Interview with João Teixeira - winner of the APREN Award 2017

1 - What reasons led you to write a thesis on renewable energy?
To be honest there was no specific reason, but rather a set of ideas and perspectives that led me to such. Simply, during my academic career, whenever I had the chance to choose the subject to study, I opted for a path that had not yet explored. In this case I managed to address the subject of renewable energy, which had not yet explored, with themes of a curricular unit that fascinated me: Electricity Markets. It is true that there were more subjects related to renewable energies, however, none of them explored the electricity markets component already mentioned. The fact that the supervisor of this dissertation was Professor João Tomé Saraiva also played an important role in my choice.

 

2 - What are your professional ambitions?
This question is interesting, because if you asked me before the dissertation was done, I would immediately respond that I would like to work on something related to electrical projects or in some branch that would allow me to work as a team and develop projects of any specialty, such as electricity, renewable energies or others. However, after completing the dissertation, I started to like the study of electricity markets and all the negotiation and forecasting processes that are inherent to it. So, at this moment, I can say that I see myself working in this area as well.

 

3 - How did you know about the APREN Award?
The supervisor of my dissertation, Professor João Tomé Saraiva, told me about the Award. He thought that my dissertation had potential, not only for the theme itself, which fit the APREN initiative, but also for the excellent work that had already culminated in an excellent assessment in college.

 

4 - What made you compete?
The decision was immediate. I think anyone wants to see their work recognized if possible, especially when we spend about 6 months doing it. Besides that, regardless of whether or not I could win the prize, with my entry into the contest, the attendance at the conference was automatic, so, there were no negative aspects. The presence in this type of events is always a positive experience, especially for a student who will soon enter the job market.

 

5 - What message would you like to leave to those who are hesitant to participate in the 2018 edition?
Regardless of whether you think your topic is not exactly in line with the Award or that your work is not innovative enough, or any other reason, forget all these ideas. You have nothing to lose and there can always be some surprise and the jury finds your work interesting, giving you a chance to participate in the conference or even to win the Award. And as I said, the conference is interesting and enriching at all levels, so I strongly recommend the participation in the next edition.