APREN Award

The tenth edition of the APREN Award recognized two master’s dissertations on topics related to electricity from renewable sources. The award ceremony took place on April 11 at Culturgest, in Lisbon.

The first prize, worth €4,000, was awarded to the work New electrodes for lithium-ion batteries with “thermal shutdown” properties, by Maria Inês Monteiro, from the University of Minho.

The second prize, worth €2,000, recognized the dissertation Development and validation of an innovative hinged system for the conversion of wave energy in coastal structures, by Giovanni Martins, from the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto.

Following the opening of the event, the European project Shorewinner was presented. Its goal is to create and develop an offshore wind energy Community of Practice in Southern Europe, promoting education and training through cooperation among five Vocational Centers of Excellence in Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece, and Cyprus. This introduction was given by Teresa Nogueira (Polytechnic Institute of Engineering of Porto), Vanda Vasconcelos (Professional Training Center for Fisheries and the Sea), and Diogo Moreira (Polytechnic Institute of Viana do Castelo).

A debate then took place, focused on the topic “The importance of sectoral capacity building to meet European targets.” The discussion, moderated by Susana Serôdio, Head of Policy and Market Intelligence at APREN, included the participation of Arnaldo Frade (Chairman of the Board of the Training Center for the Energy Transition), Julieta Silva (Business Development Manager at Voltalia), Marta Paulino Branco (Business Development Manager Portugal at Ocean Winds), and Pedro Carvalho (Full Professor at Instituto Superior Técnico).

The awards were presented at the end of the event by Jorge Vasconcelos, President of the APREN Award Jury, who highlighted the high quality of all the theses submitted to the competition. To further highlight the submitted works and encourage interaction and dialogue between industry representatives and candidates, the event featured an exhibition of all the theses, which was available for viewing in the Culturgest Foyer.

This year, the APREN Award jury included the largest panel of experts to date: Jorge Vasconcelos, from NEWES (Jury President); Bernardo Silva, from the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto; Lígia Pinto, from the University of Minho; Margarita Robaina, from the University of Aveiro; Miguel Centeno Brito, from the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon; Mónica Meireles, from ISCTE – University Institute of Lisbon; Nuno Souza e Silva, from R&D Nester; Patrícia Fortes, from the Faculty of Sciences and Technology of NOVA University Lisbon; Paulo Partidário, from the Directorate-General for Energy and Geology; Pedro Carvalho, from IST – Instituto Superior Técnico; Pedro Horta, from the University of Évora; and Sofia Simões, from the National Laboratory of Energy and Geology.

Since 2015, APREN has recognized the best master's and doctoral dissertations on the topic of electricity from renewable sources, carried out at higher education institutions in Portugal. Over the years, several dozen academic theses in the field of renewables have been awarded.