Profiles

Faculty Profile: Carlos Silva

Prof. Carlos Silva

Title: Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Instituto Superior Tecnico

Current research interests: Operations research, supply chain management, intelligent control systems

Carlos Silva joined the IST faculty this year as a member of the team guiding the Sustainable Energy Systems program. In this capacity he has such diverse duties as helping coordinate the admission of students, preparing the curriculum of the Advanced Study program, and working on the Green Islands project. MIT Portugal’s Director of Education Josh Jacobs recently spoke to Carlos about his work in Sustainable Energy Systems.

Josh Jacobs: What is your background?

Carlos Silva: I hold three degrees in Mechanical Engineering from IST, although my PhD work was more precisely in the area of optimizing supply chain management. I spent three years during the PhD conducting research at Siemens in Munich. Since the PhD, I have gained certification as a professional project manager. Professionally I have worked as a lecturer at the Escola Náutica, a polytechnic institute in Lisbon dedicated to commercial sailors, and also for two years at an IT startup company.

Faculty Profile: John Fernández

Prof. John Fernández

John E. Fernández

Associate Professor, School of Architecture, MIT

MIT Portugal Involvement: Co-Lead, Sustainable Energy Systems focus area (MIT)

Current research interests: Material flow analysis tool development in the Urban Metabolism

Prof. John Fernández is Co-Lead (MIT), of the Sustainable Energy Systems focus area, MIT Portugal Program. During the 2008-09 academic year, he will be living with his family in Lisbon to conduct research on the Sustainable Built Environment research area of the MIT Portugal Program. MIT Portugal’s Director of Education Josh Jacobs recently spoke to Prof. Fernández in Lisbon at a research workshop of the Transportation Systems focus area, which Prof. Fernández will collaborate with on urban transport issues.

JJ: What is your background?

JF: I have a Bachelor’s in Art and Design (Architecture) from MIT and a Master’s in Architecture from Princeton University. After my studies, I worked as a designer and architect at Frank O. Gehry and Associates, Skidmore Owings and Merrill, and Kohn Pederson Fox, among other architectural firms, before opening my own firm in 1990. I also was a professor at the University of Florida before joining MIT in 1999.

JJ: How have your research interests developed over the past few years?

JF: I had been doing research in the area of material properties for high-performance buildings, and this led to an interest in tracking materials flows in cities. I became a member of the Society for Industrial Ecology, whose members are developing new tools to track resource flows. We try to develop carbon footprints from the individual up through cities to whole societies.

Faculty Profile: Dr. Ligia Rodrigues

Ligia Rodrigues

Title: Asst. Professor, University of Minho, MIT Portugal Program, Bioengineering Focus Area
MIT Portugal teaching activities: Bio-teams course
Current research interests: Breast cancer biomarkers and chemotherapeutics, biomaterials in health and synthetic biology.

Ligia Rodrigues was a visiting scholar at MIT from January – July 2008. She recently sat down with MIT Portugal’s Communications Director Michelle Gaseau to talk about her work and the program.

MG: Tell us about your background?

LR: I completed my undergraduate degree in Bioengineering at the University of Minho and then worked in a research project for two years. Then I decided to get a Master’s in Biotechnology – Bioprocess Engineering at the University of Minho. Afterwards, I had different opportunities but in the end I applied for a PhD grant from FCT and started my PhD studies. Then I changed my area of research.