of Completion: 09/2013

Title of the thesis An Intelligent Complex System for Supporting Drivers Based on Car, Environment and Driving Conditions

Supervisors in Portugal: Silvia Shrubsall (IST), José Viegas (IST) Research progress and major scientific contributions The thesis will contribute to design a complex system to support and guide the drivers to avoid errors and finally reduce the number and severity of accidents and causalities. Later it can be used in assessing new road safety measures and also driver behavior modeling. The results from simulation modeling will be used to increase authorities and public acceptance for applying new safety measures.

Thesis research lines plus potential literature review resources have been defined. An initial software modeling has been developed in Agent-Based Modeling platform which is a simulation model including a mix of safe drivers, i.e. drivers who adequately adjust their driving style to the driving conditions, and hazardous drivers, i.e. drivers who have poor sightseeing, tiredness and speeding predisposition and therefore increase the probability of accidents, and the proportions may be controlled by the user, with variable consequences on the rate of accidents. In another step of the model, a Transition was designed to convert (a controllable proportion of) Hazardous Drivers to Safer Drivers, by making the vehicle limit the drivers’ degrees of driving freedom. For example, it can automatically limit the maximum speed allowed or prevent the engine to start if the driver’s blood alcohol level is more than allowed quantity. This Model can assess the safety measures effect on reducing the number of accidents and fatalities. Results from this model led to two papers in the international conferences.

210

MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Rafaela Arriaga, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2007 PhD Program: DPTS Year of PhD: 4th Estimated date of Completion: 05/2013 Amount of time spent at MIT: 6 months

Title of the thesis Transport Needs For an Ageing Society: long terms drivers and generational effect

Supervisors in Portugal: José Viegas (IST) at MIT: M Ben-Akiva Research progress and major scientific contributions Over the next 40 years the number of persons over 65 years-old will dramatically increase across Europe and form a new and different generations of older citizens in regard to their health, their wealth, their lifestyles and their travel needs. This thesis compares three generations of ageing persons and aims at understanding the transport needs incorporating the cohort effect. Drawing on the theories of cohorts, planned behaviour, life course perspective and utility theory, this study investigates empirically the existing generation differences in travel among three living generations. Primary data shall be obtained from a lifetime-retrospective survey and used to estimate the demand models.

The models that explain 65+ mobility severely understate the mobility prediction without the cohort effect. Mobility needs of the next cohorts cannot be predicted with current models. “There is widespread recognition that the emerging cohorts will be different from today’s older drivers, in regard to their individual health, their expectations as they age and especially, their travel demands. However cohort studies, arguably the most effective means of identifying and responding to emerging differences, are relatively rare and currently at least, make few appearances in the research literature.

This is considered to be a serious limitation in our capacity to respond proactively to the challenges and benefits of an ageing society” (Charlton 2006) This study can. Therefore, contribute to both filling the above gap and enlighten the forecast matter using primary data.

At the Official Seminar of PhD Research Proposal, CAT (Nov 22nd, 2010), the project was on target with the plan, however two main issues were outstanding: a DCM course and the programming of the retrospective survey to php. Both issues are being solved with the kind help of my two supervisors.

211

Rui Gomes, FEUP, Portugal Starting year: 2008 PhD Program: DPTS Year of PhD: 3rd Estimated date of Completion: 2012 Amount of time spent at MIT: 4 months

Title of the thesis Dynamic Vehicle Routing for Demand Responsive Transportation

Supervisors in Portugal: Jorge Pinho de Sousa (FEUP), Teresa Galvão Dias (FEUP) at MIT: Cynthia Barnhart Research progress and major scientific contributions Providing quality public transportation is extremely expensive when demand is low, variable and unpredictable, as it is the case of disperse rural areas or some periods of the day in urban areas (e.g. during the night). Buses circulating with very low occupancy rates mean high costs for the service providers, often leading to low frequencies and, as a consequence, low perceived quality and degradation of the image of public transportation. Demand Responsive Transportation (DRT) services address this problem with routes and frequencies that may vary according to the actual observed demand. The problems of designing and operating DRT services are closely related to the Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP), and in particular to the Dial-A-Ride (DARP) models. Given the complexity of these problems, optimal solutions can take an enormous amount of time to be found, ruling out their usefulness in the context at hand. Also, in a multiple criteria decision analysis the “optimal” solution is in general meaningless because it is impossible to satisfy all (usually contradictory) objectives simultaneously.

In this work we present an innovative approach for Demand Responsive Transportation, based on a Dynamic Vehicle Routing model. Besides being a multi-objective problem, DRT systems are also strongly dynamic, requiring the (re-) design of solutions in real-time. In this context we aim at developing a general modeling framework for planning and managing transportation services of this type, handling trip requests specified by customers, and using a fleet of homogeneous vehicles normally based on a single depot. Customers can also specify a time window for departure as well as a desired arrival time.

A further subsidiary aim of this research is to develop a tool for providing a set of efficient solutions hopefully close to the Pareto front, by using efficient, customizable multi-objective algorithmic approaches to deal with the combinatorial nature of the problem and with the multiple perspectives of its different stakeholders. The goal is not only to minimize the operating costs but also to maximize the quality of the service, expressed by indicators such as the average passenger waiting time and the onboard time. We have designed a parallel heuristic approach that constructs a feasible route through a reactive greedy random approach, followed by a local improvement phase. Preliminary computational results on randomly generated instances look very promising, both in terms of cost savings and in terms of computational efficiency. This algorithm is currently being embedded in a Decision Support System that will be used in testing and assessing the approach.

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MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Name: Rui Santos, IST, Portugal Starting year: 2007 PhD Program: DPTS Year of PhD: 4th Estimated date of Completion: 07/2011 Amount of time spent at MIT: 6 months

Title of the thesis Track Maintenance Works Prediction and Scheduling Models

Supervisor in Portugal: Paulo Teixeira (IST) Research progress and major scientific contributions In the railway sector, the development of effective technological solutions depends on achieving optimal infrastructure design, and less expensive solutions, from a life cycle perspective. This perspective includes finding a cost efficient way on how to perform maintenance throughout the whole life cycle, especially in respect to the usage of heavy maintenance resources for track maintenance. Indeed, the railway track subsystem accounts for half of the maintenance costs in the overall railway system for high speed lines.

This thesis addresses the problem of maintenance planning by introducing a logistical approach. Our approach proposes the integration of 3 main optimization researching areas to provide an optimal solution to the problem described earlier. Firstly, we consider a scheduling optimization problem, i.e. a maintenance plan is elaborated where interventions in track sections are scheduled in space contiguity, as well as different tasks for the same time period; secondly by considering facility location in a one dimension problem, i.e. where optimal maintenance yards and sideways are located in order to reduce logistical costs (machinery and crews) to follow a required plan in a multi-period perspective; and thirdly by considering a routing problem, i.e. where machinery and crews journeys are defined for each time period taking into account the multi-period dependence.

Thus, in the field of track maintenance planning, this thesis aims at filling an existing gap in literature regarding logistic approaches for the operation of track maintenance machines, clustering of activities in a spatial dimension and integration of a locating/scheduling/routing approach for multi-period and multi-stage problems with evolutionary demands.

In a nutshell, the main objectives of this thesis are the following: (i) development of a model for the location of track maintenance yards and required sideways along the railway track, (ii) determination of the adequate number of intervention machines, (iii) elaboration of an optimized, short-medium term, track maintenance operational plan, including crew assignment to different machines with different possession times, (iv) evaluation of the impact of that time in track maintenance costs and (v) analysis of the differences between various preventive maintenance policies.

Thus far, the main contributions of the thesis involve the development of enumerative and heuristic algorithms on spatial clustering for efficient determination of the number and location of maintenance yards and assigned machines. Algorithms were elaborated by maintaining original time schedules for maintenance activities and with the optimization of interventions’ schedules. Further research includes the bi-objective optimized solution (operational cost and track quality) for maintenance planning with detailed assessment of permanent machine’s capacity, on a multi-machine analysis. Finally, real data from a railway infrastructure owner that will serve as a benchmarking for our model will be incorporated.

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4.

Master’s of Science (MSc) and Master’s of Business Engineering (MBE) Programs

4.1.

Complex Infrastructure Transportation Systems MSc

4.1.1.

Overview

The CTIS Master’s program is a unique program worldwide, which brings together the three core domains for the complex transport infrastructure systems: Finance and Contracts; Engineering and Project Management; and Policy and Institutions.

One of the main objectives of this program, which is taught at Instituto Superior Técnico (Technical University of Lisbon) in association with the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto and the Faculty of Science and Technology of the University of Coimbra, by faculty from these three Portuguese schools and from MIT, is to attract young talented and ambitious students from all over the world, preparing them for key positions in the development of complex transportation projects.

This Master’s program was conceived bearing in mind candidates with high levels of motivation, coming from the field of engineering, economics and management with some years of professional experience and good graduation grades, or with no experience but with very high grades. The goal is to have a class with a high diversity of academic and professional journeys.

The curricular plan of this program is composed of ten courses (five each semester), complemented by a series of seminars by international leaders connected to large scale projects or policy changes. At the end of the second semester CTIS students participate in a study tour visiting some significant project sites and related institutions in Europe.

Since 2007 this Master’s program has graduated seventeen students, eight students are currently finishing the dissertation in June, 11 more students finished the curricular plan and will start working on the thesis, and nine new students are starting the new academic year (2011/12). So we expect early next year to achieve a number of thirty-five graduated students.

A unique feature of the CTIS Master’s Program is the industrial affiliation of companies that every year sponsor scholarships, which fully cover student’s tuition fees.

Each year we have five sponsored scholarships of €15,000 each. Currently, our industrial affiliates are BRISA, Mota-Engil, Siemens, Odebrecht and RAVE/REFER. Hamed Pouryousef, from Iran, a former CTIS student (2008/09) and currently a PhD student at Michigan Tech, is one of the students that has benefited from these corporate scholarships and he recognizes how important the CTIS program was for his academic life: “The CTIS program was a step of my academic life which I will never forget. This intensive program helped me to improve my transportation knowledge in broad terms and especially throughout direct contact with some prestigious professors from both MIT and Portuguese universities such as IST, Porto and Coimbra on different areas of the transportation field. And the quality of the academic program and the very friendly environment of the CTIS program encourage alumni to keep in contact with the program after graduation. I’m proud to be one of the members of this family and hope to hear of more and more progress on this program soon.”

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David Carvalho (2008/09 class) states that “…the CTIS was the highlight of my academic experience. The whole program is focused on increasing the flexibility and polyvalence of each student, and is adaptable to each student’s background, opening new doors for the state of the art knowledge in this field. The program has helped me to adapt to different settings and different kinds of projects and understand and speak the several languages of the industry of the transportation sector. This is crucial because it allows you to differentiate, integrate and value yourself within your working group and in your relationship with clients. The CTIS is an excellente add-on to your base education; it really makes you stand out in the crowd.”

Also, one of our institutional partners, REFER, recognizes that “the public transport sector is assuming an increasing role in the global economy and a demanding challenge for many kinds of professionals and politicians. The Complex Transport Infrastructure Systems (CTIS) program is a valid answer to this challenge, preparing professionals with a transversal and global approach, going from conception to project management and finance.”

All these statements underline the importance of the program for the enhancement of specialized knowledge on the treatment of complex transport developments.

Coordinators of Transportation Systems António Pais Antunes, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, Univ. of Coimbra Chris Zegras, Urban Studies & Planning, MIT Jorge Salles Gomes, BRISA (CTIS director) Jorge Pinho de Sousa, Faculty os Engineering, University of Porto José Viegas, IST, Technical University of Lisbon Luís Picado Santos, IST, Technical University of Lisbon (CTIS director) Richard Neufville, Engineering Systems Division, MIT

4.1.2.

Structure

The students of the Master’s of Science in Complex Transportation Systems need to complete 60 ECTS units that correspond to all the courses of the curricular plan presented in the table below. Those who obtain a classification equal or above 14 (on a 0-20 scale) on the curricular part can progress directly to the thesis and choose a supervisor with the support of the director of the program.

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Structure of the Master’s program in Complex Transportation Systems (CTIS) Course Risk and Decision Making Information and Communication Technology Transportation Systems Analysis Transport Economics and Project Evaluation Transport Planning and Performance Assessment Transport Policy and Institutions Transport Technology and Operations Management Project Management and Large Scale Integration Business Models and Contracts Structured Financing of Transport Projects Thesis project Thesis

ECTS 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 4.5 6 6 1.5 30

Mandatory/optional Mandatory Mandatory Mandatory Mandatory Mandatory Mandatory Mandatory Mandatory Mandatory Mandatory Mandatory Mandatory

Semester 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 2nd 2nd 2nd 2nd 2nd 2nd 3rd

Students will have to submit their thesis by the 31st of October of the following year after their admittance in the program, but they can apply for a seven-month extension.

4.1.3.

New courses and faculty involved

For the CTIS Master’s Program ten new courses have been specially designed. These courses are taught by eighteen faculty members from the Portuguese schools, plus some other guest speakers from the corporate sector, and by six faculty members from MIT. MIT faculty ensures sixteen percent of the teaching (academic year 2010/11).

4.1.4.

Use of open-source community-based tools for learning

The CTIS program uses the Stellar server, which is the MIT course management tool, where the syllabus, pre-readings, PowerPoint presentations, bibliography, and assignments for each of the courses are made available to students. The faculty uses this platform to interact with students and the students interact with each other and faculty through the same system.

4.1.5.

Sponsors

There are 5 major international companies sponsoring scholarships for students attending the CTIS MSc program: BRISA, Mota-Engil, Siemens, Odebrecht and RAVE/REFER. 4.1.6.

Benchmarking

In this section we present the benchmark of our Master’s program in Complex Infrastructure Systems (CTIS) with a wide range of offers across Europe (see Table below).

Because of the multiple agents and perspectives involved in Transport Systems, it quickly becomes evident that there are in fact several “families” of Masters programs with a relevant Transport component. The CTIS Masters does not fit exactly in any of these families as it was designed from its inception to cover the multiple perspectives needed for its alumni to be relevant players in the overall management of complex projects.

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BENCHMARK OF THE MASTERS IN COMPLEX TRANSPORT INFRATSRUCTURE SYSTEMS AT IST (MIT-PORTUGAL PROGRAM) WITH OTHER EUROPEAN MASTERS COURSES WITH A STRONG TRANSPORT COMPONENT FEBRUARY 2011 - Overview Table

Country

University

Theme

Degree

Duration (semesters)

Credits

Tuition Fee / year (Euro) [non EU student]

Denmark

DTU Technical University of Denmark

LSCM - Logistics and Supply Chain Management

MSc Transports and Logistics

4

120

France

Université Lille - Sciences et Technologies

LSCM - Logistics and Supply Chain Management

Management Logistics and Transport Engineering

2

60

450

Sweden

Univ.Gothenburg - School of Business, Economics and Law LSCM - Logistics and Supply Chain Management

MSc Logistics and Transportation Management

4

120

27192

United Kingdom

University of Westminster

LSCM - Logistics and Supply Chain Management

MSc Logistics and Supply Chain Management

2

60

10000

Belgium

Universiteit Antwerpen - ITMMA

TEBM - Transport Economics, Business and Management

MSc Transport and Maritime Management

2

60

12000

The Netherlands

VU Univ. Amst. - Faculty of Economics and Business Adm.

TEBM - Transport Economics, Business and Management

MSc Spatial, Transport & Environmental Economics

2

60

12000

United Kingdom

University of Leeds - Faculty of Enviroment

TEBM - Transport Economics, Business and Management

MA Transport Economics

2

60

14200

United Kingdom

Newcastle University

TEBM - Transport Economics, Business and Management

MScTransport and Business Management

2

100+60

16364

United Kingdom

Imperial College London

TEBM - Transport Economics, Business and Management

MSc Tranport - Extension Modules in Business Management

2

60

22750

Germany

Universitat Duisburg Essen

TP - Transport Policy

MSc Public Transport Management

4

120

10000

The Netherlands

TU Delft - University of Tecnology, Policy and Management

TP - Transport Policy

MSc Engineering and Policy Analysis

4

120

12500

Germany

TUM - Technische Universitat Munchen

TPM - Transport Planning and Modelling

MSc Transportation Systems

4

120

1184

The Netherlands

TU Delft - University of Tecnology, Policy and Management

TPM - Transport Planning and Modelling

MSc Transport, Infrastructure and Logistics

4

120

12500

Sweden

KTH Stockholm

TPM - Transport Planning and Modelling

MSc Transport Systems

4

120

no info

Switzerland

ETH Zurich

TPM - Transport Planning and Modelling

MSc Spatial Development and Infrastructure Systems

4

120

1034

United Kingdom

University of Leeds - Faculty of Enviroment

TPM - Transport Planning and Modelling

MSc Transport Planning and Engineering

2

60

16718

13500

United Kingdom

University of Leeds - Faculty of Enviroment

TPM - Transport Planning and Modelling

MSc Transport Planning

2

60

16718

United Kingdom

University of Leeds - Faculty of Enviroment

TPM - Transport Planning and Modelling

MSc Transport Planning and the Environment

2

60

16718

United Kingdom

University of Southampton

TPM - Transport Planning and Modelling

MSc Transportation Planning and Engineering

4

120

3873

United Kingdom

Newcastle University

TPM - Transport Planning and Modelling

MSc Transportation Planning and Policy

2

100+60

16364

United Kingdom

University of Westminster

TPM - Transport Planning and Modelling

MSc Transport Planning and Management

2

60

12205

United Kingdom

Edinburgh Napier University

TPM - Transport Planning and Modelling

MSc Transport Planning and Engineering

2

60

11479

United Kingdom

Imperial College London

TPM - Transport Planning and Modelling

MSc Tranport - Extension Modules in Sustainable Development

2

60

22750

United Kingdom

Imperial College London

TPM - Transport Planning and Modelling

MSc Tranport (elective stream)

2

60

22750

United Kingdom

Imperial College London

TTI - Transport Technologies - Infrastructures

MSc Tranport (elective stream)

2

60

22750

Switzerland

ETH Zurich

TTI - Transport Technologies - Infrastructures

MSc Civil Engineering - Trsnport Systems

4

120

1034

Switzerland

EPF Lausanne

TTI - Transport Technologies - Infrastructures

MSc Civil Engineering - Transportation and Mobility

4

120

United Kingdom

Newcastle University

TTI - Transport Technologies - Infrastructures

MSc Transport Engineering and Operations

2

100+60

963 16364

The main facts obtained from the benchmarking table are as follows: 1. A total of 28 Masters programs from prestigious universities, with significant Transport component has been surveyed, in 8 European countries. The countries with a higher number of programs offered are: UK (15), Netherlands (3) and Switzerland (3); 2. These programs can be grouped in 5 thematic areas, also with different numbers of offers: the most represented thematic area is Transport Planning and Modellig (13), followed by Transport Economics, Business and Management (5), and by Logistics and Supply Management (4); 3. There are offers with a duration of 2 semesters (18 programs, all themes except Transport Policy), and 4 semesters (11 programs, all areas except Transport Economics, Business and Management); 4. Regarding the fees students pay per year, the quartiles are as follows: first at 10,000, second at 13,000, third at 16,720, fourth at 27,500; 5. The average fee/year per Thematic group is: Logistics and Supply Chain Management with €12,785; Transport Economics, Business and Management with €15,460; Transport Policy with €11,250; Transport Planning and Modelling with €12,860; Transport Technologies with €10,280. In all thematic areas there is strong variation, particularly because there are a few offers with very low tuition fees; 6. A total of five programs have tuition fees below or around €1000, all in Switzerland, Germany, and France. No information was available for one program in Sweden (KTH) but we know that until recently it had almost no tuition fee.

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From these facts, and comparing with the CTIS situation, we can obtain the main conclusions of the benchmark: 1. Regarding contents, the CTIS continues to have (as it had when it started) a unique formula covering the "virtuous triangle" of Engineering and Project Management / Finance and Contracts / Policy and Institutions, which we believe gives its graduates an advantageous position to get jobs in complex settings; 2. This uniqueness could be taken as a weak point, but the overall reaction of candidates as well as of corporate sponsors, is very much in its favor.

It is believed this should be pointed out even stronger in subsequent dissemination of the program; 3. On the duration, CTIS is the only program which is three semesters long.

Two-thirds of all the programs we analysed are two semesters long while one-third of them are four semesters long. However, it must be pointed out that the Portuguese legislation does not allow awarding a Master’s degree in only two semesters; 4. Regarding tuition fees, if we consider the programs with at least the levels of the non-integrated Master's at IST (2500 €/year), the cost of the CTIS places is at the 25th percentile, i.e., three-quarters of the competing programs are more expensive.

4.1.7.

Educational initiatives

May 08 – Students attend some workshops on Job Placement organized by the company Hire & Trust (Dr Fraga Nuno).

Jun 08 – Session of presentation of the 2007/08 students to the partner companies.

Nov. 2008 – Workshop de Team Building e Leadership at Nov 7- 8 with company Action Coach.

Feb 2010 – Melanie Parker from the Global Education and Career Development Center of MIT organized two sessions with CTIS Students and one session with the partner companies about Job Placement.

Feb 2011 – Melanie Parker from the Global Education and Career Development Center of MIT organized two sessions with CTIS Students and one session with the partner companies about Job Placement.

A set of organized talks by guest speakers from the industry sector was organized for the CTIS students over the years, and which are described in the following three tables.

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Talks in transportation systems for the academic year 2007/08 Date 15-02-2008

Name Jan Blomme

Company Port of Antwerp

Theme Dr. Jan Blomme, gave a lecture about the business model followed by this port, and the kind of agreements the institution establishes with port operators and with the multiple suppliers

13-03-2008

Vístulo de Abreu and Luís Machado

President and Vice-President of GATTEL

the Government agency in charge of the preparation and management of the PPP contract for the Vasco da Gama bridge in Lisbon

17-03-2008

Harry Dimitriou

Omega Centre

The Omega Centre is the Centre for Mega Projects in Transport and Development, at University College London

07-04-2008

Gunnar Johansson

Industry Consultant at IBM Sweden

Dr. Gunnar Johansson Industry Consultant at IBM Sweden, technical responsible for the Stockholm Reduce Road Traffic solution.

10-04-2008 18-04-2008

João Portela António Luzia and João Paulo Araújo

BRISA Transdev

The new light rail projects in which Transdev is participating in Europe

21-04-2008

Herbert Seelmann Ricardo Nunes

Siemens

Talks in the transportation systems during 2009 Date

Speaker

Companny

Theme

16-12-2009

Stefan van der Speck

Delft University

Public Design: Public Space, Public Domain. Activity Patterns in Public Space

11-03-2009

Pierre Genton

19-03-2009

Daniel Cadet

Alstom

ALSTOM Innovation Culture - Bringing Technology Further

27-03-2009

Tiago Rodrigues

REFER/RAVE

Busines Models for high-speed rail infrastructures in Portugal

03-04-2009

Francisco Ferreira

DGINFSO - European Com.

Information and Communication Technologies for Transport

15-04-2009

Werner Rothengatter

University of Karlsruhe

Stuttgart 21 & some stories from the book "Megaprojects and Risk"

21-05-2009

João Portela

BRISA

Internacional Arbitrator in the construction industry

International Arbitration in conflits of Mega Projects

Talks in the transportation systems area during 2010 Date

Speaker

Companny

Theme

16-03-2010

Eng. Carlos Mota Santos

Mota-Engil

Business Models for Public-Private Partnership in Road Concession

29-03-2010

Eng. Jorge Sales Gomes

BRISA

The model of entrepreneurial innovation in BRISA

12-04-2010

Prof. Jonas Eliasson

Centre for Transport Studies Stockholm

The urban charging scheme in Stockholm: main steps and lessons of this experience

19-04-2010

Eng Carlos Fernandes

REFER/RAVE

The Portuguese project on High Speed Rail: key characteristics and business model

23-04-2010

Dr. Thomas Linder

Road administration of Bavaria

Realization of a bypass within the German federal highway network

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Study Tour 2008 In 2008, the first ever group of Complex Transportation Infrastructure Systems (CTIS) students participated in the first annual “CTIS Technical Tour,” accompanied by Prof.

José Viegas. Students visited nine different agencies and cutting edge projects in France, England, Switzerland and Germany. This technical tour was designed to give students a firsthand look at the types of projects and opportunities available for graduates of the program, as well as to familiarize them with some basic technologies and concepts in a real world setting.

In France, students had three tour stops: • TGV EST (Paris - http://lgv-est.com/). Students experienced a High Speed Rail link that significantly reduces travel times between Paris and the East of France. Students have been made privy to information including contractual agreements, financial documents and various regulatory documents that are key to understanding this innovative and complex project.

• Tramway at Boulevard des Maréchaux (Paris - http://www.ratp.com/). CTIS students visited the RATP, the state enterprise responsible for the implementation of this transportation system. Representatives of RATP described the major principals of this urban project, including financing, public participation, and the different phases of construction.

• VéliB (Paris - http://www.velib.paris.fr/). The one-way bicycle rental scheme in Paris became an innovative solution to stimulate the use of bikes as a regular means of public transport. CTIS students visited the department responsible for the VéliB project, where they received a detailed explanation of the business model as well as of the various stages of implementation of this project.

London • Congestion Charge (London - http://www.tfl.gov.uk/home.aspx). The London congestion charge is a fee paid by car drivers entering the central area of London designated as the Congestion Charge Zone. Visiting Transport for London, the authority that manages London’s transport systems, students learned how the congestion charge was established, how it works, payment methods, how revenue is spent and the technical support required the keep the system working.

• Crosslink (London - http://www.crossrail.co.uk/). Crosslink is a new railway project for London and South-East England that will deliver an accessible, affordable, high-frequency railway service across the capital from 2017.

Students were informed about the operating and financing challenges presented by this project.

• High Speed Railway Extension from Waterloo to St Pancras (London). The St Pancras Station was renovated and expanded and is now the new terminal for Eurostar trains to continental Europe, and thus the new international station in London. Students received explanations about this controversial change, and the reasons that led to it, as well as about the financing scheme and the operating concepts.

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Bellizona Gotthard Base Tunnel (Switzerland - http://www.alptransit.ch/pages/e/) This is set to become the world's longest rail tunnel, creating a rail link for future travel through the Alps. Students visited the Alptransit Gothard, the company behind this new transalpine rail route, where they could get explanations of all the stages of the process of building a 57 km tunnel, and they had the chance to visit the works and a section of the tunnel.

Stuttgart • Stuttgart 21 (Germany - http://www.das-neue-herzeuropas.de/default.aspx). CTIS’ students were introduced to the “Stuttgart 21”, the project that will transform Stuttgart's nineteenth century main railway station into a modern transit-hub.

• Stuttgart Airport expansion (Germany - http://www.flughafen-stuttgart.de/sys/index.php) CTIS students saw the project of expansion of the Stuttgart airport, the only major airport in the country with one runway. The solution of building a second runway is being studied and a decision should be announced soon. All details related with this complex project were explained during a lecture held at the airport, by the Chairman and the Technical Manager of the Airport company.

Study Tour 2009 In May 2009, the Complex Transportation Infrastructure Systems (CTIS) students participated in the second annual “CTIS Technical Tour,” led by Prof. Jorge Pinho de Sousa, accompanied by Ms. Teresa Afonso. The students visited and learned about a number of transportation facilities, including ports, airports, logistics facilities, tramways, high speed rail systems, and one-way bicycle rental schemes in various European countries. The sites visited were as follows: Barcelona Port and Logistics Platform (Spain) Students learned about the ZAL facilities, big logistics platform of the Barcelona Port, and saw a presentation regarding the expansion of this port. This visit outlined the economical importance of intermodality in the operations and of the business model of the platform.

Port of Antwerp and railway station (Belgium) The visit to the Port of Antwerp started with a presentation by Mr. Jan Blomme at Port Centre Lillo. Then the students had a guided visit of the Port. They learned about the physical distribution of mineral water and general cargo. They also visited the chemical cluster, the container handling, and the lockage. Students then visited the Central Railway Station to learn about its expansion. The station is an incredible adaptation of a magnificent old building with modern facilities and quality of service.

RFF and TGV EST (Paris) In a visit to RFF, the French Railway infrastructure manager, students have been made privy to information including contractual agreements, financial documents and various regulatory documents that are key to understanding this innovative and complex project. In the evening, in their way to Sttugart, students experienced a High Speed Rail link that significantly reduces travel times between Paris and the East of France.

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RATP (Paris) CTIS students visited RATP, the state enterprise responsible for transportation in the Paris metropolitan area. Representatives of RATP presented the main strategic principles of the company, emphasizing the role of mobility, and describing some concrete projects such as the Tramway at Boulevard des Maréchaux. Issues such as the major principals of this urban project, including financing, public participation, and the different phases of construction, have been deeply discussed.

VéliB (Paris) The one-way bicycle rental scheme in Paris became an innovative solution to stimulate the use of bikes as a regular means of public transport. CTIS students visited the department responsible for the VéliB project, where they received a detailed explanation of the business model as well as of the various stages of implementation of this project. The system, based on more than 20 000 bicycles and hundreds of docking stations, has a significant impact concerning the population mobility and in ecological terms.

Stuttgart 21 (Germany) CTIS students were introduced to the “Stuttgart 21”, the project that will transform Stuttgart's nineteenth century main railway station into a modern transit-hub. The near-invisibility in the city center of an extensive light rail system will be made possible by a tunnel construction program with the relocation of heavy rail tracks. Moreover "Stuttgart 21 will yield the opportunity for restructuring and accelerating services that will be felt across the country and on Europe's high-speed rail network."

Frankfurt Airport (Germany) CTIS students had a guided visit of Frankfurt airport by bus with very detailed explanations regarding the expansion of this airport. During this bus trip in the airport, students visited the Terminals, the logistic center, and other infrastructures. After this guided visit, they saw a 3D presentation at Fraport facilities related to the expansion of the airport.

Study Tour 2009/10 October 2009 Visit to the construction of the final section of CRIL / IC17, Buraca - Pontinha, Portugal May 2010 The students visited a project in Germany and Spain: Munich A9 – students visited the proposed demolition and reconstruction of a section of the motorway viaduct, built in the 70s. The project is interesting because of the complexity of construction and number of transport that pass by. The tram and subway lines, local streets, as well as various communications hinder the implementation of this project.

Traffic control center of the highway in southern Bavaria - students saw the implementation of many traffic control concepts they learned in class and were impressed with the level of automation in the center.

Munich Airport - students got to know the classification system of baggage and other places of the airport

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Madrid Atocha Railway Station - students became aware of the expansion project to increase capacity of high speed trains.

Traffic Control Center for High-Speed Rail Network – students visited the control room and Central Planning and Operations, where he got to know the network and plans for the future, including high-speed line Madrid-Lisboa.

Zaragoza Students visited a logistics platform, which is in the local charge transfer, and a center for innovation in logistics.

4.1.8.

Alumni profile

This section presents the profiles of three of the alumni of the CTIS Master’s program.

Name: David Costa Program: CTIS Graduating year: 2009

Previous professional situation Working in a Transport-Planning related Consultancy called Engimind, where I participated in road traffic demand studies as a junior consultant Post-graduation professional situation Consultancy called VTM, where I participated in Public Transport Network Optimization and Demand Studies in the role of analyst. I left this position to join the Portuguese Airport Authority - ANA Aeroportos, where I’ve been working on Airport Ground Access Planning, namely curbside accessibility and parking design and management.

Learning outcomes The main learning outcomes of the CTIS were the ability to handle and translate much of the com-plexity that ocmes with deeper involvement in transportation projects and learn about state-of-the-art methodologies and solutions that many pofessionals only come into contact with after several years on the job. There was a third major benefit from haiving attended this program: the opportunity to be influenced by some of the best professors in the world.

Competitive advantage It definitely helped me stand out in the crowd. The program gives us a huge amount of cutting edge information and tools with which to innovate and efficiently create solutions. Moreover it gives us useful training in tools from different trades, such as Economy, Policy, Engineering and Technology with which we mold our solutions in to consensus-building projects, without losing coherency or accuracy. If we bind these tools with self-marketing skills and intelligent timing, we rapidly create opportunities to climb the corporate ladder.

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Name: Hamed Pouryousef Program: CTIS Graduating year: 2010

Previous professional situation - B.S in Railroad Transportation Eng., Iran University of Science & Technology, (2002); - Working for engineering consultant and Iran Ministry of Transportation (2001- 2008).

Post-graduation professional situation PhD Student (Research Assistant) in Michigan Tech. University-CEE Dept- Rail Transportation program, 2010-now Learning outcomes - Getting involved with an international academic program (MIT Portugal); - Learning more about ďŹ nancial and economical aspects of transportation; - Understanding more about all transportation modes and their respective speciďŹ cations (Highway, Rail, Air, Marine).

Competitive advantage - Great experience and interactions with other international students and faculties from around the world; - Very interesting and helpful study tour including different transportation infrastructure projects; - Participation of faculties and researchers from MIT through both academic courses and research topics.

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Name: Mauro Peneda Program: CTIS Graduating year: 2010

Previous professional situation Had just completed an MSc in Civil Engineering at IST. Post-graduation professional situation Six-month research scholarship at IST (AIRDEV project) while developing the CTIS thesis, followed by another six-month research scholarship after finishing the course (HERMES project). I am currently an Analyst at VTM Consultants, working mainly on airport performance and public transport network analysis. I have been here for three months.

Learning outcomes Generally speaking, the whole program provided fundamental analytical skills that I now have to use every day and will always be relevant in the future. Moreover, there are other, more specific skills that are now useful in my career, such as simulation using Ms Excel (besides the very broad skill set in this software that every CTIS student will have to develop), systems’ analysis and understanding, a significant knowledge base in transport operations, the background on transport economics and project finance, politics and institutional behavior, stakeholder interactions, just to name a few. Overall, I believe the broad range of knowledge that is transmitted in the program is fundamental to keep our horizons equally broad, and mostly all skills acquired will (or may) prove important for us some when in the future, as transportation experts.

Competitive advantage I am sure that I wouldn’t be at VTM consultants right now if I hadn’t got the CTIS degree. I am the 3rd CTIS student admitted in this company in 2 years, and my employer was very clear in stating the fact that the degree was a significant difference between me and the remaining candidates.

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4.2.

Sustainable Energy Systems

4.2.1.

Overview

Since 2007, the Business Engineering Master’s in Sustainable Energy Systems (SES) has graduated 87 students over the course of four editions. The students that seek this program usually fit in one of these profiles: • Professionals working in energy companies (examples from GALP, EDP, EFACEC, PARTEX) and supported by the companies that look for deeper knowledge on systems integration and energy policy; • Professionals working in companies whose core business has not been energy but provide ser-vices for energy companies (infrastructures, consulting, IT). From this group, some are supported directly by the company, others are not but are trying to integrate or develop new business areas within the company; • Professionals working in companies which have nothing to do with energy management, but who want to make a career change.

Most of the students with non-engineering background belong to the first two groups.

Most of the students from the third group have an engineering background from environmental engineering.

The students graduating from the first group usually remain at the same company.

Students graduating from the second group usually have evolved within the company.

Examples of success from this group include a senior manager from the Energy & Utilities Industry business area from NOVABASE that is currently responsible for the Smart Grids project which includes building partnerships, buying companies / operations and also innovation. Another former student, who was the manager of the installations group from João Jacinto Tomé – a company that builds and manages infrastructures - is now the head of the innovation department and is developing a new business area on energy services. Many graduates from the third group were already able to the make career changes they were planning beforehand. Some of the successful cases from this group include two alumni that have become senior managers at regional energy and environment companies (ARENA in Azores and OESTE Sustentável in west region of Portugal) and a third one became the head of the technical department of APREN – Portuguese Renewable Energy Association.

In general, the non-engineering students indicate that an important outcome of the program lies in the development of a clear understanding of the energy market in Portugal (main actors, value chain, drivers), as well as the knowledge of who is who in the industry sector. The engineering students indicate that the main outcomes are not only the management tools they learn in project evaluation or risk management, but also the deeper technical knowledge on subjects such as energy in transports, project evaluation and business planning, or energy management in buildings.

Graduates also indicate that attending this program has enabled them to be aware and explore at a deeper level their own skills to deal with complexity, innovation, negotiation and strategy. They very much value the experience to work with colleagues from all over the world, which they report has increased their willingness to engage in international projects, and to deal with many different but correlated perspectives and different contexts, which all together allows them to reach integrated results.

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In summary, the main advantages of the program are the opportunity to develop an entrepreneurship spirit and a professional and an academic network, all of which create new job opportunities for the SES students.

The success of the program and its cross-cutting curricula in engineering and management sciences is recognized either by the companies sponsoring their employees or the new employers of the SES graduates.

João Nuno Mendes, Director of Innovation of GALP Energia who has sponsored already three of his employees to attend the SES MBE says: “The SES program was very successful in providing technological expertise in sustainable energy systems to our collaborators with a background in management and social sciences.”

António Sá da Costa, President of APREN (Portuguese Renewable Energy Association), who hired two of our graduates expresses his opinion about the SES MBE: “My experience with the SES graduates is extremely positive. This program offers a very important systems perspective on energy problems. … the program provides a set of tools and training in management sciences for people with an engineering background, which are very important to deal with the diversity of problems that the energy sector faces today.”

Coordinators of Sustainable Energy Systems António Gomes Martins, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, University of Coimbra António Vallera, Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon António Vidigal, EDP (MBE director) Carlos Silva IST, Technical University of Lisbon (MBE director) David Marks, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, MIT (MBE director) João Peças Lopes, FEUP, University of Porto

4.2.2.

Structure

The Business Engineering Master’s in Sustainable Energy Systems is a one-year program offered at the Technical University of Lisbon (IST/ISEG) and the University of Porto (FEUP) with a common core curriculum and common guidelines but with some local differences in terms of curricular structure.

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FEUP The Business Engineering Master’s at FEUP is a one-year program addressing multidisciplinary core areas in energy systems. It offers three base graduation profiles, which share a considerable number of courses: Profile A: Energy Systems Planning Profile B: Sustainable Cities and Regions Profile C: Advanced Electric Networks In each semester students must choose three of the mandatory courses and one of the optional courses in a way to sum up a total of 60 credits (ECTS). Most courses are shared with the PhD Program. The courses are organized in four main graduation profiles, as detailed in table below:

Structure of the SES business engineering master’s program at FEUP Course

Profile

ECTS

Mandatory/Optional

Semester

Energy, Environment and Sustainability + thematic work

A,B,C

7.5

Mandatory

1st

Energy Planning

A,B

7.5

Mandatory

1st

Energy Markets and Regulation

C

7.5

Mandatory

1st

Analysis and Simulation of Thermal Systems

A,B

7.5

Mandatory

1st

Signals, Dynamics and Control

C

7.5

Mandatory

1st

Introduction to Economics *

A,C

6

Optional

1st

Economics of Natural Resources and Environment *

A,C

6

Optional

1st

Projects Evaluation and Externalities *

B

6

Optional

1st

Computational Intelligence and Power Systems

C

7.5

Optional

1st

Seminar

A,B,C

22.5

Mandatory

2nd

Energy Efficiency

A,B

7.5

Mandatory

2nd

Market Simulation

C

7.5

Mandatory

2nd

Energy Demand Side Management

A,B

7.5

Mandatory

2nd

Electrical Systems with Renewables

C

7.5

Mandatory

2nd

Optimization and Decision Support Techniques

A,C

7.5

Optional

2nd

Energy in Buildings

B

7.5

Optional

2nd

Forecasting

C

7.5

Optional

2nd

Methods for Optimal Power Flow

C

7.5

Optional

2nd

Wind Energy

C

7.5

Optional

2nd

* Modules offered by UTL/FCUL

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IST/ISEG The Business Engineering Master’s at IST/ISEG is a one-year (280-hour) program addressing multidisciplinary core areas in energy systems, including: • • • •

Economics, management science and policy Environmental analysis and assessment Energy systems Energy technologies

Each student can create a unique curriculum to fulfill her/his individual interests.

Guided by a faculty member, the student is allowed to choose from a pool of optional courses in order to complete 48 to 60 ECTS units, including the two mandatory courses (please see table below).

Structure of the SES Business Engineering Master’s Program at IST/ISEG Scientifc area

Course

ECTS

Mandatory/Option Semester

Introduction to Economics

6

Optional

1st

Introduction to Engineering

6

Optional

1st

Economics of Natural Resources Environment

6

Optional

1st

Econometrics

6

Optional

1st

Energy Systems Economics and Modeling

6

Optional

1st

Risk Management

6

Optional

2nd

Projects Evaluation and Externalities

6

Optional

2nd

Regulation Theory

6

Optional

2nd

Energy, Environment and Sustainability

6

Optional

1st

Energy in Transportation

4,5

Optional

1st

Ecological Economics

6

Optional

2nd

Energy Management

4,5

Optional

1st

Energy Systems Integration

6

Optional

2nd

Optimization of Energy Systems

6

Optional

2nd

3

Mandatory

1st

Seminars II

3

Mandatory

2nd

Energy in Buildings

6

Optional

2nd

Introductory courses

Economics

Environment

Energy Systems

Energy Technologies Seminars I

Nuclear Energy

6

Optional

2nd

Renewable Energy Resources

6

Optional

2nd

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4.2.3.

Student highlights

Here are the comments of two alumni of the Master’s of Business Engineering in Sustainable Energy Systems who benefited directly from attending this program with a very positive impact in their career development.

Isabel Abreu was a student of the 2008/09 edition of the SES MBE program and she changed her professional career after graduating from this program. Here are her comments about this change.

‘If it wasn´t for my experience at the Master’s of Business Engineering in Sustainable Energy Systems I would not be now the head of the technical department of the Portuguese Renewable Energy Association (APREN). Of course one of the main reasons why I got the job was my pro-active attitude, which didn´t come from the program, but that alone would not have been enough. The program provided me the knowledge in energy matters and the driver to contact my current boss, and afterwards to get in touch with APREN. This program was perfect for the career change I was looking for.’

Maria Carvalho was a student of the 2008/09 edition of the SES MBE program and she changed her professional career after graduating from this program. Here are her comments about the positive effect that attending this program had in her professional life.

‘Above all the SES degree developed my entrepreneurship spirit, which I think, is being everyday day more appreciated in the job market in Portugal. In addition, the networking with the MIT community and companies associated with it gave me a special position into getting a new job in the energy context. In May 2010 I became the CEO of the Regional Energy and Environment Agency for the West Region of Portugal – Oeste Sustentável. This is a freshly started Agency, nearly one-year old.

My job has been to build a new team for the Agency, to develop its brand, conceive new projects and activities along with building a close relation with all its associates.

As a CEO my main responsibilities include coordination of all activities/projects and resources, developing the Strategy and Annual Activities Plan, Budget Controlling and Communication with European Commission. Along with this new position, I am now experienced in developing business plans for energy projects, which is a new major asset in my professional life.

The Sustainable Energy Systems MBE degree improved my motivation and drive to learn as much as possible all the time and to use all of my abilities to succeed in tackling complex projects. From the experience of working with colleagues from all over the world, I developed a great willingness to engage in major international projects, to deal with different perspectives, different contexts and to be able to reach integrated results. I am now more passionate for complexity, innovation, negotiation and strategy.’

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4.2.4.

Alumni profiles

This section presents the profile of some of the alumni of the Master’s of Business Engineering in Sustainable Energy Systems (SES).

Name: Isabel Cancela de Abreu Program: SES Year of graduation: 2009

Previous professional situation Account and Project Manager at YDreams: responsible for projects using interactive technologies to communicate educational content.

Post-graduation professional situation Head of Technical Department at APREN – Portuguese Renewable Energy Association.

Main responsibilities: collection and treatment of national and international energy data; coordination of APREN studies; legislation overview; follow up of internal technical matters of APREN«s associates; support to the board and advisory panel of the Association; management of events; in charge of European projects; preparation of communication strategy; represent APREN at national and international events; negotiate protocols with other energy entities.

Learning outcomes Basic energy concepts, update on energy “hot issues,” overview of national and international current energy context, technology information, entrepreneurship, and access to energy experts, economic and financial basic concepts.

Competitive advantage If it wasn't for the SES MBE I would not be working at APREN. Of course one of the main reasons why I got the job was my pro-active attitude, which didn«t come from the program, but that alone would not have been enough. The SES MBE provided me the knowledge on energy matters and the driver to contact my current boss, and afterwards to get in touch with APREN. This program was perfect for the career change I was looking for.

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Name: Maria Susana Carvalho Program: SES Year of graduation: 2009

Previous professional situation Since 2007, I have been working at Ferconsult, S.A.: a company dedicated to consultancy, studies and project conception in transportation engineering, where I have been working as a Project Director and Business Developer. My main responsibilities include supporting the development of the Strategy and Activities Plan of the Company, coordinating the development and follow-up of proposals, budgets and contracts, project managing, team management and communication.

Post-graduation professional situation Besides improving my skills at Ferconsult, S.A. in May 2010 I engaged my self in a new challenge starting to work as a CEO at the Regional Energy and Environment Agency for the West Region of Portugal – Oeste Sustent‡vel. This is a freshly started Agency with almost one-year lifetime. My job was to build a new team for the Agency, to develop its brand, conceive new projects and activities along with building a close relation with all its associates. As CEO my main responsibilities include coordination of all activities/projects and resources, developing the Strategy and Annual activities Plan, Budget controlling and Communication with European Commission.

Learning outcomes Some of the most effective and practical knowledge I acquired is related with energy efficient transportation, project evaluation and business plans, energy policy, energy management in buildings and industrial sectors, energy efficiency in households and development renewable energy projects. The SES MBE degree improved my motivation and driven force to learn as much as I can and to use all of my abilities to obtain success in complex projects. From the experience of working with colleagues from all over the world, I developed a great willingness to engage in international major projects, to deal with different perspectives, different contexts and to be able to reach integrated results. I am now more passionate for complexity, innovation, negotiation and strategy.

Competitive advantage Above all the SES degree developed my entrepreneurship spirit, which I think, is being everyday day more appreciated in the job market in Portugal. In addition, the networking with the MIT community and Companies associated with it gave me a special position into getting a new job in the Energy context. Along with this new position, I am now experienced in developing business plans for energy projects, which is a new major asset in my professional life.

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Name: Nelson Teodoro Program: SES Year of graduation: 2010

Previous professional situation Novabase | Senior Manager | Member of the Energy & Utilities, Engagement Manager for EDP, EDA and Galp.

Post-graduation professional situation Novabase | Senior Manager | Member of the Energy & Utilities Industry, responsible for the Smart Grids offer, meaning building partnerships, buying companies / operations and also creating innovation inside Novabase.

Learning outcomes It was very important, since Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m not an engineer, to have a clear overview of the energy market (main actors, value chain, drivers, etc.) but also to know who is who in the industry.

Competitive advantage Attending the SES MBE was important for my career because I have got a very good network of professional contacts.

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Name: Nuno Afonso Program: SES Year of graduation: 2009

Previous professional situation Before taking the SES Program, I was a project manager in the Electrical Infrastructures area at João Jacinto Tomé company. I was responsible for Project management in the electric sector.

Post-graduation professional situation Nowadays I’m a business unit manager in the electric infrastructures area and also leading a Depart-ment of Innovation and Development in the energy area for the same company. This department is mainly focused on Renewable Energy Technologies and Energy Management and we’re focused on new business areas and models for the energy sector. I’m responsible for business and project development and management in these fields Learning outcomes The SES program was very important for my career development because it allowed me to widen my knowledge on energy policies and technologies, sustainability, energy management, project evaluation and the Portuguese energy sector.

Name: Nuno Ferreira Domingues Program: SES Year of graduation: 2009

Previous professional situation Senior Project Manager Post-graduation professional situation Coordinator of Green Islands Project on behalf of the Government of Azores/ President of the Regional Agency for Energy and Environment of Azores / Regional Director for Air and Sea Transportation of Azores Learning outcomes Energy and renewable energies technologies Competitive advantage Training in energy and renewable energies technologies, combined with the track record in project management and in international markets gave me a very good portfolio in f engineering which was a key factor to start managing the Green Islands Project on behalf of the Government of Azores.

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4.3.

Technology Management Enterprise

4.3.1.

Overview

The Business Engineering Master’s in Technology Management Enterprise (TME) is a joint degree offered by the Technical University of Lisbon, University of Minho and the University of Porto and leads to a 3rd Cycle Bologna Diploma.

TME is a fifteen month modular intensive program that trains technical managers for product development and production systems. Students learn management skills including human resources competences for bridging complex technical and management issues under a demanding production environment. The interdisciplinary engineering and management-based curriculum culminates in a thesis targeting an industrially oriented topic.

TME targets technical staff of Portuguese and European companies (with engineering education) aiming at developing a career in technical or production management, with two to three years of practical experience. The TME MBE program is designed to allow the student to attend an academic program while continuing his/her professional activity.

TME graduates will be capable of leading multidisciplinary teams in product development and industrial operations and of addressing multiple challenges in engineering design and manufacturing, including: • Innovative product development, • Advanced processing / production solutions, • Optimization of production processes under an integrated perspective of the overall product cycle.

Courses are concentrated in six full time blocks of two weeks each, with one and half month of interval between two consecutive blocks. This formula allows students to keep their current professional activity, while advancing and maturing their skills with the TME curriculum and innovation environment. The academic schedule format is extremely popular with students because the two week periods engender intense work environments and interpersonal relationships among the cohort of students.

There has been a serious effort to couple the educational program with research activities at Portuguese and other European Industrial Affiliates. TME includes, for instance, a thesis that is related to the students’ work at a Portuguese company.

We have also implemented new and novel education delivery mechanisms and the evaluation of those mechanisms. These include the rotation of faculty and students to the three Portuguese universities in this scientific domain along with close participation of MIT faculty and the delivery of course content in an intensive twoweek modular format. MIT and Portuguese faculty have collaborated to evaluate the effectiveness of the EDAM teaching format in comparison with a more traditional length format and have found that the EDAM format has a positive impact on the students.

The TME curriculum was re-structured after two editions based on feedback from students and faculty. The new curriculum has more of an emphasis on engineering systems and more tightly integrates TME and LTI (Leaders for Technical Industries PhD) students. At present TME and LTI lecturing schedules are coincident, enabling

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a more challenging and richer environment for learning and networking, with students of different backgrounds and professional experiences.

We also have invited students from other scientific domains to participate in EDAM´s course on Leadership. Furthermore, faculty from the EDAM and Bioengineering Systems areas collaborated on the development of the Innovation Management Course, and EDAM faculty have taught a Bioengineering Systems course.

What is learnt in the courses and along the program is also important for student´s professional careers, as it has been highlighted by the participants.

The impact of the TME is clear from this comment made by Pedro Portela, a student from the first edition in 2007/08: ‘ … I believe the Engineering Design and Manufacturing Systems course together with the course on Innovation Management taught by Luis Perez-Breva were the perfect closing for the program. Only now have I clearly seen the «big picture» and what was intended with the whole program. Engineering Systems is starting to make sense for me and I´m starting to find it a fascinating topic. The complexity of a leadership role and making good decisions is becoming clearer now; indeed, Portugal desperately needs this kind of leaders. In fact, I am so overwhelmed by this new perspective that I am already considering a career change; during the program I learnt also a lot about myself. My ability to work under tight timings, to work in team, I learnt that I love doing presentations and gained a lot of confidence doing them, I learnt that sometimes you just have to do the job you are assigned to and put all your energies into it… whether you like it or not.’

More recently, Jorge Ribeiro, 2009/10 TME also expressed his positive impression on the program: ‘I value the choice of the TME, mainly for assuring a close link with Industry within a multicultural and multidisciplinary environment, crucial nowadays. The approach of the TME, highlighting the Engineering Systems and the Product Development has also proved very enlightening.’

João Ricardo Gonçalves, Development Engineer from Celoplás, and TME student in 2007/08 has said what follows about the TME Master’s: From my previous TME experience I can highlight, in particular, the Product Design and Development course, as well as the industrial and pragmatic approach throughout the program, and which I think are some of its greatest assets. In fact, this is the most distinctive feature of the TME program when compared with more traditional academic advanced graduations in Portugal. The interconnection of academia and industry has been central to my involvement in the TME.’ The commitment of Industrial Affiliates to the future of the program is evidenced by the comments of António Cardoso Pinto, the CEO of Adira, a manufacturing equipment production company: ‘TME is a good program that complements very well the technical expertise of our people. This is an evaluation based on our experience of two TME stuents in two different years. I expect to continue to benefit from this program and to send one new candidate each year.’

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Another distinctive example is the one provided by João Cortez, the CEO of Celoplás: ‘Apart from the different know-how and several other gains (which will be assessed and reflected within short and medium terms), I emphasize the change in attitude, the pro-activity enhancement, such as working throughout weekends. The investment in TME is thus undeniably positive and rewarding.’

Coordinators of the Engineering Design and Advanced Manufacturing António Torres Marques, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto (TME director) Chris Magee, Engineering Systems Division, MIT Joel Clark, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, MIT (TME director) Manuel Freitas, IST, Technical University of Lisbon Olga Carneiro, School of Engineering, University of Minho

4.3.2.

Structure

The structure of the Master’s of Business Technological Management Enterprise (TME), is described in the table below:

Structure of the TME Master’s of Business Engineering Course

ECTS

Mandatory/Optional

Semester

Product Development

6

Mandatory

1st

Technology Evaluation and Selection

6

Mandatory

1st

Integrating Technology & Management

6

Mandatory

1st

Operations Management

6

Mandatory

1st

Advanced Technologies

6

Mandatory

1st

Engineering and Manufacturing Systems

6

Mandatory

2nd

Management for Engineering

6

Mandatory

2nd

Innovation Management

6

Mandatory

2nd

Production Management

6

Mandatory

2nd

Leadership

6

Mandatory

2nd

Research Project

30

Mandatory

TME students are required to take a total of 90 ECTS: 60 ECTS from the curricular component (all 10 courses are mandatory) and the remaining 30 ECTS from the Research Project.

TME students must write a Research Project that describes original work conducted over the course of the Master’s of Business Engineering program project or a derived company-related activity, but either way the topic and content should be under the umbrella of the TME program theme and consistent with the scope of the EDAM focus area. The development of the thesis will most likely be supervised by an EDAM Professor but not necessarily; and the student may have a supervisor from MIT too.

The TME student is expected to write a Research Project proposal of approximately two to three pages outlining the research objectives, plan, and timeline. It should be

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jointly signed by the student and the Research project supervisor and should be submitted to the TME committee for review by July 31st. The TME committee will provide feedback on the proposal by August 31st.

The Research Project supervisor(s) and the students shall meet at regular intervals throughout the fall: e.g., with monthly meetings to report progress.

The Research Project should be submitted to the TME committee by December 31st and the results will be presented to the sponsoring company by January 31st in the presence of the thesis supervisor.

4.3.3.

Student’s highlights

Here we offer the comments of two alumni of the Master’s of Business Engineering in Technology Management Enterprise who benefited greatly from attending this program and had a very positive impact in their careers.

Vítor Martins, from the 2008/09 TME sustains the following about his participation: ‘Before joining TME, I worked as senior engineer, responsible for the launch of the VW Scirocco in the Pilot Plant at the company Volkswagen Autoeuropa in Palmela, Portugal. In the middle of the academic year I was transferred to the Final Acceptance Quality area Quality: I participated in a program "Checking Process Team" with the Director General of Production. Moreover I was engaged in the coordination of a team for the planning and launching of a new project, enterprise application for quality control and intermediate points in the final check of your car and the repairs. In fact, being part of the TME was important for my professional life and it translated on a more efficient practice. The plant organization benefited directly from the work done together in the final thesis "Transportation Synergy”, which will save 25% of the transportation costs and logistics. This was also a launching opportunity for a new way of "thinking" and transporting materials to and for the Volkswagen Autoeuropa Portuguese and other exporting companies. Even though I haven´t directly progressed in my job position, I feel available and better prepared to take on new professional challenges within the Volkswagen Autoeuropa and outside the factory, in other factories of the Group.’

Elizabete Pinho, from TMG Automotive, and a TME student from 2008/09 edition, also highlighted some points about TME: ‘When I joined the TME, I was responsible for Product Development at TPE group of TMG Automotive. Today I am TMG Automotive Technical Director. From my participation in the 2008/09 TME I most value the global perspective on the product development and the awareness of the importance of the several stages of project´s development, as well as the importance of deadlines. I also learned more about the need to coordinate teamwork and to integrate different points of view in order to accomplish a given deadline.’

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4.3.4.

Alumni profiles

This section presents the profile of some of the alumni of the Master’s of Business Engineering TME.

Name: Elizabete Pinho Program: TME Technology Management and Enterprise Year of graduation: 2010

Previous Professional Situation Responsible for Product Development at TPE group in TMG Automotive Post-graduation Professional Situation TMG Automotive Technical Director Learning Outcomes - Global Perspective on the product development and the importance of a project's several stages of development - The importance of deadlines - The need to coordinate teamwork and to integrate different points of view in order to accomplish a given deadline.

Name: João Ricardo Gonçalves Program: TME Technology Management and Enterprise Year of graduation: 2009

Previous Professional Situation Celoplás Development Engineer Post-graduation Professional Situation Celoplás Development Engineer Learning Outcomes From my TME experience I can highlight, in particular, the Product Design and Development course, as well as the industrial and pragmatic approach, common to all EDAM, which I believe is one of ts greatest advantages.

In fact, this is the most distinctive eature of the TME program when compared to more traditional academic post-graduations. The interconnection of academia and industry has been central to my involvement in the TME.

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Competitive Advantage The interconnection of academia and industry has been central to my involvement in the TME and a key factor to progress professionally and to address daily industrial challenges with a more comprehensive scope.

Name: Vítor Martins Program: TME Technology Management and Enterprise Year of graduation: 2009

Previous Professional Situation Before joing TME, I worked as a senior engineer, responsible for launching the VW Scirocco in the Pilot Plant at the company Volkswagen Autoeuropa in Palmela, Portugal.

At mid-TME I was transferred to the Final Acceptance Quality area Quality: I participated in a program "Checking Process Team" with the Director General of Production. Moreover I was engaged in the coordination of a team for the planning and launching of a new project, enterprise application for quality control and intermediate points in the final check of your car and the repairs.

Post-Graduation Professional Situation Senior engineer at Volkswagen Autoeuropa Learning Outcomes From my participation in the TME, I underline the fact that I developed a broader and more comprehensive vision of the international market and Portuguese companies.

I also stress the importance of being in touch with research, know-how and methods used in the four universities involved in the program. I also value the know-how I gained in fields such as programs to aid decisionmaking, construction of business cases and an overall more comprehensive and strategic vision of business planning.

Competitive Advantage In fact, being part of the TME was important for my professional life and it translated on a more efficient practice. The plant organization benefited directly from the work done together in the final thesis "Transportation Synergy”, which will save 25% of the transportation costs and logistics. This was also a launching opportunity for a new way of "thinking" and transporting materials to and from the Volkswagen Autoeuropa Portuguese and other exporting companies. Even though I haven«t directly progressed in my job position, I feel available and better prepared to take on new professional challenges within the Volkswagen Autoeuropa and outside the factory, in other factories of the Group.

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5.

Faculty exchange: training the trainers

5.1.

Overview

A very positive feature, and notable success, of the MIT Portugal network is the faculty exchange program. This program allows Portuguese faculty to spend a significant amount of time at MIT as Faculty Fellows in order to work closely with their MIT colleagues, make or expand valuable professional networks (both academic and research), develop specific skills that are essential for them to teach new courses and modules that were developed collaboratively with MIT within the MIT Portugal partnership, and to absorb the culture of MIT’s rich academic and research environment. In particular, Portuguese junior faculty visits to MIT have been highly influential in their impact on teaching practice, by permitting these faculty members to audit MIT classes and thus to gain a comparative perspective on how their subjects are taught and contextualized at MIT, and to acquire the competences to teach MIT courses at home.

To date, seventy-one new courses have been developed for teaching in MIT Portugal degree programs in Portugal, many of which introduce curricular elements that are novel to Portuguese engineering education. For example, an Engineering Systems Research Methods course, taught to PhD students in the EDAM degrees, was designed to lay a foundation for empirical research in the social sciences and engineering systems, introducing basic assumptions and underlying logics. Students become acquainted with a variety of approaches to research design, evaluate the products of empirical research, practice several common techniques, and develop their own research project. Faculty exchanges that permit Portuguese faculty to spend time at MIT working on these sorts of specific, challenging issues together with their MIT colleagues are critically important in building the human capacity and connections needed to make the program a success and have the expected impact.

Two good examples of this type of exchange were Professors João Sousa and João Claro, who came to MIT during sabbatical stays specifically to be exposed to engineering systems approaches and practices.

Another excellent example of successful faculty exchange is the eleven Portuguese faculty that have visited MIT to take part in the MIT Entrepreneurship Center’s Innovation Teams (i-Teams) course, in which students develop commercialization strategies for cutting-edge technologies, and to bring lessons learned back home to their respective Portuguese universities. The i-Teams approach is a cornerstone of the curriculum developed by the Bioengineering PhD program. For example, Luísa Ferreira Lopes, Assistant Professor in FCTUNL, where she is the Chair of the Economics of Innovation post-graduate course, was a participant during the current Fall ’09 academic term. Describing her experience at MIT, she said, “what is most striking about the i-Teams course compared to courses in Portugal is that the students lead the work, not the teacher. It is the students that are empowered to move their projects forward, with the support of the teacher – but without hand-holding.” More details on this particular exchange in the context of the bioengineering doctoral program are given in section 5.3.

Through the MIT Portugal network, a new cadre of talented junior faculty has been hired and trained in MIT teaching pedagogy. The table below lists the Portuguese faculty members that have spent significant time at MIT, with some basic facts about their stay.

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MIT PORTUGAL Faculty Fellows Researcher Name Aguiar-Ricardo, Ana Isabel Almeida, Luís Pereira de Alves, Paula Bernardo, Carlos A. A. Carvalho, Patrícia Claro, João da Silva, Cláudia Lobato Devezas, Tessaleno Duarte, José Ferreira, Frederico Freire, Fausto Ioakimidis, Christos Lages, Luis Filipe Lages, Luis Filipe Lages, Carmen Llussá, Fernanda Lopes, Luísa

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Dates of Visit

University New University of Lisbon University of Coimbra New University of Lisbon University of Minho Technical University of Lisbon

Start

End

06/15/2007

12/10/2007

11/01/2010

11/30/2010

07/01/2009

09/01/2009

04/26/2009

06/15/2009

09/01/2008

08/30/2009

University of Porto

08/25/2008

12/19/2008

Technical University of Lisbon Univeristy of Beira Interior Technical University of Lisbon New University of Lisbon University of Coimbra Technical University of Lisbon New University of Lisbon New University of Lisbon ISCTE New University of Lisbon New University of Lisbon

Fall 2008

08/01/2010

07/31/2011

09/01/2009

06/01/2009

09/07/2009

12/05/2009

06/15/2010

07/15/2010

04/15/2010

02/15/2011

03/05/2007

05/31/2007

01/17/2010

07/31/2010

01/17/2010

06/01/2010

01/29/2009

05/15/2009

09/01/2009

12/20/2009

MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

MIT Host

Subject of Research/visit

Person

Focus Area

Paula Hammond

Bioengineering

Sabbatical: chem engineering

Stan Finkelstein

Bioengineering

Drug delivery course - Machado Joseph disease

Danny Wang

Bioengineering

iTeams/Danny Wang research lab

Joel Clark

EDAM

Sabbatical: EDAM research interactions

Bioengineering

Cell and molecular mechanics in human diseases

Richard DeNeufville

Engineering Systems

Building relationships with ESD faculty,furthering his understanding of EngSys for transfer to PT university context

Dava Newman

Bioengineering

Stem cell research

Chris Magee

EDAM

Technical forecasting and materials evolution

William Mitchell

Energy

Design Lab

Bioengineering

iTeams

Energy

Call projects collaboration and development: Industrial Ecology and Life Cycle Assessment of Energy systems

David Marks, Ernie Moniz

Energy

MITEI post-doc; iTeams

Dava Newman

Bioengineering

iTeams

Charlie Cooney

Bioengineering

Sloan Lisbon MBA program

Charles Cooney, Dava Newman

Bioengineering

iTeams

Dava Newman

Bioengineering

iTeams

Charles Cooney, Dava Newman

Bioengineering

iTeams

Subra Suresh

Charles Cooney, Dava Newman David Marks, Joel Clark, R Kirchain

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MIT PORTUGAL Faculty Fellows Researcher Name Mota, Manuel Mota, Maria

University University of Minho Instituto de Medicina Molecular

Pereira, Francisco da Câmara

University of Coimbra

Prazeres, Miguel

Rodrigues, Lígia Rocha, Luís

Start

End

03/01/2011

07/01/2011

06/23/2010

09/15/2010

03/10/2009

02/12/2010

03/01/2007

04/30/2007

Spring 2008 03/08/2009

06/20/2009

03/01/2007

04/30/2007

Silva, Carlos

Technical University of Lisbon

10/06/2008

10/31/2008

Saraiva, Pedro

University of Coimbra

03/01/2007

06/10/2007

Sousa, João

Technical University of Lisbon

09/01/2008

06/31/2009

Simões, Ricardo

University of Minho

03/01/2007

04/30/2007

Silva, Arlindo

Technical University of Lisbon

05/11/2009

09/01/2009

Teixeira, Ana

New University of Lisbon

09/01/2009

12/20/2009

Viegas, José

Technical University of Lisbon

09/20/2010

11/06/2010

Rocha, Isabel

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Technical University of Lisbon University of Minho University of Minho University of Minho

Dates of Visit

MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

MIT Host Person Bruce Tidor, Kris Prather

Subject of Research/visit

Focus Area Bioengineering

Sabbatical - research interactions with Prather/Tidor

Bioengineering

Malaria research

Chris Zegras

Transportation

AIDA (Senseable City Lab), ITeam (Intregrated Transports and Engrgy Activity-based Model) and Citymotion

Dava Newman

Bioengineering

iTeams

Kris Prather

Bioengineering

iTeams

Chris Magee

EDAM

Collaborative research and EDAM course development

Bruce Tidor

Bioengineering

iTeams

David Marks

Engineering Systems

Collaborative research and EngSys and Energy networking

Dava Newman

Bioengineering

ITeams

Daniel Roos, Richard Larson

Engineering Systems

Building relationships with ESD faculty,furthering his understanding of EngSys for transfer to PT university context

Chris Magee

EDAM

Collaborative research and EDAM course development

Chris Magee

EDAM

Collaborative research and EDAM course development

Kris Prather

Bioengineering

iTeams

Chris Zegras

Transportation

Sabbatical - research interactions with multiple Transportation faculty

Sangeeta Bhatia

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A good example is Ligia Rodrigues, Assistant Professor, University of Minho, Bioengineering program. Prof. Rodrigues applied in 2007 when MIT Portugal opened faculty positions. These positions are different in that they explicitly include a commitment to spend half their time doing research and half their time teaching.

According to Prof. Rodrigues, “We also have different aims and challenges – other faculty keep doing their research. But for us, it is developing new relationships with MIT and for me, it is developing a new area of study in Portugal. These responsibilities are good practice for the future. For example, we had the Bioweek [conference] in Minho recently and my colleagues helped a lot in running the conference. The way the program is organized and taught is quite different from other doctoral programs we have [in Portugal]. I got to experience the MIT way of teaching courses first hand because I took the I-Teams [a School of Engineering innovation course] and other courses, and I had the opportunity to see some of the MIT faculty teach classes. In this Bioengineering program of MIT Portugal the teaching is the same format as what is being done at MIT”. The lessons learnt by Prof. Ligia Rodrigues in this faculty exchange program are detailed in the next section.

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5.2.

Lessons learnt by junior faculty: Ligia Rogrigues, Assistant Professor, University of Minho, Bioengineering Program

Being a student at MIT under the scope of the “training the trainers” philosophy was a unique experience. The purpose of my short-term visit to MIT (Spring 2008) was to engage in the Innovation-teams and other innovation and entrepreneurship related courses (Disruptive Technologies, New Enterprises, several Sloan-MIT MBA classes on Innovation and start-up management) as a student, but also to act as a Teaching Assistant in the i-Teams course. As a student, I attended several events, talks, classes, meetings and lab guided tours. On the other hand, as a Teaching Assistant I participated in the organization of the invited lectures, special events and in the evaluation process.

The MIT environment has several special features; the huge diversity of emerging research areas available that inspire an extremely competitive environment; the collaboration atmosphere which encourages the establishment of networks between multidisciplinary people; the close collaboration with industry, alumni and society in general; and the highly motivated people, among other features, which make the learning process at MIT so exclusive.

The learning process is project-oriented and privileges the hands-on and learn-bydoing approaches. Also, through assignments and events, the students are constantly encouraged to leave their comfort zone and develop their network skills.

Course syllabuses are carefully prepared to include seminars by guests from industry and experts, unusual class formats where students are confronted with different realities (e.g. outdoor activity, games, debates, brainstorming, case studies, daily life experiences), and several assignments to challenge students to think-out-of-the-box and to guide them through the learning process. Independent or team work supported by coaching sessions is also considered.

Moreover, students are encouraged to prepare themselves in advance for the classes through readings and assignments. Indeed, the evaluation process is somewhat different including peer-review, projects reports and presentations and assignments developed during the semester. Only in few cases, formal exams are envisaged.

Another important feature is the focus on issues such as innovation, leadership, goto-market strategies and ethics, which although not being sometimes the core of the courses are the baseline in all of them.

An example of the courses that I attended at MIT, in which most of these educational practices were implemented, was the Innovation-teams (i-Teams) course. The i-Teams course is a very effective tour-guide through the innovation ecosystem, a perfect tour inside the MIT environment with some exposure to the outside supportive biotechnology world, among other fields. The events the students are invited to through the course (Deshpande Center Volunteer Party, MidTerm Presentations and IdeaStream) have a great impact and value as they expose them to the innovation environment around the Boston area. Classes like i-Teams, where students from very different backgrounds and experiences are grouped to work over a technology that might be on a completely different area from their expertise’s, promotes networking and the development of a new mindset to overcome the challenges. Being forced to grapple with difficult issues on behalf of their PI (the owner of the technology that they are working with) by themselves helps the students to understand the process in a way that being told about it would not. i-Teams also provide a guided-tour to various important elements of innovation through the talks, exercises, and trips students took in class. What is learnt in the class will stay with the students long after they may have forgotten the details of a particular case’s holding.

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As a junior faculty the lessons learnt at MIT had a remarkable impact in my teaching and research career. After my visit, I became more aware of topics related with innovation, leadership, entrepreneurship and creativity, which I included in my classes to motivate and inspire students.

The practices that I have learnt have been implemented in the Bioinnovation-teams and Leadership development course at the MIT Portugal network – Bioengineering program. Also, I have been involved in the design and lecturing of a new course “Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Biotechnology and Bioinformatics” which is taught in the Master’ program in Bioinformatics at the University of Minho.

I introduced significant changes in my classes to other master’s and doctoral programs too, such as including seminars by experts and industries; new teaching tools (more visual and interactive); project-oriented classes with case studies, debates, brainstorming; challenges that force students to leave their comfort zone and interact with the outside environment developing their network skills; visits and outdoor activities.

I made profound changes in my class planning, privileging longer practical periods (hands-on approach) and shorter presentations; including time for the students to develop their personal or team projects, and for coaching them. I also prepared new class materials, including readings (so that the students can prepare themselves in advance) and assignments (that are useful for evaluation purposes and also for students guidance).

Finally, I introduced major changes in the evaluation process in these classes; I maintained the formal exams, but included as well other parameters that I learnt to be important such as the peer-review.

5.3.

Course design and teaching training

Scope and goals The PhD in Bioengineering was from the very first moment designed to be significantly focused in innovation. The educational strategy adopted was to expose the PhD students from the beginning of their studies to the challenge of taking technologies from the laboratory to the market. In order to achieve this goal, students should not only be provided with the adequate tools, but also coached towards the development of a new mental framework.

At MIT, Cambridge, these objectives are achieved in specific courses, such as the Innovation Teams (i-Teams) and within a very rich innovation ecosystem. Translating such unique characteristics to the Portuguese education system required considerable efforts and thoughtful reflection. From this exercise, two educational courses±“Introduction to Technical Innovation” and “Bio-Innovation teams”—have been designed and included in the curricula of the first year of the doctoral program of Bioengineering. These courses are complementary on their learning outcomes and methodologies.

The effective adaptation of the methodologies and syllabus from MIT to the Portuguese program required the training of Portuguese faculty. Therefore, faculty have been exposed to the MIT environment and its educational approaches and has worked together with MIT faculty on the design and implementation of these courses.

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Since 2007, nine faculty elements (listed below) spent a semester at MIT as visiting scholars. At MIT, they had the opportunity to enrol as students in the i-Teams course, a program offered by the Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation and the Entrepreneurship Center. In this course the Portuguese scholars worked with MIT students and researchers on the development of market-oriented strategies for innovative technologies.

Faculty who participated in this exchange program are 1. Isabel Rocha – IBB – Dep. Engenharia Biológica – University of Minho (UMinho) (Spring 2007) 2. Pedro Saraiva – University of Coimbra (UC) (Spring 2007) 3. Duarte Miguel Prazeres – Dep. Bioengineering – Instituto Superior Técnico (IST) (Spring 2007) 4. Luis Lages – FE – Universidade Nova de Lisboa (UNL) (Spring 2007) 5. Lígia Rodrigues – IBB – Dep. Engenharia Biológica – University of Minho (UMinho) (Spring 2008) 6. Fernanda Llussá – FCT – New University of Lisbon (UNL) (Spring 2009) 7. Frederico Ferreira – IBB – Dep. Bioengineering – Instituto Superior Técnico (IST)(Fall 2009) 8. Luísa Lopes – FCT – New University of Lisbon (UNL) (Fall 2009) 9. Ana Teixeira –ITQB/IBET - New University of Lisbon (UNL) (Fall 2009)

Participating in the Innovation Teams (i-Teams) The primary objective of the visits to MIT was the participation in the Innovation Teams (i-Teams) program offered by the Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation and the Entrepreneurship Center at MIT. This allowed the faculty to “learn by doing” and gain insights on topics such as “go-to-market” strategies for innovative technologies.

The faculty members enrolled in the i-Teams course as any other MIT student integrating a team to whom a project had been assigned. In this “hands-on” course, a set of technologies developed at MIT are assessed on the basis of their potential for market applications and from which several strategies/recommendations can be drawn. Besides the coaching provided by the MIT faculty, the students also have support from the researchers, inventors of the technology, and from a business catalyst. During the semester the students have to accomplish a set of assignments that guides them through the innovation process.

Key insights: (i) understanding the technical details is important to evaluate the need and potential impact of the technology; (ii) direct contact with experts and potential customers is the more efficient and fastest route to gather information and evaluate the market potential of the technology; (iii) it is possible to handle uncertainty and make structured quality decisions with few information; (iv) crossing information from different sources allows the validation or elimination of options, and (v) different projects require different approaches and frameworks.

The four Portuguese faculty members who attended the i-Teams course during the spring of 2007 designed and implemented the MIT Portugal innovation courses for the doctoral program of Bioengineering Systems together with MIT staff. In the subsequent years, five additional faculty staff also visited MIT, receiving additional training in order to strengthen the innovation track of the Portuguese program.

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Exposure to the MIT Innovation/Entrepreneur Ecosystem The educational component in innovation at MIT is actually a component of a broader system, often referred to as the MIT Innovation/Entrepreneur Ecosystem. This system provides an organizational culture, a mental framework and a network that potentiates a dynamic and close relationship between technological discovery and its translation into economical and social value.

Besides attending classes in several innovation courses at MIT, the Portuguese visiting scholars participated in several meetings and seminars, including (i) the MIT Portugal Program Bioengineering faculty meetings, (ii) the MIT Portugal Program visitor lunch seminars and (iii) the MIT Engineering Systems Division faculty lunch seminars.

In order to get insights on the technology transfer process and the industrial MIT relationships, the Portuguese faculty scholars participated in several meetings/events: • MIT Technical License Office (TLO): responsible for licensing MIT technology.

Meetings with: Lita Nelsen (Director), Aaron D. Schwartz (Technology Licensing Officer), and Ana Lopes (Technology Licensing Associate). These meetings covered the TLO vision and mission, license revenue creation and distribution, and tackling conflict of interests.

• MIT Industrial Liaison Program (ILP): responsible to facilitate corporate/industrial relationships. Meeting with Senior Industrial Liaison Officers, Anthony Knopp and Randall Wright. Attending workshops, such as the Regional Competitiveness Workshop. Getting in touch with the ILP to understand the expectations and incentives for the US MIT industrial affiliates.

• Global Start-up Workshop: an event organized across the world by MIT students, promoting entrepreneurism vision (Marcus Dahlem).

• Entrepreneurship centre: get a perspective of the teaching activities of this centre through the analysis of course syllabuses and meeting with the faculty responsible for those courses.

• Deshpande Centre for Technological Innovation: the participation on the iTeams, attending the “Annual Open House reception”, and meetings with Charles Cooney and Luis Pérez-Breva enabled a good insight on the role of this centre and also guidance to the faculty scholar visitors on networking, providing contacts with scientists, entrepreneurs and venture capitalists.

• Additional units/initiatives available as key ingredients of the MIT innovation ecosystem were the 100K competition, the Venture Mentoring Service and several students clubs, such as the MIT innovation club.

• Specific meetings (e.g. James Utterback and Daniel Roos) provided different views on MIT history and mission, highlighting the MIT origin as a land-grant university which aimed to aid “the advancement, development and practical application of science in connection with arts, agriculture, manufactures, and commerce.”

Key insights: (i) the TLO is organized by scientific areas, with respective officers assigned to them, whereas legal support is outsourced to external law firms; (ii) the so-called MIT entrepreneur ecosystem is not planned, being highly decentralized and permitting freedom of action (within few, simple and clear guidelines); (iii) the success of MIT seems connected to its historical mission of practical application, the learning by doing approach and a virtuous cycle of successful achievements and reputation; (iv) faculty staff are expected to work one day of the week in/with industry,

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strengthening their external connections; (v) academic calendars are short, providing extra-curricular time for students and staff, and; (vi) students activities with headquarters on the campus are extensive, with professional administrative support.

Example of the MIT technology transfer and Industrial relationship: the Brontes/3M The case of Brontes Technology was selected as an example of a start-up enterprise.

At its inception, the MIT-born Brontes Technology received a grant from the Deshpande Centre. The company grew and fostered until it was sold to 3M, an MIT industrial affiliate. A direct perspective given by the people involved was possible through specific meetings: • Douglas Hart, founder and PI of the technology. The different steps of the company creation from technology development to the identification of the market opportunity, licensing the technology and raising capital, were discussed. Also, the role of the PhD students and the different steps of the deal were described.

• Micah Rosenbloom, Sloan student that joined Brontes Technology at its foundation. Currently, he is working with 3M, as part of the Brontes Technology team that was integrated in 3M after the deal. Micah participated in the plenary session of Idea Spring 2010, the kickoff event for the BioTeams (MIT Portugal network) in Portugal (video conference).

Key interesting aspects for the success of Brontes Technology were: (i) the selection and evaluation of market potential for a new 3D imaging technology; (ii) the successful use of the Innovation Grant from MIT's Deshpande Center; (iii) the interaction with the TLO to license the technology; (iv) the challenge of raising venture capital funding; and (v) the final deal in which Brontes technology was sold for $95M to 3M.

Course design and teaching skills In addition to their participation in the design, coordination, lecturing and tutoring of the “Introduction to Technical Innovation” and “Bio-Innovation teams” courses, some of the Portuguese faculty visiting scholars promoted the development of additional elective courses within their affiliate Portuguese institutions. The experience gained at MIT and at the MIT Portugal network by being involved in the innovation courses during the last years, contributed to the development of these new initiatives. A few examples are described below: a) Bioengineering and Market, course designed and lectured at Instituto Superior Técnico (IST) by Miguel Prazeres, offered to students in the Master’s in Biological Engineering, Biomedical Engineering and Biotechnology. b) Entrepreneurship in Bioengineering, course being designed and proposed at Instituto Superior Técnico (IST) by Frederico Ferreira and Miguel Prazeres, to be offered to students in the doctoral program in Biomedical Engineering and Biotechnology, as well as in the euSYSBIO — Erasmus Mundus Masters Course on Systems Biology. c) Green Technologies and Strategic Management, course designed and lectured at Instituto Superior Técnico (IST) by Frederico Ferreira and Carlos Baleizão, offered to the Master’s in Biological Engineering, Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology.

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d) Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Biotechnology and Bioinformatics course designed and lectured by Isabel Rocha and Lígia Rodrigues for the Master’s Program in Bioinformatics at the University of do Minho. e) Leadership Development course designed and implemented by Isabel Rocha and Lígia Rodrigues for the Bioengineering PhD program in the context of the MIT Portugal network at the University of Minho. f) Innovation Management course designed and lectured by Luis Filipe Lages for the Master’s Programs in Management, Finance and Economics at the New University of Lisbon (UNL). g) Go-to-Market course designed and lectured by Luis Filipe Lages for Nova Forum at New University of Lisbon (UNL). h) Technology-Market Transfer course designed and lectured by Luis Filipe Lages and Luisa Agante for final year students of the Master’s Programs in Management, Finance and Economics at the New University of Lisbon (UNL). i) Economics and Entrepreneurship C, a new master’s course designed and taught by Fernanda Llussá to Civil Engineers at the Faculty of Science and Technology of the New University of Lisbon (FCTUNL). j) Entrepreneurship - Turning Ideas Into Assets, a master’s course designed

by Susana Barreiros (Vice-Dean, FCTUNL), has counted with contributions of Fernanda Llussá (FCTUNL). k) Meet MIT workshop, designed by Fernanda Llussá (FCTUNL), Marcus Dahlem (MIT), Isa P. Monteiro (MIT Portugal student), and Susana Barreiros (Vice-Dean, FCTUNL) - this was an intensive program that brought together, in an informal context, students from FCTUNL and students and alumni from MIT, who shared relevant experiences in entrepreneurship, innovation and technological development in an informal context. Some of the students present went on to create the Nova entrepreneurship club, ENOVA. l) Master’s Theses: Ana Sofia Esteves and Francisco Venes, both students at FCTUNL, co-advised by Fernanda Llussá, are developing a research line focused on technical innovations and the challenge of taking technologies from the laboratory to the market.

On the design of these courses several points of view and methodologies that are usual at MIT, were taken into consideration: (i) focus on hands-on approach, (ii) the need for offering multiple and diverse learning opportunities, (iii) the importance of increasing attention span through puzzling challenges, (iv) allowing students to select diverse frameworks to tackle different problems, (v) discussion of case studies, (vi) the primary importance given to evaluation events as a tool to increase learning awareness, with less stress on its traditional rolei.e. as assessment (taken to the extreme, in this strategy, evaluation deliverables can be asked before the respective course content is actually delivered). Examples and adequacy have been discussed.

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Visiting scholar statements “My visit to MIT in the Spring of 2007 marked a turning point in my teaching career.

Not only did I make significant changes to my lecturing, introducing new teaching methodologies, but I also designed a new course focused on innovation in bioengineering which has been highly successful among students”.

DMF Prazeres “My time at MIT back in 2007 gave me a unique opportunity to contact with state-ofthe art educational methodologies and leading faculty in a unique, challenging and exciting environment. My involvement in the organization of the BioTeams project also gave me the opportunity to design and implement de novo educational programs. I think that helped me greatly in implementing another educational program, the Master’s Program in Bioinformatics in the University of Minho. Also, many of the things I learnt and experienced about technology transfer and innovation back in 2007 at MIT have been very useful in my entrepreneurship activities, namely in launching a new spinoff in 2010 (SilicoLife) and in leading the Portuguese Association of Bioindustries (APBio) since 2009.”

I Rocha “A terrific experience in i-Teams, working on a drug delivery project. Working with my team has pushed me to learn about the complex and costly process of bringing a drug or a medical device to market, gaining FDA approval, and other challenges. I like the way that MIT professors get our attention with many pertinent questions that we have to consider when evaluating the best strategy to turn an idea into a commercially viable product.”

A Teixeira

”Having a PhD in Innovation Economics, the experience at MIT (Fall 2009) gave me the opportunity to further develop my expertise in this area in two different directions.

First, in teaching, by learning a totally different way of lecturing and by extensively discussing in detail all the MIT offer in this area (32 courses) with MIT faculty.

Secondly, it allowed me to research on how the MIT innovation ecosystem works and how it was created by accessing important written sources and by extensively talking with a very large number of relevant people. As a consequence of this experience I designed and taught three new Master’s and PhD courses at Nova University: Innovation Economics, Economics and Entrepreneurship and Economics and Management of Innovation. I also contributed to the design and teaching of a new Entrepreneurship course for seven PhD programs. Furthermore, I prepared a proposal, to the Head of FCTUNL, suggesting developing the school’s support system for activities in this area. Overall, it was an invaluable experience that remarkably enlarged my knowledge and skills.”

L Lopes

“My visit to MIT in the Fall of 2009 was a great experience! When one wants to startup a business idea, it is always a challenge to handle uncertainty and be able to make structured, good quality decisions with little information. This is only possible

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when you interact closely with the real world of technology companies and people who work in this field. In that sense, the MIT ecosystem and network offers us valuable resources, allowing contacting diverse people – ranging from venture capitalists, FDA experts, technological licensing officers, entrepreneurs, members of larger companies – and just as important, scientists with excellent ideas and work. All of this in a very casual way, which is great.”

F Ferreira “One of the purposes of my visit to MIT (Spring 2008) was to participate in i-Teams, both as a student and as a teaching assistant, in order to provide different perspectives to curriculum development of the BioTeams course, an adapted version of i-Teams carried oheld in Portugal in the Bioengineering doctoral program. I had the opportunity to participate in multiple activities, network with key people and get the sense of the pretty unique and special MIT innovation ecosystem. Definitely this experience changed my perspectives on education and research approaches.”

L Rodrigues “My experience as a visiting scholar at MIT in the Spring of 2009 was invaluable as a way to develop my research and teaching agenda in entrepreneurship. I have been able to teach at Master’s and PhD courses in innovation and entrepreneurship at Universidade Nova de Lisboa and within the MIT Portugal network, where I coordinated practical sessions in the Innovation in Bioengineering course. My MIT experience was key to the creation of two new Master’s level courses, one on economics and entrepreneurship, targeted at engineers, and a second targeted at journalists interested in new media and technology. My research agenda in gender, finance, and entrepreneurship was much encouraged by exposure to new ideas at MIT, where I had the opportunity to present research seminars. Several students have gone on to developing new businesses, one of which was distinguished with a second place in the Richard Branson innovation prize, received financial support from EDP, and is well under way to become a successful start-up. In summary, the excellence of teaching and research at MIT have since guided and inspired my personal standards.”

F Llussá “My visit to MIT, in the Spring of 2007, had a tremendous impact in my personal life, my research and my teaching career. At the personal level, after my visit I became much more interested in the topics of creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship. In terms of research, I have published several papers that look to the bridge between technology and the market. In terms of teaching, in addition to the coordination of the Innovation course in the Bioengineering program, I have developed 3 new courses for my university. After four years, I start seeing the long-term effects of these initiatives. Several start-ups were launched by previous students, some of them were recipients of Entrepreneurship awards (e.g. Nova Idea Competition, EDP-Richard Branson 50K award), and just very recently I found out that one of these start-ups is already going to Silicon Valley. “ L Lages

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5.4.

Project based learning

The context Academic engineering in Portugal has relied on industry and government agencies to deal with Engineering Systems issues. However these issues have become much more complex over time—modern developed societies live supported in a complex, interconnected set of overlapping systems—and it is also now recognized that traditional engineering, involving the design of technical products or systems that satisfy well-defined specifications, should also benefit from an Engineering Systems way of thinking.

A main barrier to the development of the Engineering Systems approach in Portugal is associated with the existing engineering educational programs, which are focused on teaching disciplinary knowledge and methods for solving well-defined problems.

The traditional educational programs have not addressed conveniently the required competences to deal with multi- and inter-disciplinary knowledge approaches.

Economics are sometimes considered alongside technology, however social, organizational, cultural and ethical issues are normally neglected.

The search for interdisciplinary knowledge at a PhD level has long been identified as mandatory for today’s technological and innovation leaders. This is one of the goals of the International Council of Systems Engineering (INCOSE) and the multiple graduate level programs under the Engineering Systems Division (ESD) at MIT. The graduate programs of ESD focus, among other things on the interdisciplinary knowledge needed to tackle complex engineering problems. Countless meetings of productive discussion with MIT colleagues and friends have helped in improving our perspective of engineering systems and our willingness to embrace the need to convey a holistic view of engineering to our students.

Inspired in the MIT practices in this field, the EDAM area has made a considerable effort to integrate interdisciplinary knowledge and competencies acquired in different courses, based on the joint and simultaneous development of projects for the solution of complex engineering problems. In the first semester the students have to take two fundamental courses: Product Design and Development (PDD) and Technology Evaluation and Selection (TES). The former is based on similar courses being taught at MIT and at the three Portuguese universities. The latter is based on similar courses at MIT, but with no counterpart within the Portuguese universities PhD programs. This course is based on three major topics: engineering economics, materials and process selection methods, and process-based cost modeling, with some marginal coverage on multi-attribute utility analysis and environmental impact issues.

Taking advantage of the courses being taught simultaneously to all the LTI and TME students, this project builds on knowledge coming from both courses to design and develop a product that has to be competitive in the market. Because these two courses are taught at the same time, this offers the opportunity to complement both courses in terms of breadth of learning, without losing the necessary depth of a PhD level course. By using a common project, the student will experience the usual breadth of a product development course, from product planning to production rampup, and the depth of the technology evaluation course, with its process-based cost models. During the semester, the students are expected to turn in several homework assignments meant to keep them on track with their project work. Each of the

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homework assignments has feedback from faculty, some from PDD and some from TES faculty. Even though the in-class time is very short, compared to an average semester, students are always accompanied by faculty feedback on their work. In the end, a final presentation and report, with a mandatory working prototype for each project, are the expected outcomes.

The innovation of this common project is enhanced by the fact that it was first tried by both the Portuguese and the US faculty team within EDAM, as it is virtually impossible to implement the concept at MIT, due to their modular approach to the courses taken by the students. As such, it served as a test bed for both Portuguese and MIT faculty as an innovative approach to project-based learning and interdisciplinary knowledge transfer. The feedback constantly given to the students during these projects by eight professors (six Portuguese and two from MIT) has been a challenging endeavor to both students and professors, but one that we are committed to foster.

The products coming from these projects are meant to be simple, so that the focus of learning is on the PDD and TES processes and tools, and not on overcomplicated technicalities from excessively complex products. With a simple product, the students can go through all the PD process phases, learning by doing. The mix of students from LTI and TME also increases the learning experience and value of this project.

Students report that this integrated approach to the project is extremely helpful in bridging the knowledge acquired in both courses with a hands-on approach. The work in teams, although not always easy from an organizational perspective, is a reality in companies all over the world and globalization of the business environment adds to that.

For the future, continuous improvement on this interdisciplinary model of education will be sought, leaking down to 2nd and 1st cycle of studies in Portuguese universities.

The experience of the Portuguese faculty involved in both PDD and TES will be paramount in the implementation of this interdisciplinary systems perspective in the development of future curricula in their Portuguese home institutions.

The faculty members involved in this initiative Product Design and Development (PDD) 1. Arlindo Silva (Head faculty) – IST, Dept. Mechanical Engineering 2. Qi Hommes – MIT, Eng. Systems Division 3. António Araújo – FEUP, EDAM Professor, Dept. Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Management 4. Gustavo Dias – UM, Dept. Polymer Engineering Technology Evaluation and Selection (TES) 5. Mihail Fontul (Head faculty) – IST, EDAM Professor, Dept. Mechanical Engineering 6. Randolph Kirchain – MIT, Eng. Systems Division and Materials Science Dept.

7. Jorge Lino – FEUP, Dept. Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Management 8. Julio Viana – UM, Dept. Polymer Engineering A paper on the differences in engineering teaching and PhD research between the LTI program and the more traditional Portuguese PhD programs was written and presented in June 2009 at the 2nd International Symposium on Engineering, held at

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MIT, by Arlindo Silva, Elsa Henriques, Mihail Fontul and Luís Faria, all involved in the LTI program: Silva, A., Henriques, E., Fontul, M., and Faria, L. On Some Innovative Aspects of the EDAM MIT-Portugal Program 2nd International Symposium on Engineering Systems, MIT, Cambridge, MA, June 15-17, 2009.

The impact of the innovative educational methodology has been further analyzed by Arlindo Silva in collaboration with Prof. Judy Dori (Technion, visiting scholar at MIT) who is a specialist in Engineering Teaching. The work, which combined Judy’s knowledge in Engineering Teaching and Arlindo Silva’s expertise in product development, was published in the Advances in Engineering Education Journal in 2010: Dori, Y. J., Silva, A., Assessing International Product Design & Development Graduate Courses: The MIT-Portugal as a Case in Point. Advances in Engineering Education, 2:2, Summer (2010). Available from http://advances.asee.org/vol02/issue02/02.cfm Furthermore, Prof. Dori delivered two seminars at the Universities of Minho and Porto in November 2008 on her previous research on the Technology Enabled Active Learning (TEAL) Studio Physics program at MIT, and on her work with the EDAM programs study case. These seminars led to independent links between these Portuguese institutions' internal teaching steering groups and the MIT Teaching and Learning Lab. As a consequence, a delegation from the University of Porto attended a week of seminars on Better Teaching at MIT delivered by the Teaching and Learning Lab, and these seminars were also videotaped for ongoing teaching development at the University of Minho.

6.

Assessment of educational programs

6.1.

Evaluating achievements

6.1.1.

Overview

This section presents the findings of continuing program assessment which has been accompanying the MIT Portugal educational network since 2008. The section draws largely from research carried out in the context of a thesis project in MIT Technology & Policy Program (Pfotenhauer 2010)11 . The main sources are: comparative student survey that covers educational practices, student research, networking, industry linkages, and program administration; (faculty surveys both inside and outside MIT Portugal; a series of interviews with visiting students at MIT; and a variety of statistics obtained from the coordination office.

6.1.2. Re-designing engineering curricula and building human resources in innovation and entrepreneurship MIT Portugal network’s education under the trans-disciplinary Engineering Systems banner is strongly geared towards innovation, entrepreneurship, and industry linkages.

The network has succeeded in attracting a very specific student cohort to its graduate programs. Students have a background in industry work (both R&D and

11 - Pfotenhauer, Sebastian M. Integrative university collaborations as an innovation strategy for catching-up countries: A case study of the MIT-Portugal Program. Cambridge, MA: MIT Thesis, 2010.

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other) as well as other private sector work, amounting to seventy-eight percent for MIT Portugal as opposed to fifty-three percent for other students.

Doctoral students are more prone to work in industry than their peers, and also to work as entrepreneurs. The students indicate a particularly high interest in working for their MIT Portugal industry research partner, which reflects the strategy of the network to involve industry affiliates in student research and education. The MIT Portugal educational network has strongly promoted the non-academic job market to its students, and has broadly raised entrepreneurial spirit. Faculty emphasize that the network has fostered a more application-oriented approach towards teaching engineering materials, and that the network has benefited greatly from the highly diverse student body.

“MIT Portugal definitely contributes to acquiring these skills. [..] To my best knowledge, there is no existing PhD program in Portugal that has innovation in the curriculum, because other programs are focused on pure science. [..] All the students give terrific feedback. It is really interesting for them to explore that different area.”

Students consistently rank their program higher with respect to key aspects in industry linkages. For example, the network focuses on entrepreneurship with a stronger concentration in economics and business principles. Students also appreciate the usefulness of their research to industry.

Faculty respondents confirm that their own teaching style has become significantly more geared towards innovation and management as a result of participating in MIT Portugal: “I am also in a learning process in the MIT Portugal network, in this new engineering approach of bringing together economic aspects, management, etc.”

Over the course of the network’s existence, twenty-three new professorships were created for junior faculty to support the program’s teaching and research goals. The research indicates that these faculty recruits are benefiting greatly from the network, receiving a noticeable “boost” in career opportunities, a rapid expansion of their professional networks, and important new input into their research work.

6.1.3.

Attracting a strong, international cohort

MIT Portugal is successful in attracting an excellent student cohort. Students of the network are reported to show a greater degree of independence with their work, more precise achievement goals, and often a stronger commitment to achieve these goals.

Students also enter their graduate studies with much higher expectations towards their program and put greater emphasis on the quality of education, the link between research and industry, internationalization of the program, the English language, and the employment prospects.

MIT Portugal has implemented a proactive international student recruitment policy paired with a competitive admission process. This high degree of internationalization is of great importance.

The international character of the network is supported by various mobility schemes.

Students describe their MIT visit as extremely positive and highly influential, with strong gains in new methodological approaches or areas of interest. Visiting students

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report that their work has improved as a result of being at MIT. Several students have submitted articles or papers with MIT faculty/students as co-authors.

Portuguese junior faculty state that visits to MIT have been highly influential for their teaching practice. It has become a central part of the mobility scheme that these junior faculty audit MIT classes in order to gain a comparative perspective on how their subjects are taught and contextualized at MIT, or to acquire the competences to teach MIT courses at home.

The MIT Portugal student cohort differs with several other respects. Students display a different age structure than their peers. PhD students in MIT Portugal are on average 1.1 years younger than their counterparts. In contrast, MIT Portugal Master’s students are on average 3.3 years older than students in comparable programs. Students also differ with respect to their individual work experience. While for PhD students the levels of work experience are roughly comparable to others, 70% of MIT Portugal Master’s students have 5 or more years of prior work experience, as opposed to 33% for their peers. Furthermore, the network student cohort shows a significantly more balanced gender structure in its PhD programs. In comparison to a female fraction of 25.81% in other engineering programs, MIT Portugal raised the fraction to 45.95%.

6.1.4.

Mobility and networking

An important aspect of the networking strategy is to introduce mobility. Students in the BIO PhD program, for example, study at various universities in Lisbon, Minho and Coimbra, and conclude with lab rotations all over country. The focus on mobility is facilitated by a modular term structure based on fast-rotating cycles of 2-week intensive courses. Furthermore, degrees are, for the first time in Portugal, jointly awarded in association by participating Portuguese universities. This mobility provides students access to the best faculty in the country and helps them to develop ties within the national research environment. Students have remarked on their mobility periods as highly enriching in experience and perspective, also contributing to a strong “cohort factor” and positive peer effects. This cross-curricular arrangement has no precedence in Portugal.

The high degree of student networking is correlated with a rise in student communication and connectivity. The assessment shows further that a larger fraction of MIT Portugal students is connected to other Portuguese research groups, both in terms of awareness and actual contact. The percentage of other students not knowing or being in contact with any other groups is 51% and 63%, respectively, as opposed to 40% and 36% for MIT Portugal students. In particular for actual contacts the MIT Portugal cohort supersedes its peers by a factor of 1.75.

Networking is also constitutive on the faculty level. Faculty respondents perceive the increased networking and cooperation as one of the most tangible and desirable program outcomes: “Without MIT and outside the network, [interaction and networking] is very small. This is a practice that MIT Portugal started – it is an achievement of the network. Before, the level of relation between the Portuguese universities was very scarce.”

“Portugal never had a program for cooperation inside Portugal: I mean a real program.

It’s senseless to cooperate inside the country at this moment, where there is no funding and bureaucracy is too high.”

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MIT Portugal faculty, who continue to teach at other classes in their home institutions, have remarked on how the MIT Portugal network has positively affected their overall teaching quality. They also report that they have been actively approached by their colleagues to discuss the contents they teach and methods they use.

The educational network has served as a blueprint for the design of new programs at Portuguese universities (e.g. at Universidade Nova de Lisboa). This active copying is partly due to the involvement of MIT Portugal faculty in the course formation process.

Research and networking has also helped launching a number of initiatives that widen the network, including “Stemcellnet,” the “Sustainable Cities Forum,” or “ISCTE-MIT Portugal IEI.” Finally, MIT Portugal has stimulated one instance of an excellence cluster in Portugal – in sustainable energy systems (SES) at the University of Coimbra. One faculty recalls: “We did not realize that there was a group of people here in the university, a critical mass, to develop educational programs and research in the energy area. [But] we are about 26 faculty members and 4 R&D institutes who have joined efforts, and MIT was the motivation for this – the wish to be part of the network. [..] To monitor our activities in the energy area in Coimbra, we have set up a council of [..] about 20 company representatives who meet with us and the students once or twice a year.

We tell them what we are doing, and they tell us what they think about what we are doing, and what they would like us to do more. This is nothing that was suggested or imposed by MIT. But it is something that indirectly, like many things, relates to this MIT Portugal network.”

The network has also facilitated the formation of novel administrative capacities. The complexity of the program has led to a demand to enhance professional support structures for education and research at Portuguese universities, ranging from visa issues and scholarship timing for international students, to inter-lab mobility and money-follows-researcher situations, to video-lecturing, teacher training and support, and the facilitation of industry-linkages.

6.1.5.

i-Teams

The i-Teams, a major entrepreneurship educational piece at MIT was adapted to work in the Portuguese universities as a two-stage approach: • Innovation Leadership course: a two-week action-based introductory course on innovation early on in the program empowers students with a can-do attitude and basic skill-set to engage in a hypothesis-driven exploration of technology impact. The course was designed as a “crash course” to MIT’s approach and attitude about innovation. Content on basic business skills, interaction in academia, market exploration, innovation management, or IP, was used as adequate given student backgrounds.

The course succeeded in opening student’s eyes to the steps in the process of innovation: bridge from research to society; connect real problems; and communicate innovations to a broader audience.

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• BioTeams: a semester long course in which teams of students explore the go-to-market feasibility of current Portuguese technologies. The course implements i-Teams concepts in a unique set-up. Students are in different Portuguese locations based on their ongoing research projects, they meet three times in the same location that coincide with events, and have mentoring, milestones, and lectures throughout the semester.

Bioengineering and EDAM implemented variants of the innovation leadership course.

Additionally, content was designed for a pre-module to introduce students to the full innovation program and the value of IP and, in connection with IP, the danger and inadequacy of plagiarism. Over 400 students, faculty, guest lecturers, and audience guests, have participated in BioTeams and EDAM’s innovation classes to date.

BioTeams host the community in three events: to select technologies for the course, get feedback in the mid-terms and showcase the final results.

Innovation in bioengineering has had immediate impact on how students approach and understand technological innovation. As an example, Cell2B is a recently incorporated and funded biotech startup based on Portuguese technology, developed by students from the first cohort of the program in parallel with their PhD studies, and they have participated in the inaugural Venture Competition ISCTE-IUL MIT Portugal (IEI), which is an initiative aiming at fostering the creation of new technology-based ventures or strengthening recently incorporated companies. The Venture Competition’s mission is to facilitate and encourage a model of entrepreneurial value creation and the means by which these can be transferred from the Portuguese University scientific as well as technologists and industrialists into the global market.

• Visitors at MIT: pedagogy behind the technology innovation courses was shared with over eleven Portuguese faculty hosted in i-Teams at MIT. Many joined the BioTeams team (nine), some developed new courses borrowing from the pedagogy of i-Teams.

• Research: numerous research projects including one PhD project in innovation in bioengineering addressed the topic of innovation under the research framework.

• Innovation events: 6 yearly innovation events were organized, 3 for BioTeams and 3 for the IEI. The following table provides an overview of the main activities and findings taken during the i-teams activity in Portugal.

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Innovation team activities and findings from MIT Portugal Description

Key Learning

Designed of a “innovation leadership” action-based 2-week course. Students are expected to appreciate how to use existing and new skills, network, and intellectual property; to build innovations out of technology research and engage effectively with the ecosystem to test their hypotheses of impact.

• Critical to awaken in the students the entrepreneurial and can-do spirit that is a given at MIT. Helps students replace critique by action.

The learning goal is to empower students to approach innovation with a can-do attitude with a quick overview of business basics, interaction with academia, and interaction with the market as pertinent for the development of technology innovations, and referred to Portuguese reality.

• Can be used as an introduction to technology innovation in all areas with students of different backgrounds.

Adapted from i-Teams at MIT: student teams use a semester to explore go-to-market strategies for current Portuguese technologies, and work with the PI, a volunteer from the community, and coaching from faculty. Faculty and industry professionals identify candidate technologies. Students form teams around these technologies based on common interest. Lectures alternate with team time throughout an entire semester. Deliverables are designed as milestones to advance in the project.

• Mechanisms to coordinate students that are not colocated, with “distributed” lectures and faculty.

Innovation Management 2 -week course

This is a variant of the innovation module of bioengineering. In the first week, students receive theoretical content on innovation management. In the second week (normally a few months later) students engage in teams in an action-driven exercise to find a path to commercialization for a Portuguese technology. Students are given an extra month to finish the project before turning in a brief report.

EDAM has a semi-professional curriculum with professional master and PhD students.

• The mix of professional and full-time students is positive for the program, with the emphasis on time management to have the most efficient contribution from the professionals.

• The connection with UTEN is desirable but requires additional effort to seek the engagement of PIs as a resource for the students.

Connection with UTEN and TTOs

Technologies used in the innovation module of EDAM were sourced from the different TTOs in coordination through UTEN. Representatives from TTOs presented the technologies to students to guide team formation.

Resources from these offices were made available to students to analyze the IP and as a repository of the ongoing efforts to license or commercialize the technologies.

Innovation Activities

• Help strengthen bonds in a cohort of students and connect with previous cohorts

Innovation course

Bioengineering

BioTeams

EDAM

6.2.

• Due to already distributed nature, course can be scaled up to a larger number of students, for instance from different concentration areas.

• Exposure to brief innovation leadership course is critical for students to engage effectively in distributed course

• Rescheduling the module could probably increase the students’ attention as well as the project quality.

• UTEN is mainly focused on commercialization (license/startup) rather than assessing “what to do with the technologies” through hypothesis driven exploration of the market.

Student’s evaluation of educational programs

Student evaluation is carried out in each program and for each course individually, through online anonymous questionnaires. Students are invited by email to answer to the questionnaire, on a volunteer basis. The main topics evaluated are the overall quality of the program and for each course, the quality of teaching of each course (by lecturer), the contribution of the course for the student’s generic and specific skills and assessment of student’s learning. In the Sustainable Energy Systems (SES) and

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Engineering Design Manufacturing (EDAM) areas both the PhD and the Master’s programs are evaluated as one, as the students from each degree attend the classes as one group. The Transportation PhD program is implementing a student’s evaluation program this academic year. A summary of the evaluation of the educational programs by the students over the years is presented in figures 19 and 20. On a scale of 1 to 7, students scored 5.2 for the overall program and 5.4 for the teaching quality. The Bioengineering program is the one receiving the highest scores.

7

Global evaluation of the program

6 5 Neutral

4 3 2 1

Figure 19: Global evaluation by students of all the evaluated educational programs

0

2008

2007 BIO

LTI

(1 - poor, 4 - neutral, 7 - excellent).

2009 SES

Overall

Quality of teaching 7 6 5 Neutral

4 3 2 1

Figure 20: Teaching evaluation by students for all

0 2008

2007

2009

the doctoral programs that were evaluated by students (1 - poor, 4 - neutral, 7 - excellent).

BIO

LTI

SES

Overall

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6.3.

Student’s evaluation of the network

6.3.1.

Overview

This section reviews the evidence from the suite of 2010/2011 evaluation surveys to students and alumni of the MIT Portugal network. This suite of surveys contained the following questionnaires: • Alumni: Sustainable Energy Systems Master’s (6 respondents); Complex Transportation Infrastructure Systems Master’s CTIS (5 respondents) (a total of 11 out of 56 invited alumni); • Doctoral students (2nd, 3rd and 4th years): Biongineering BIO (44); Leaders for Technical Industries LTI (35); Sustainable Energy Systems SES (62); Transportation Systems TR SYS (22) (a total of 163 respondents out of 203 invited students); • Entering students (students who were admitted in the Program in 2010): Biongineering BIO (17); Leaders for Technical Industries LTI (11); Sustainable Energy Systems PhD SES (21); Transportation Systems TR SYS PhD (8); Complex Transportation Infrastructure Systems CTIS Master’s (10); Sustainable Energy Systems Master’s (8); (a total of 75 respondents out of 112 invited students); • Exiting graduate students (students who will finish their degree very soon or have finished it recently): Sustainable Energy Systems Master’s (14); Technology Management Enterprise Master’s (8); Complex Transportation Infrastructure Systems CTIS Master’s (13) (a total of 35 out of 59 invited students).

Altogether, some over 66% of eligible students completed a very comprehensive evaluation questionnaire.

6.3.2.

Alumni survey

The responses of the alumni about the MIT Portugal network are based on a low number of respondents (11): • Over 70% rated the level of their supervision, the intellectual and overall quality of the network, and the quality of the research, as either very good or excellent; • Over 70% regarded their working relations with faculty and fellow students as either very good or excellent; • Over 60% believed they felt competent to develop a career in business and to undertake innovative initiatives in complex technology projects and management; • Between 50% and 60% felt that they were now in a position to evaluate technological innovation, to create a business plan, to recruit the right people for industry, and to evaluate the economic case for new technology, as well as to present research findings in a major international conference; • 5 of 7 respondents who are now employed stated that they had entered a job directly related to their academic experience in the MIT Portugal network; • 10 of the 11 respondents were rather or very satisfied with their career as a result of participating in the MIT Portugal network;

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• 73% would recommend the university they attended to others, and 45% would recommend their educational program to a student in another field of study.

6.3.3.

Doctoral student survey

The doctoral students were very supportive of the MIT Portugal network as a whole: • Over 80% strongly agreed or agreed that the quality of their supervision, access to their supervisors, and their faith in the support of their supervisor in advancing their career was of the best; • The overall satisfaction with all aspects of supervision was over 67%; • Over two thirds met their supervisor either every week or every fortnight; • Between 50 and 60% rated the intellectual quality of the faculty of the and their fellow graduates as either excellent or very good;

Comparison of supervision between collaborating Portugal universities and MIT • Around 30% of the doctoral students who responded to the survey experienced supervision from MIT. 54% and 28% strongly agreed and agreed, respectively, that their supervisor in Portugal performed their role very well overall. 47% and 27% strongly agreed and agreed, respectively, that their MIT supervisor performed their role very well overall; • 48% in this survey with supervision in Portugal strongly agreed that their supervisor promoted their professional development, while the corresponding figure for MIT supervisors is 41%; • 38% of supervisors in Portugal were rated very helpful in supporting research and writing scientific papers, while the MIT supervisors were rated by 42% of students as being very helpful in these regards; • 45% of students in Portugal saw their supervisor once per week, while 26% of those supervised at MIT saw their supervisor once per week. The figures for meetings with supervisors every two weeks are 16% and 14%, respectively.

6.3.4.

Entering student survey • Over 80% of the entering students looked for the intellectual and research excellence of their faculties/potential supervisors as the main reason for joining their educational program; • Over 80% also regarded the link with MIT, its international links generally, and its broad interest in interdisciplinarity as key factors in selecting the program; • Over half felt that the MIT Portugal network was understood and well regarded by faculty and students on their campuses.

• Between 70 and 90% expect their experience in their program to be extremely helpful in improving their creative, literary and research skills, along with interdisciplinarity, and ability to communicate with policy leaders and opinion formers.

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6.3.5.

Exiting student survey • Between 70 and 80% of the exiting students felt that they were treated with respect by faculty, got on well with their fellow students, recognized that the program supported their personal and professional goals; • Over 70% believed that the network was respected by faculty, 60% noted that the network was well advertised on their campuses, but less that 20% felt they were well integrated on their campuses with other students; • Over 80% claimed that their experience with the network helped them to understand more about how business and industry works, to improve their ability to work outside academia, to upgrade their understanding of economic and business principles, and to understand better the role of innovation and technology transfer; • Of the SES graduates, 4 were in jobs directly related to their educational experience in the Program while 8 were in jobs not directly related, in CTIS the numbers were 4 in direct job links with 2 negotiating over jobs with direct links, and in TME 3 were in direct job links, and 4 in jobs not directly connected to their educational research. Between 75 and 85% said that their experience with the MIT Portugal network was instrumental in giving them the capability for employment because of the intellectual and training rigour they experienced.

7.

Lessons learnt and perspectives for the future

The MIT Portugal network has got multiple objectives for both MIT and the Portuguese Universities and Companies. In Portugal primary concerns included human resource development, educational reform, focusing on high priority research areas in knowledge based industries, fostering university/industry relations, creating an ecosystem to foster innovation and entrepreneurship. The Portuguese network is the largest international program MIT had undertaken in Europe and the first program involving partnerships with many universities in the host country. All other MIT international partnerships involved only one or two universities in the partner country.

MIT Portugal network was designed to be a long-term partnership. This recognized that it would take at least a decade for the full impact of these programs on economic and societal development to be realized. It is beneficial to now examine what are the primary lessons learnt from, and how might those lessons improve future international collaborations.

1. Effective world class PhD programs can be created at the national level: For the first time, national PhD programs were created in Portugal in each of the four focus areas. Rectors and faculty from three or more universities agree to cooperate in the development and delivery of these novel doctoral programs. The joint university doctoral programs can realize foundational curriculum across the entire network in the next five years. Suggested curriculum courses include Innovation of Technological Systems, Systems Thinking and Methodology, and Leadership Development, which can be offered to all MIT Portugal doctoral students.

2. Institutionalize and disseminate the educational programs and innovations throughout the Portuguese university system: It is very difficult to implement fundamental change in any educational system and Portugal is no exception. An essential component of the next five years should be the creation of a new Graduate Studies Institute that will be the institutional home of the network. It will be virtual in that it will not have any physical infrastructure, and it will work with all the participating universities to assist in developing and institutionalizing best 266

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practices among educational programs as well as to facilitate faculty mentoring and review committees, and provide support and communications for the major Research Programs.

3. Portuguese faculty benefit from spending one or more semesters at MIT: All Portuguese faculty who had the opportunity to spend time at MIT emphasized the value of the experience. They were able to observe first-hand the MIT culture in education, research and technology transfer. All Portuguese faculty involved in the teaching program should be required to spend at least one semester at MIT as a faculty fellow. This will facilitate the transfer of teaching responsibilities, and leverages the teach-the-teacher model, which has been found to be very successful. Funding must be provided in the Portuguese budget to support these visits and to provide for substitute teaching in Portugal while the faculty member is at MIT. 4. MIT Portugal students had the opportunity to spend significant time at MIT working on their doctoral research.The student research experience at MIT is very successful: over seventy-five Portuguese students had the opportunity to spend time at MIT working on their research. Visits last from several months to two years.

There were some initial difficulties in implementing the program, but based on student feedback necessary improvements were made to insure that students had proper supervision and interaction with MIT students and faculty. The program is now operating very effectively and should be continued in the future.

The visiting MIT Portugal student experience is a critical and unique aspect to assure the highest level of research accomplishments and should be continued and adequately funded.

5. International students will select international PhD programs: an objective of the PhD programs is to attract the best and the brightest not only from Portugal but from all over the world. That objective was largely achieved since the number and quality of international students has increased each year. Students are applying from the best universities in the world, but increased quality and excellence in student applicants is an ongoing effort to be recognized as a leading European Program.

6. Master’s Programs help create effective linkages to industry: these programs are effective in several ways. Company employees enroll in the programs and then return to their companies. Students without company sponsorship experience an internship at a company and then are hired by the company (e.g., Rolls Royce).

An important improvement occurred during the first phase of the MIT Portugal network when each master’s program was required to appoint an industry codirector. This provides an important mechanism for industry to play an active role in curriculum development and other important decisions relating to the program.

7. Support for Portuguese post-docs is essential: the goal is to attract world-class researchers to Portugal. In the first five years we lost some of our most promising young Portuguese researchers because there were no long-term faculty career opportunities. These promising researchers should have the opportunity to obtain permanent faculty appointments in Portuguese universities.

8. Cross cutting educational courses are very effective: cross cutting courses in Leadership and Innovation were taught in several educational programs and were very well received. Other cross-cutting foundational courses could be introduced to enhance network cohesiveness and establish quality control in the curriculum.

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APPENDICES

Table I - Total amount of students from Portugal participating in MIT Portugal visiting MIT since the beginning of the Program until the end of January 2011.

Source of information for the PhD programs: students; Executive Master’s; local program’s coordination.

BIO PhD programs

N. of students who have been to MIT N. of months they spent there N. of other students who will visit MIT in the near future N. of months students intend to spend at MIT in the near future

Executive Master’s programs

EDAM

SES

TR SYS

Total

29

15

20

22

86

438

58

121

157

774

9

11

14

11

45

186

40

83

121

430

N. of students visiting MIT (two weeks stay)

57

57

N. of students who will visit MIT in the near future (two weeks stay)

19

19

Table II: Amount of students from Portugal participating in MIT Portugal visiting MIT as foreseen in the MIT Portugal Program contract BIO

EDAM

SES

TR SYS

Eng Syst

Total

Year 1

6

4

3

3

1

17

Annual average from year 2 to year 5

8 -10

6

8

6

3

31 - 33

30 - 46

28

35

27

13

141 - 149

Total for the 5 year (adapted from Table VII.2 of the agreement).

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Table III - List of the students of the Bioengineering PhD program: 4th (entering in 2007) and 3rd (entering in 2008) years.

Institution PhD year

Supervisor(s)

Maria Sofia de Orey

Name

Country of origin Portugal

IST

4

Miguel Silva (IST), Jorge Martins (IST), Dava Newman (MIT), Hugh Herr (MIT)

David Malta

Portugal

IST

4

Cláudia Lobato da Silva (IST), Joaquim Cabral (IST), Sangeeta N. Bhatia (MIT)

Carlos Rodriguez

Portugal

IST

4

Joaquim Cabral (IST), Maria Margarida Diogo (IST), Cláudia Lobato da Silva (IST)

Ana Lúcia do Rosário

Portugal

FCTUNL

4

Margarida Archer (ITQB - UNL), Li-Huei Tsai (PILM - MIT)

João Guerreiro

Portugal

IST

4

Cláudia Lobato da Silva (IST), Joaquim Cabral (IST), Daniel Anderson (MIT), Robert Langer (MIT)

Daniela Coutinho

Portugal

UMinho

4

Rui Reis (UMinho), Nuno Neves (UMinho), Manuela Gomes (UMinho), Ali Khademhosseini (Harvard-MIT Division of Health Science and Technology)

Eunice Costa

Portugal

FCTUNL

4

Ana Aguiar Ricardo (FCTUNL) , Paula T.Hammond (MIT), Linda G Griffith (MIT)

Agnieszka Jóskowiak

Poland

IST

4

João Pedro Conde (IST), Duarte Miguel Prazeres (IST), Marko Topi‐ (University of Ljubljana)

Rui Tostões

Portugal

FCTUNL

4

Paula Alves (FCTUNL), Manuel Carrondo (FCTUNL), DIC Wang (MIT)

Carlos Machado

Portugal

UMinho

4

Eugénio Ferreira (UMinho), Isabel Rocha (UMinho), Bruce Tidor (MIT)

Isabel Ferreira

Portugal

IST

4

Maria Aires de Barros (IST), Carla Rocha de Carvalho (IST), Daniel Wang (MIT)

Cristiana Paulo

Portugal

IST

4

Lino Ferreira (CNCUC), Joaquim Cabral (IST)

Cláudia Vistas

Portugal

IST

4

Guilherme Ferreira (IST), João Conde (IST)

Ana Carina Silva

Portugal

IST

4

Guilherme Ferreira (IST), Cláudia Lobato da Silva (IST)

Débora Ferreira

Portugal

UMinho

4

Graça Minas (UMinho), José Higino Correia (UMinho), Michael S. Feld (MIT, deceased)

Daniela Couto

Portugal

IST

4

Manuel Heitor (IST), Joaquim Cabral (IST), Pedro Saraiva (FCTUC), Charles Cooney (MIT), Luis

Mariana Fernandes

Portugal

UMinho

4

Paulo Mendes (UMinho), J. Higino Correia (UMinho), Rajeev Ram (MIT)

Isa Monteiro

Portugal

UMinho

4

Alexandra Marques (UMinho), Rui L. Reis (Uminho), Robert S. Langer (MIT), Daniel S.

Perez-Breva (MIT)

Kohane (MIT) Ana Fernandes

Portugal

IST

4

Joaquim Cabral (IST), Cláudia Lobato Silva (IST), Margarida Diogo (IST)

Pedro Andrade

Portugal

IST

4

Gabriel Monteiro (IST), Frederico Ferreira (IST)

Tatiana Aguiar

Portugal

UMinho

4

Lucília Domingues (UMinho), Merja Penttilä ( VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland)

André Fialho

Portugal

IST

3

João Miguel da Costa Sousa (IST), Stan Finkelstein (MIT)

António Vicente

Portugal

FCTUNL

3

Rodrigo Martins (FCTUNL), Hugo Águas (FCTUNL), Manuel Nunes da Ponte (FCTUNL)

Fabiana Fernandes

Portugal

FCTUNL

3

Paula Alves (FCTUNL), Ana Teixeira (FCTUNL), Kristala P. Jones (MIT)

Federico Cismondi

Argentina

IST

3

Joao Miguel da Costa Sousa (IST), Stan Finkelstein (MIT)

Filipa Castro

Portugal

UMinho

3

José Teixeira (UMinho), António Vicente (UMinho)

Filipe Grácio

Portugal

IST

3

Joaquim Cabral (IST), Bruce Tidor (MIT)

Geisa Gonçalves

Brazil

IST

3

Miguel Prazeres (IST), Gabriel Monteiro (IST), Kristala Prather (MIT)

João Filipe Arrais

Portugal

IST

3

João Nuno Moreira (CNCUC), Helena Cabral-Marques (FFUL), Robert Langer (MIT), Omid Farokhzad (Harvard Medical School)

Jorge Carvalho

Portugal

IST

3

Guilherme Ferreira (IST), Joaquim Cabral (IST)

Maria Francisca Eiriz

Portugal

FCTUNL

3

João Malva (FMUC), Liliana Bernardino (CNCUC), Manuel Nunes da Ponte (FCTUNL), Armen

Maria José Pereira

Portugal

IST

3

Lino da Silva Ferreira (CNCUC), Jeffrey M. Karp (Harvard Medical School)

Paulo Melo

Portugal

IST

3

Miguel Tavares da Silva (IST), Jorge Martins (IST), Dava Newman (MIT)

Roberto Gallardo Marusich

Chile

UMinho

3

Ligia Rodrigues (UMinho), Madalena Alves (UMinho)

Sara Matias

Portugal

FCTUNL

3

Zachary Mainen (IGC), Manuel Nunes da Ponte (FCTUNL)

Sezin Aday

Turkey

IST

3

Lino Ferreira (CNCUC), Claudia Lobato Da Silva (IST), Robert Langer (MIT)

Silvia Mihaila

Romania

UMinho

3

Manuela Gomes(UMinho), Alexandra Marques (UMinho), Ali Khademhosseini (MIT)

Swarnadeepa Pandian

India

IST

3

Ramiro Almeida (CNCUC), Ana Luísa Carvalho (CNCUC), Martha Constantine Paton

Saghatelyan (Centre de Reserche Robert-Giffard, Université Laval, Canada)

(MIT), Joaquim Cabral (IST)

270

MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Table IV - List of the students of the Bioengineering PhD program: 2nd (entering in 2009) and 1st (entering in 2010) years.

Name

Country of origin

Institution

PhD year

Supervisor(s)

Joana Coelho

Portugal

IST

2

Ana Teresa Freitas (IST)

Ana Domingues

Portugal

IST

2

Jorge Martins (IST), Miguel Tavares da Silva (IST)

Shantesh Hede

India

UMinho

2

Paula Verandas (UM), Luís Rocha (UMinho), Manuel Lopes Nunes (UMinho)

Mónica Coelho

Portugal

IST

2

Joaquim Cabral (IST), Jeffrey M. Karp (Brigham and Women's Hospital Harvard Medical School)

Nuno Faria

Portugal

IST

2

Frederico Ferreira (IST), César Fonseca (LNEG), Bruce Tidor (MIT)

Rúben Pereira

Portugal

IST

2

João Miguel da Costa Sousa (IST), Stan Finkelstein (MIT), Michael D. Howell (Harvard Medical School), Shane Reti (Harvard Medical School)

Rimenys Carvalho

Brazil

IST

2

Maria Aires-Barros (IST), Ana Margarida Pires de Azevedo (IST), Steven Cramer (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute)

Michaela Simcikova

Czech Republic

IST

2

Gabriel Monteiro (IST), Miguel Duarte Prazeres (IST), Kristala Jones Prather (MIT)

Pedro Evangelista

Portugal

UMinho

2

Isabel Rocha (UMinho), Miguel Rocha (UMinho), Bruce Tidor (MIT)

Íris Batalha

Portugal

FCTUNL

2

Ana Cecília Afonso Roque (FCTUNL), Olga Iranzo Casanova (FCTUNL), Christopher Robin Lowe (University of Cambridge)

Carlos Boto

Portugal

FCTUNL/ CNC-UC

2

Lino Silva Ferreira (CNCUC), Tariq Enver (UCL), Rajeev Gupta (UCL)

Paulo da Silva

Portugal

UMinho

2

Isabel Rocha (UMinho), Miguel Rocha (UMinho), Eugénio Ferreira (UMinho)

Javad Hatami

Iran

IST

2

Frederico Ferreira (IST), Cláudia Lobato Silva (IST)

Nelson Monteiro

Cape Verde

UMinho

2

Nuno Neves (UMinho), Rui Reis (UMinho), Ali Khademhosseini (MIT)

Ivana Kostic

Serbia

FCTUNL

1

Not defined

Ilaria Stefani

Italy

FCTUNL

1

Not defined

Veronica C. Carvajal

Colombia

FCTUNL

1

Not defined

Tiago Reis

Portugal

FCTUNL

1

Not defined

Joana Rodrigues

Portugal

FCTUNL

1

Not defined

Rui Pereira

Portugal

FCTUNL

1

Not defined

Susana Palma

Portugal

FCTUNL

1

Not defined

Joaquim Barbosa

Portugal

FCTUNL

1

Not defined

Ana Sofia Machado

Portugal

FCTUNL

1

Not defined

José Pedro Faria

Portugal

FCTUNL

1

Not defined

Patrícia Pereira

Portugal

FCTUNL

1

Not defined

Gabriel Mendes

Portugal

FCTUNL

1

Not defined

Sara Oliveira

Portugal

FCTUNL

1

Not defined

Ana Rita Rodrigues

Portugal

FCTUNL

1

Not defined

Sofia Rebelo

Portugal

FCTUNL

1

Not defined

Ana Lima

Portugal

FCTUNL

1

Not defined

Marta Cerejo

Portugal

FCTUNL

1

Not defined

Carla Moura

Portugal

FCTUNL

1

Not defined

Inês Isidro

Portugal

FCTUNL

1

Not defined

271

Table V - List of the students of the PhD program Leaders for Technical Industries (LTI): 4th (entering in 2007) and 3rd (entering in 2008) years.

Name

Country of Origin

Institution

PhD Year

Supervisor(s)

Carla Pepe

Portugal

IST

4

Elsa Henriques(IST), Daniel Whitney (MIT)

Eduardo Santos

Portugal

IST

4

Paulo Ferrão (IST)

Marco Leite

Portugal

IST

4

Arlindo Silva (IST), Elsa Henriques (IST), Richard Roth (MIT)

Rui Carreira

Portugal

FEUP

4

Lia Patrício (FEUP), Renato Natal (FEUP), Chris Magee (MIT)

Sérgio Tavares

Portugal

FEUP

4

Paulo de Castro (FEUP), Pedro Vilaça (IST), Thomas Eagar (MIT)

Ivo Ferreira

Portugal

IST

4

Paulo Gil (IST), Pedro Oliveira (UMinho), Olivier de Weck (MIT)

Pedro Marques

Portugal

IST

4

Arlindo Silva (IST), Elsa Henriques (IST)

Alexandre Silva

Portugal

UMinho

4

José Higino Correia (UMinho), Paulo Mateus Mendes (UMinho), Joel Clark (MIT), Richard Roth (MIT)

Helena Fernandez

Portugal

UMinho

4

José Higino Correia (UMinho), Ricardo Simões (UMinho, Cávado and Ave Polytechnic Institute), José Afonso (UMinho), Chris Magee (MIT)

Alexandra Sepúlveda

Portugal

UMinho

3

António Pontes (UMinho), Júlio Viana (UMinho), Brian Wardle (MIT)

Bruno Soares

Portugal

IST

3

Luís Reis (UMinho), Luís Sousa (UMinho), António Ferreira

(UMinho), David R. Cláudia Duarte

Wallace (MIT) Portugal

UMinho

3

José Valério Carvalho (Uminho), Ana Paula Povoa (IST), Stanley Gershwin (MIT)

Inês Ribeiro

Portugal

IST

3

Paulo Peças (IST), Elsa Henriques (IST), António Pontes (UMinho), Richard Roth (MIT)

Malliaros Ioannis

Greece

IST

3

Van Eikema Isa Santos

Mihail Fontul (IST), Elsa Henriques (IST), Lia Patricio (IST), Qi D. Hommes (MIT)

Portugal

FEUP

3

João Manuel Tavares (FEUP), Luís Rocha (UMinho), Jeremy Gregory (MIT), Scott Gazele (Harvard)

João Ferreira

Portugal

UMinho

3

João Afonso (Uminho), Alberto Silva (IST)

João Simões Pedro

Portugal

IST

3

Luís Sousa (IST), Luís Reis (UMinho), Jorge Martins (UMinho)

José Gaspar

Portugal

IST

3

Mihail Fontul (IST), Elsa Henriques (IST)

Lia Oliveira

Portugal

FEUP

3

Jorge Pinho de Sousa (FEUP), João Claro (FEUP), Richard de Neufville (MIT)

Luis Reis Portugal

UMinho

Maria Victoria Fernandez

Ecuador

Nino Pereira

Portugal

3

Not defined

FEUP

3

Marcelo Moura (FEUP), Thomas Eager (MIT)

UMinho

3

Fernando Ribeiro (UMinho), Fernando Alves (FEUP), Daniel Whitney (MIT)

Nuno Loureiro

Portugal

FEUP

3

José Esteves (FEUP), Júlio Viana (FEUP), Frank R. Field III (MIT)

Raquel Folgado

Portugal

IST

3

Elsa Henriques (IST), Paulo Peças (IST), Stan Gershwin (MIT)

Ricardo Almeida

Portugal

FEUP

3

Américo Azevedo (FEUP), José Crespo Carvalho (ISCTE), David Simchi-Levi (MIT)

Ricardo Torcato

272

Portugal

FEUP

3

Ricardo Santos (FEUP), Madalena Dias (FEUP), Richard Roth (MIT)

MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Table VI - List of the students of the PhD program Leaders for Technical Industries (LTI): 2th (entering in 2009) and 1rd (entering in 2010) years.

Name Michael Donaeur

Country of Origin

Institution

PhD Year

Germany

IST

2

Supervisor(s) Américo Azevedo (FEUP), Paulo Peças (IST), Richard Roth (MIT)

Irene Carvalho

Portugal

IST

2

Arlindo Silva (IST), Ricardo Simões (IPCA, U. Minho)

Ana Eduarda Sá Silva

Portugal

FEUP

2

Paulo Costa (FEUP), Fernando Ribeiro (UMinho), Qi Hommes (MIT)

Maria Manuela Azevedo

Portugal

FEUP

2

Jorge Pinho de Sousa (FEUP), José Crispim (UMinho)

Senay Sadic

Turkey

IST

2

Jorge Pinho de Sousa (FEUP), José Crispim (FEUP), Stanley Gershwin (MIT)

Nuno Guitian Oliveira

Portugal

IST

2

Alexandra Rodrigues (IST), Luis Pinto (FCT), Luis Reis (IST), Mihail Fontul (IST)

Filipe Nascimento

Portugal

FEUP

2

Francisco Pires (FEUP), Pedro Vilaça (IST), Marta Carvalho (IST), Qi Hommes (MIT)

Rui Rocha

Portugal

UMinho

2

José Higino Correia (UMinho), João do Carmo (UMinho)

Anton Sabaleuski

Belarus

FEUP

2

Francisco Pires (FEUP), Pedro Camanho (FEUP), Frank III Field (MIT)

Cláudio Santos

Portugal

UMinho

2

Madalena Araújo (UMninho), Nuno Correia (INEGI), Jeremy Gregory (MIT)

Samuel Moniz

Portugal

FEUP

2

Ana Paula Póvoa (FEUP), Jorge Pinho de Sousa (FEUP), Stanley Gershwin (MIT)

Georgios Koronis

Greece

IST

2

Arlindo Silva (IST), Elsa Henriques (IST), Ana Póvoa (IST), Daniel Whitney (MIT)

Vasco Teles

Portugal

FEUP

2

João Claro (FEUP), José Manuel Mendonça (FEUP)

Sara Marques

Portugal

IST

2

Carla Silva (IST), Luís Reis (IST), João Luiz Afonso (UMinho)

Ricardo Sá

Portugal

UMinho

2

Ferrie van Hattum (UMinho)

Nelson Oliveira

Portugal

UMinho

2

António Pontes (UMinho)

João Fernandes

Portugal

IST

1

Not defined

Jorge Ribeiro

Portugal

FEUP

1

Not defined

Jean-Loup Loyer

France

IST

1

Not defined

Seyyed Sabet

Iran

Uminho

1

Not defined

Jorge Almeida

Portugal

FEUP

1

Not defined

Ricardo Sá

Portugal

Uminho

1

Not defined

Bruno Goncalves

Portugal

Uminho

1

Not defined

André Camboa

Portugal

IST

1

Not defined

Gabriela Vasconcelos

Portugal

IST

1

Not defined

Deborah Andrade

Italy

IST

1

Not defined

Alvaro Soto

Mexico

IST

1

Not defined

Luis Simões

Portugal

FEUP

1

Not defined

Ricardo Greenfield

Portugal

IST

1

Not defined

273

Table VII - List of the students of the Sustainable Energy Systems PhD program: 4th (entering in 2007) year.

Name Joana Abreu

Country of Origin

Institution

PhD year

Portugal

IST/ISEG

4

Supervisor(s) Jorge Vasconcelos (NEWES), Francisco Câmara Pereira (FCTUC), Paulo Ferrão (IST), David

Ana Filipa Amorim

Portugal

IST/ISEG

4

Marks (MIT), Stephen Connors (MIT), Inês Azevedo (CMU)

Victor Martins (ISEG), Patrícia Silva (FEUC), Jorge Vasconcelos (IST), Steve Connors (MIT)

274

Patrícia Baptista

Portugal

IST/ISEG

4

Tiago Farias (IST), Carla Silva (IST), John Heywood (MIT)

Jorge Borges

Portugal

IST/ISEG

4

Christos Ioakimidis (Unidersidad de Deusto), Steve Connors (MIT)

Cristina Camus

Portugal

IST/ISEG

4

Tiago Farias (IST), Jorge Esteves (ISEL)

Gonçalo Cardoso

Portugal

IST/ISEG

4

Paulo Ferrão (IST), Ana Póvoa (IST)

Nuno Climaco Pereira

Portugal

IST/ISEG

4

Luísa Caldas (FA-UTL), Manuel Correia Guedes (IST), Leon Glicksman (MIT)

Miguel Covas

Portugal

IST/ISEG

4

Carlos Silva (IST), Luís Dias (FEUC)

Rui Gomes

Portugal

IST/ISEG

4

Luís Gato (IST), António Falcão (IST)

Ana Gonçalves

Portugal

IST/ISEG

4

Tiago Domingos (IST), John Fernandez (MIT)

João Lagarto

Portugal

IST/ISEG

4

Álvaro Martins (ISEG), Jorge de Sousa (ISEL), Paulo Ferrão (IST)

Ricardo Manso

Portugal

IST/ISEG

4

Paulo Ferrão (IST), Helge Brattebø (NTNU)

Alexandra Marques

Portugal

IST/ISEG

4

Tiago Domingos (IST), João Rodrigues (IST)

Sandrina Pereira

Portugal

IST/ISEG

4

Graça Carvalho (IST), Luís Alves (IST)

André Pina

Portugal

IST/ISEG

4

Paulo Ferrão (IST), Carlos Silva (IST), Stephen Connors (MIT)

Filipe Rodrigues

Portugal

IST/ISEG

4

Carlos Cardeira (IST), João Calado (ISL), Leon Glisckman (MIT)

Leonardo Rosado

Portugal

IST/ISEG

4

Paulo Ferrão (IST), John Fernandez (MIT)

Raquel da Silva

Portugal

IST/ISEG

4

Luis Alves (IST), Graça Carvalho (IST)

Kiti Suomalainen

Finland

IST/ISEG

4

Paulo Ferrão (IST), Carlos Silva (IST) Stephen Connors (MIT)

André Augusto

Portugal

FCUL

4

João Serra (FCUL), Tonio Buonassisi (MIT)

Pedro Fonte

Portugal

FEUP

4

Cláudio Monteiro (FEUP)

Ana Rita Neves

Portugal

FEUP

4

Vítor Leal (FEUP), João Lourenço (IST)

Antero Silva

Portugal

FEUP

4

João Peças Lopes (FEUP)

Filipa Carlos

Portugal

FEUP

4

Eduardo de Oliveira Fernandes (FEUP), Maria do Rosário Partidário (FEUP)

Filipe Soares

Portugal

FEUP

4

João Peças Lopes (FEUP)

Gustavo Souza

Portugal

FEUP

4

Vítor Leal (FEUP), Stephen Connors (MIT)

Julija-Vasiljevska

Macedonia

FEUP

4

João Peças Lopes (FEUP), Manuel Matos (FEUP)

Manuel Rocha

Portugal

FEUP

4

João Paulo Tomé Saraiva (FEUP)

Maria Kapsalaki

Greece

FEUP

4

Vítor Leal (FEUP), Leon Glicksman (MIT)

Marta Mota

Portugal

FEUP

4

Eduardo Oliveira Fernandes (FEUP), Isabel Soares (FEP)

Pedro Almeida

Portugal

FEUP

4

João Peças Lopes (FEUP)

Pedro Silva

Portugal

FEUP

4

Vítor Leal (FEUP), Marilyne Anderson (MIT)

MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Table VIII - List of the students of the Sustainable Energy Systems PhD program: 3rd (entering in 2008) year.

Name

Country of Origin

Institution

PhD year

Supervisor(s)

Amir Safaei

Iran

FCTUC

3

Fausto Freire (FCTUC), Carlos Henggeler Antunes (FCTUC)

Ariovaldo de Carvalho

Portugal

FCTUC

3

Fausto Freire (FCTUC), Carlos Henggeler Antunes (FCTUC)

Ehsan Asadi

Iran

FCTUC

3

Manuel Gameiro da Silva (FCTUC), Carlos Henggeler Antunes (FCTUC), Luís Dias FEUC), Leon Glicksman (MIT)

Érica Castanheira

Portugal

FCTUC

3

Fausto Freire (FCTUC)

Nelson Brito

Portugal

FCTUC

3

Manuel Gameiro (FCTUC), José António Bandeirinha (UC)

Pedro Gonçalves

Portugal

FCTUC

3

Manuel C. Gameiro da Silva (FCTUC), Adélio Gaspar (FCTUC)

António Santos

Portugal

FEUP

3

João Peças Lopes (FEUP), Manuel Matos (FEUP)

David Rua

Portugal

FEUP

3

João Peças Lopes (FEUP), José António Fernandes (FEUP)

Diego Issicaba

Brazil

FEUP

3

João Peças Lopes (FEUP)

Hrvoje Keko

Croatia

FEUP

3

Vladimiro Miranda (FEUP), Stephen Connors (MIT)

Leonel Carvalho

Portugal

FEUP

3

Vladimiro Miranda (FEUP), Stephen Connors (MIT)

Reza Fazeli

Iran

FEUP

3

Vitor Leal (FEUP), Jorge Pinho Sousa (FEUP), Stephen Connors (MIT), Christopher Zegras (MIT)

Pedro Fonte

Portugal

FEUP

3

Claudio Monteiro (FEUP)

Filipa Reis

Portugal

FCUL

3

Miguel Brito (FCUL), Gianfranco Sorasio (MIT)

Rui Bernardo

Portuguese

IST/ISEG

3

Luís Ferreira (IST)

Sérgio Casimiro

Portuguese

IST/ISEG

3

Christos Ioakimidis (Universidad de Deusto), João Mendes (LNEG)

Hana Gerbelová

Czech

IST/ISEG

3

Paulo Ferrão (IST), Christos Ioakimidis Universidad de Deusto), Edward S. Rubin (EPP/CMU)

Vasco Granadeiro

Portuguese

IST/ISEG

3

José Duarte (FA-UTL), João Correia (IST), Vítor Leal (FEUP), William J. Mitchell (MIT, deceased, June 2010)

Gonçalo Mendes

Portuguese

IST/ISEG

3

Christos Ioakimidis (Universidad de Deusto), Stephen Connors (MIT), Chris Marnay (LBNL UCB)

Nuno Santos

Portuguese

IST/ISEG

3

Carlos Silva (IST)

Filipe Sim-Sim

Portuguese

IST/ISEG

3

Christos Ioakimidis (Universidad de Deusto), Carlos Henggeler Antunes

Daniel Wiesmann

Swiss

IST/ISEG

3

Paulo Ferrão (IST), John Fernández (MIT)

(FCTUC), Richard Larson (MIT)

275

Table IX - List of the students of the Sustainable Energy Systems PhD program: 2nd (entering in 2009) year.

Name

Country of Origin

Institution

PhD year

Supervisor(s)

Helena Monteiro

Portugal

FCTUC

2

Fausto Freire (FCTUC)

Sophie Ndiaye Zhadeev

Senegal

FCTUC

2

Carlos Henggeler Antunes (FCTUC), Humberto Jorge (FCTUC), James Kirtley

João Santos

Portugal

FCTUC

2

(MIT)

276

Aníbal Almeida (FCTUC)

Manuela Carreiras

Portugal

FCTUC

2

Luis Dias (FEUC), Carlos Hengeller Antunes (FCTUC)

Hermano Bernardo

Portugal

FCTUC

2

Not defined

Eugénio Rodrigues

Portugal

FCTUC

2

Adélio Gaspar (FCTUC), Joannes Hensen (MIT)

Ricardo Abrantes

Portugal

FCTUC

2

Manuel Gameiro da Silva (FCTUC)

Nilton Oliveira

France

FCTUC

2

Divo Quintela (FCTUC), Adélio Gaspar (FCTUC)

Lauro André Ribeiro

Brazil

FCTUC

2

Patrícia da Silva (FCTUC)

Donald Scott

Canada

FCTUC

2

Pedro Saraiva (FCTUC), Marco Reis (FCTUC)

Diana Neves

Portugal

FCUL

2

António Vallera (FCUL), Carlos Silva (IST)

Bernardo Silva

Brazil

FEUP

2

Helder Leite (FEUP), Nicholas Jenkins (Cardiff University)

Leonardo Bremerman

Brazil

FEUP

2

Manuel Matos (FEUP), João Peças Lopes (FEUP)

Luís Freitas

Venezuela

FEUP

2

Maria Ponce de Leão (FEUP), Helder Leite (FEUP)

Ricardo Bessa

Portugal

FEUP

2

Manuel Matos (FEUP)

Vanessa Mateus

Portugal

FEUP

2

Eduardo Oliveira Fernandes (FEUP), John Fernandez (MIT)

Alexandre Lucas

Portugal

IST/ISEG

2

Carla Silva (IST), Rui Costa Neto (IST)

António Abreu

Portugal

IST/ISEG

2

João Freire (IST), Pedro Santos (IT)

Luis Augusto

Portugal

IST/ISEG

2

Not defined

Mathieu Richard

Canada

IST/ISEG

2

Not defined

Onésimo Silva

Portugal

IST/ISEG

2

Carlos Silva (IST)

Pedro Vicente

Portugal

IST/ISEG

2

António Falcão (IST)

Pedro Fazenda

Portugal

IST/ISEG

2

Pedro Lima (IST), Una-May O’ Reilly (MIT)

Rita Paleta

Portugal

IST/ISEG

2

Carlos Silva (IST)

Vasco Portugal Rato

Portugal

IST/ISEG

2

Manuel Guedes (IST)

Anabela Carvalho

Portugal

FCTUC

2

Aníbal de Almeida (FCTUC), Manuel Carlos Gameiro (FCTUC)

MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Table X - List of the students of the Sustainable Energy Systems PhD program: 1st (entering in 2010) year.

Name

Institution

PhD year

Supervisor(s)

Rita Garcia

Country of Origin Portugal

UC

1

Not defined

Marta Lopes

Portugal

UC

1

Not defined

Nuno Cavaleiro Melo

Portugal

UC

1

Not defined

Claudio Vergara

Chile

FEUP

1

Not defined

Pedro Nunes

Portugal

FCUL

1

Not defined

Filipe Serra

Portugal

FCUL

1

Not defined

Hugo Campaniço

Portugal

FCUL

1

Not defined

Ruben Ramalho

Portugal

IST

1

Not defined

Atefeh Shahabadi

Ireland

UC

1

Not defined

Luis Castanheira

Portugal

UC

1

Not defined

Antonio Lorena

Portugal

IST

1

Not defined

Michal Monit

Poland

IST

1

Not defined

Zeus Zamora Guevara

Mexico

FCUL

1

Not defined

Gonçalo Pereira

Portugal

IST

1

Not defined

Tiago Duarte

Portugal

IST

1

Not defined

Omid Khodavirdi

Iran

UC

1

Not defined

Matthew Jenner

Great Britain

FCUL

1

Not defined

Donghoon Yoo

South Korea

UC

1

Not defined

Fernando Rodrigues

Portugal

UC

1

Not defined

Ahmad Karnama

Iran

FEUP

1

Not defined

Catarina Rolim

Portugal

IST

1

Not defined

Mariana Pereira

Portugal

FEUP

1

Not defined

Ricardo Ressurreição

Portugal

FCUL

1

Not defined

Ana Soares

Portugal

UC

1

Not defined

João Ferreira

Portugal

UC

1

Not defined

Andreia Carreiro

Portugal

UC

1

Not defined

Rui Costa Vasco

Portugal

UC

1

Not defined

Nuno Soares

Portugal

UC

1

Not defined

Pranjal Joshi

India

UC

1

Not defined

Alex Raventos

Spain

IST

1

Not defined

Maria Carvalho

Portugal

IST

1

Not defined

João Francisco Barreiros

Portugal

IST

1

Not defined

Miguel Heleno

Portugal

FEUP

1

Not defined

277

Table XI - List of the students of the Transportation Systems PhD program.

Name

Country of Origin

Institution

PhD year

Supervisor (s)

Alda Mendes

Portugal

FEUP

4

Álvaro Costa (FEUP), Richard de Neufville (MIT)

Rui Santos

Portugal

IST

4

Paulo Teixeira (IST)

Diana Carvalho

Portugal

IST

4

João de Abreu e Silva (IST)

Rafaela Arriaga

Portugal

IST

4

José Viegas (IST), Moshe Ben-Akiva (MIT)

Ana Costa

Portugal

FCTUC

3

Maria Conceição Cunha (FCTUC), Paulo Coelho (FCTUC), Herbert Einstein (MIT)

Carlos Azevedo

Portugal

IST

3

João Cardoso (LNEC), José Viegas (IST), Moshe Ben-Akiva (MIT)

Ana Galelo

Portugal

IST

3

Rosário Macário (IST), Christopher Zegras (MIT)

Diana Leal

Portugal

FCTUC

3

Luís de Picado Santos (IST)

Gonçalo Caiado

Portugal

IST

3

Rosário Macário (IST), Carlos Oliveira (IST), Joseph Sussman (MIT)

João Pita

Portugal

FCTUC

3

António Pais Antunes (FCTUC), Amedeo Odoni (MIT), Cynthia Barnhart (MIT)

Jorge Lopes

Portugal

IST

3

João Bento (BRISA), Moshe Ben-Akiva (MIT)

Maria Spandou

Greece

IST

3

Rosário Macário (IST), Joseph Sussman (MIT)

Tiago Fernandes

Portugal

FCTUC

3

Francisco Câmara Pereira (FCTUC)

Rui Gomes

Portugal

FEUP

3

Jorge Pinho de Sousa (FEUP), Teresa Galvão Dias (FEUP), Cynthia Barnhart (MIT)

278

Abdur Berawi

Indonesia

FEUP

3

Raimundo Delgado (FEUP), Rui Calçada (FEUP)

Francisco Furtado

Portugal

IST

2

José Viegas (IST)

António Andrade

Portugal

IST

2

Paulo Fonseca Teixeira (IST)

Carlos Marques

Portugal

IST

2

Rosário Macário (IST), Amedeo Odoni (MIT)

Gonçalo Santos

Portugal

IST

2

José Viegas (IST)

Ashenafi Weldemichael

Ethiopia

UC

2

António Pais Antunes (FCTUC), Christopher Zegras (MIT)

João Almeida

Portugal

IST

2

Rosário Macário (IST)

Afshan Aman

PaKistan

FEUP

2

Álvaro Costa (FEUP), Jorge Pinho de Sousa (FEUP)

Frederico Morgado

Portugal

IST

2

Rosário Macário (IST), Amedeo Odoni (MIT)

Merkebe G. Demissie

Ethiopia

UC

2

Pedro Bizarro (FCTUC),Gonçalo Correia (FCTUC)

Mohammad M. Hajizamani

Iran

IST

2

Silvia Shrubsall (IST), José Viegas (IST)

Filmon Habtemichael

Eritrea

UC

2

Luís de Picado Santos (IST)

Edgar Jimenez perez

Colombia

1

Not defined

Heather Jones

US

1

Not defined

Cláudia Luís Menino

Portugal

IST

1

Not defined

Farzam Salimi

Iran

FEUP

1

Not defined

Xiao Chen

China

Tomás Eiró

Portugal

IST IST

Guineng Chen

China

Diana Jorge

Portugal

Luís Caetano

Portugal

UC

1

Not defined

1

Not defined

1

Not defined

1

Not defined

1

Not defined

MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Table XII - List of the students of the Complex Infrastructure Transportation Systems MSc. program (entering in 2008/2010).

Table XIII - List of the students of the Sustainable Energy Systems MBE program.

Name

Country of Origin

Institution

Name

Country of Origin

Institution

Francisco J. Almeida

Portugal

FEUP

Tyler Stinson

USA

IST

Cristina Andrade

Portugal

FEUP

Aleksandr Prodan

Ukraine

IST

Joao Nunes

Portugal

FEUP

António Domingues

Portugal

IST

Marta Cristina Epifanio

Portugal

IST

Dongchen Dai

China

IST

Joao Pedro Pereira

Portugal

IST

Edgar Jimenez Perez

Colombia

IST

Amelia Areias

Portugal

IST

Hossein Bazrafshan

Iran

IST

Duarte Santos Pereira

Portugal

IST

João Lages

Portugal

IST

Goncalo Garcia

Portugal

IST

Jorge Espinoza

Bolivia

IST

Sai Suresh Nagaralu

India

IST

Antonio Farrajota Neves da Silva

Portugal

IST

Ryan Allard

Trinidad & Tobago

IST

Joana Simoes

Portugal

IST

André Alho

Portugal

IST

Jose Luis Moreno

Portugal

IST

Amin Acabarali

Portugal

IST

Marisa Abadeco

Portugal

IST

John Pritchard

USA

IST

Hugo Esteves

Portugal

IST

Sofia Kalakou

Greece

IST

Antonio Pires

Portugal

IST

Teklezghi Ristu

Eritrea

IST

Afonso Paixao

Portugal

IST

German Freiberg

Brasil

IST

João Sousa

Portugal

IST

Joao Paulo Plancha da Silva

Portugal

IST

Luis Guerreiro

Portugal

IST

Jose Pedro Cavaco

Portugal

IST

Pedro Rodrigues

Portugal

IST

Margarida Silva

Portugal

IST

Jamie Chivers

UK

IST

André Franco Pena

Portugal

IST

Yosief Ghebrehiwot

Eritrea

IST

Tamás Matrái

Hungary

IST

279

Table XIV - Teaching Faculty of the Bioengineering Systems area.

Name

Institution

Name

Institution

Ana Ricardo

FCTUNL

Manuela Fonseca

IST

Ali Khademhosseini

MIT

Manuela Gomes

UMinho

Anthony Sinskey

MIT

Maria Reis

FCTUNL

António Vicente

UMinho

Mario Grãos

CNCUC

Arlindo Oliveira

IST

Marta Moita

IGC/ITQBUNL

Arsénio Fialho

IST

Miguel Castelo Branco

CNCUC

Bruce Tidor

MIT

Miguel Prazeres

IST

Carlos Duarte

CNCUC

Miguel Prazeres

IST

Cecilia Roque

FCTUNL

Miguel Rocha

UMinho

Charles Cooney

MIT

Miguel Silva

IST

Clara Reis

IGC/ITQBUNL

Miguel Teixeira

IST

Claudia Silva

IST

Nuno Neves

UMinho

Claudio Soares

ITQBUNL

Nuno Sousa

UMinho

Daniel IC Wang

MIT

P.Flores

UMinho

Dava Newman

MIT

Paula Agostinho

CNCUC

Elly Nedivi

MIT

Paula Alves

ITQBUNL

Estela Bicho

UMinho

Paula Hammond

MIT

Eugenio Ferreira

UMinho

Pedro Saraiva

UC

Fernanda Llussá

FCTUNL

Robert Langer

MIT

GK Raju

MIT

Rodrigo Cunha

CNCUC

Guilherme Ferreira

IBB

Rui Oliveira

FCTUNL

Hugh Herr

MIT

Rui Reis

UMinho

Isabel Rocha

UMinho

Sergio Santos

CNCUC

Joao Conde

IST

Stan Finkelstein

MIT

João Crespo

FCTUNL

Thomas Allen

MIT

Joao Malva

CNCUC

Zach Mainen

IGC/ITQBUNL

Joao Mano

UMinho

Joao Nuno Moreira

CNCUC

Joaquim Cabral

IST

Jorge Martins

IST

José Menezes

IST

José Teixeira

UMinho

K.Dane Wittrup

MIT

Larry Young

MIT

Ligia Rodrigues

UMinho

Lino Ferreira

CNCUC

Luis Almeida

CNCUC

Luis Fonseca

IST

Luis Lages

UNL

Luis Rocha

UMinho

Luísa Vasconcelos

ITQBUNL

Manuel Mota UMinho

280

MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Table XV - Teaching Faculty of the Engineering Design and Advanced Manufacturing (EDAM) area.

Name

Institution

A. Paisana

UMinho

Alcibiades Guedes

FEUP

Américo Azevedo

FEUP

Ana Povoa

IST

Anne McCants

MIT

António Araujo

FEUP

António Ribeiro

IST

Arlindo Silva

IST

Bernardo A. Lobo

FEUP

Carlos Freitas

IST

Dan Whitney

MIT

Eduardo Beira

UMinho

Elsa Henriques

IST

F. Jorge Alves

FEUP

Francisco Pires

FEUP

Frank Field

MIT

Gustavo Dias

UMinho

J. Mendonça

FEUP

Jean-Pol Piquard

FEUP

Jermery Gregory

MIT

Joel Clark

MIT

Jorge Pinho de Sousa

FEUP

Júlio Viana

UMinho

L. Perez Brava

MIT

Lia Patrício

FEUP

Luis Faria IST Luis Rocha

UMinho

M Sameiro Carvalho

UMinho

Madalena Araújo

UMinho

Mihail Fontul

IST

Partha Gosh

MIT

Paulo Peças

IST

Qi Hommes

MIT

Randy Kirchain

MIT

Ricardo Simões

UMinho

Rui. M. Baptista

IST

Stanley Gershwin

MIT

Valério Carvalho

UMinho

281

Table XVI - Teaching Faculty of the Sustainable Energy Systems area.

282

Name

Institution

Name

Institution

Adélio Gaspar

UC

Patrícia Silva

UC

Almerindo Ferreira

UC

Paulo Ferrão

IST

Alvaro Gomes

UC

Pedro Saraiva

UC

Ana Maria Camanho

FEUP

Raimundo Silva

UC

Aníbal Traça de Almeida

UC

Rita Sousa

FEUP

António Martins

FEUP

Steve Connors

MIT

Carlos Henggeler Antunes

UC

Tiago Domingos

IST

Carlos Pereira da Silva

ISEG

Tiago Farias

IST

Carlos Silva

IST

Vitor Leal

FEUP

Claúdio Monteiro

FEUP

Vladimiro Miranda

FEUP

Divo Quintela

UC

Eduardo Barata

UC

Eduardo de Oliveira Fernandes

FEUP

Fausto Freire

UC

Filomena Garcia

ISEG

Harvey Michaels

MIT

Humberto Jorge

UC

Ignacio Perez Riaga

MIT

Isabel Mendes

ISEG

Isabel Proença

ISEG

Isabel Proença

FEUP

Isabel Torres

UC

João Coutinho Rodrigues

UC

João Peças Lopes

FEUP

João Tomé Saraiva

FEUP

John Fernandez

MIT

José Bandeirinha

UC

José Baranda Ribeiro

UC

José Costa

UC

José Luis Alexandre

FEUP

Luís Adriano Oliveira

UC

Luis Cruz

UC

Luis Dias

UC

Manuel Gameiro da Silva

UC

Manuel Matos

FEUP

Marco Reis

UC

Maria Helena Vasconcelos

FEUP

Miguel Águas

IST

Muradali Ibrahimo

ISEG

Nicola Deblasio

MIT

Nuno Simões

UC

Pacheco Coelho

ISEG

MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Table XVII - Teaching Faculty of the Transportation Systems area.

Name

Institution

António Couto

FEUP

Adelino Ferreira

FCTUC

Alexander Chlan

IST

Alexandre Gonçalves

IST

Álvaro Costa

FEUP

Álvaro Seco

FCTUC

Américo Pires da Costa

FEUP

Ana Bastos Silva

FCTUC

Anabela Ribeiro

FCTUC

António Pais Antunes

FCTUC

Bruno Santos

FCTUC

Carlos Henggeler Antunes

FCTUC

Carlos Rodrigues

FEUP

Edgar Blanco

MIT

Filipe Moura

IST

Gonçalo Correia

FCTUC

João Abreu

IST

João Claro

FEUP

João Coutinho

FCTUC

João Duque (ISEG)

ISEG

John Akula

MIT

Jorge Freire Sousa

FEUP

Jorge Pinho de Sousa

FEUP

José Antunes Ferreira

IST

José Neves

IST

José Viegas

IST

Joseph Sussman

MIT

Judith Layzer

MIT

Luís de Picado Santos

IST

Manuel Gameiro

FCTUC

Maria Teresa Dias

FEUP

Moshe Ben-Akiva

MIT

Paulo Teixeira

IST

Pedro Bizarro

FCTUC

Richard de Neufville

MIT

Rosário Macário

IST

Rui Marques

IST

Rui Oliveira

IST

Teresa Gamito

FCTUC

283

284

MIT PORTUGAL 2006-2011 – VOLUME 2: Advanced Training Program

Executive Program Management

Program Directors Paulo Ferrão, IST, Technical University of Lisbon Daniel Roos, Engineering Systems Division, MIT

Scientific Coordination 1. Stem Cell Engineering for Regenerative Medicine Dava Newman, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, MIT Joaquim Sampaio Cabral, IST, Technical University of Lisbon 2. Sustainable Energy and Transportation Systems Chris Zegras, Urban Studies & Planning, MIT (co-director) John Fernandez, Department of Architecture, MIT (director) José Viegas, IST, Technical University of Lisbon (co-director) Paulo Ferrão, IST, Technical University of Lisbon (director) 3. Materials and Design Inspired Products Chris Magee, Engineering Systems Division, MIT Olga Carneiro, School of Engineering, University of Minho 4. Engineering Systems Fundamentals Dan Roos, Engineering Systems Division, MIT João Sousa, IST, Technical University of Lisbon

Doctoral Program Coordination 1. Bio-engineering Systems Bruce Tidor, Department of Electrical Engineering-Computer Science, MIT Manuel Nunes da Ponte, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, New University of Lisbon 2. Sustainable Energy Systems David Marks, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, MIT João Peças Lopes, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto 3. Transportation Systems António Pais Antunes, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, Univ. of Coimbra Richard De Neufville, Engineering Systems Division, MIT 4. Leaders for Technical Industries Joel Clark, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, MIT Manuel Freitas, IST, Technical University of Lisbon

285

Master Programs Coordination 1. Sustainable Energy Systems Ant贸nio Vidigal, EDP Carlos Santos Silva, IST, Technical University of Lisbon David Marks, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, MIT 2. Complex Transport and Infrastructure Systems Jorge Salles Gomes, Brisa S.A. Luis Picado Santos, IST, Technical University of Lisbon 3. Technology Management Enterprise Ant贸nio Torres Marques, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto Joel Clark, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, MIT

286