COMMITTEES
CONFERENCE CHAIRS
Vânia Ribeiro
Polytechnic University of Leiria, Portugal
Roberta Panízzio
Polytechnic University of Portalegre, Portugal
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Ahmad Pourmovahed
Kettering University, USA
Speech title: Organic Biodiesel Production Using Various Agricultural Feedstocks
Ahmad Pourmovahed holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, with a minor in Chemical and Civil Engineering. He has worked as a Senior Research Engineer at General Motors, focusing on hybrid vehicles, and as an Assistant Professor at Lawrence Technological University. Currently, he is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Kettering University, specializing in Energy Systems and Sustainability. His expertise includes energy storage, thermal systems, and renewable energy. He is a Fellow of The Engineering Society of Detroit (ESD).
His research interests focus on energy system analysis, biofuel production, renewable energy, sustainability, and thermal systems. He led a $951,500 research project funded by the U.S. Department of Energy to improve biogas production and its application in transportation and power generation. He has published extensively on topics such as microplastics removal, COVID-19 impacts on food security, urban hydroponics, wind turbine efficiency, fuel cell power plants, and hydraulic hybrid vehicle energy systems.
Dragan Savic
Exeter University, UK
Speech title: Impact of AI on the water industry
Dragan Savić is the Global Advisor on Digitalization at KWR Water Research Institute and a Professor of Hydroinformatics at the University of Exeter. Professor Savić is an internationally recognised leader in the field of Hydroinformatics, particularly water and sewage system modelling and optimization. His work on Artificial Intelligence applications to challenging complex water system problems has delivered significant cost savings to many utilities around the world.
Maria Margarida Gonçalves
DQ-FCT-NOVA, Portugal
Speech title: Carbon-rich wastes – a resource for energy production, soil amendment, catalytic conversion and CO2 capture
Maria Margarida Boavida Pontes Gonçalves is an Associated Professor of DQ-FCT-NOVA, Coordinator of the Master Course in Bioenergy and Sustainable Technologies, Researcher at MEtRICS (Mechanical Engineering and Resource Sustainability Center, FCT-NOVA and UMinho) and Collaborator at VALORIZA (Research Center for the Valorization of Endogenous Resources, ESTG-IP-Portalegre). Has been supervisor or co-supervisor of 21 PhD students 8 of which on-going. Main research interests include valorization of biomass and wastes, carbonization, hydrothermal carbonization, pyrolysis, gasification, effluent treatment with microalgae, circular economy, and bioeconomy. Is the author of 211 publications in scientific journals and conference proceedings from which102 papers indexed by Scopus. It is a Member of the Editorial Board of Energies and Reviewer of various scientific journals from the areas of Biomass, Energy and Waste Valorization
Häme University of Applied Sciences, Finland
Speech title: Recent research activities on sustainable construction
Zhongcheng Ma obtained his first PhD degree from Harbin Institute of Technology, China in 1997, and was awarded a Technical Doctorate at Helsinki University of Technology (Aalto University), Finland in 2000. He holds an MBA from University of Wales in 2012. He has authored and co-authored 63 peer-reviewed scientific publications in structural engineering. He has 14 years’ industrial experiences in the field of material strength and impact of mechanical structures and electronic components and 15 years’ academic experience in structural engineering. He is currently a principal research scientist and research group leader at HAMK, focusing on steel structures. His major research interests include behavior and design rules of steel structures, structural fire behavior and analyses, demountability and reuse of steel construction, building demolition and reuse.
ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
Ana Carolina Assis
Polytechnic University of Portalegre
Andrei Longo
Polytechnic University of Portalegre
Bruna Rijo
Polytechnic University of Portalegre
Catarina Nobre
Polytechnic University of Portalegre
Cecília Pedrero
Polytechnic University of Portalege
Filipe Neves
Polytechnic University of Leiria
Flávio Craveiro
Polytechnic University of Leiria
Henrique Almeida
Polytechnic University of Leiria
João Galvão
Polytechnic University of Leiria
Liliana Ferreira
Polytechnic University of Leiria
Joel Vasco
Polytechnic University of Leiria
Paulo Brito
Polytechnic University of Portalegre
Pedro Gala
Polytechnic University of Leiria
Pedro Monteiro
Polytechnic University of Portalegre
Ricardo Gomes
Polytechnic University of Leiria
Sandra Mourato
Polytechnic University of Leiria
Santa Margarida Santos
Polytechnic University of Portalegre
SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE
Ana Gomes
Porto Catholic University, Portugal
Ana Rodrigues
Politechnic University of Leiria, Portugal
Abel Rodrigues
INIAV/ Research Institute, Portugal
Ahmad Pourmovahed
Kettering University, Michigan, USA
Alfeu Sá Marques
Coimbra University, Portugal
Ana Vale
School of Science IT Sligo, Ireland
Andrei Longo
Polytechnic University of Portalegre
Antonio Macías
Extremadura University, Spain
Annukka Pakarinen
HAMK University, Finland
Bruna Rijo
Polytechnic University of Portalegre
Carla Ferreira
ESAC/Coimbra Polytechnic, Portugal
Carlos Henggeler
INESCC/Coimbra University, Portugal
Catarina Nobre
Polytechnic University of Portalegre, Portugal
Cecília Pedrero
Polytechnic University of Portalegre, Portugal
Eduardo Álvarez
Oviedo University, Spain
Eliseu Monteiro
FEUP/Porto University, Portugal
Fausto Freire
CIE/Coimbra University, Portugal
Fernando Lidon
NOVA University Lisbon, Portugal
Filipe Neves
Polytechnic University of Leiria
Flávio Craveiro
Polytechnic University of Leiria
Fulvia Chiampo
Politecnico di Torino, Italy
Howard Dryden
Scotland University, UK
Hassan El Bari
Kenitra University, Marocco
Helena Bártolo
Polytechnic University of Leiria, Portugal
Henrique Almeida
Polytechnic University of Leiria, Portugal
Jerónimo Cortés
CICTE/Extremadura Research Center, Spain
João Galvão
Polytechnic University of Leiria
João Pina
FCT/Nova Lisbon University, Portugal
Joel Vasco
Polytechnic University of Leiria, Portugal
Jorge MGP Isidoro
Algarve University, Portugal
José Lobo
Extremadura University, Spain
Kirsi Knuuttila
HAMK University, Finland
Liliana Ferreira
Polytechnic University of Leiria
Lisiane Librelotto
UFSCatarina, Brasil
Lucélia Hoehne
Universidade do Vale do Taquari – UNIVATES, Brazil
Luís Loures
Polytechnic University of Portalegre, Portugal
Luís Neves
INESCC/Politechnic University of Leiria, Portugal
Luís Silva
Porto Polytechnic, Portugal
Luís Tarelho
Aveiro University, Portugal
Luisa Schmidt
ICS/Lisbon University, Portugal
Luiz Rodrigues
Polytechnic University of Portalegre, Portugal
Madalena Moreira
Évora University, Portugal
Margarida Gonçalves
Nova University, Portugal
Manuel Hermoso
Jaen University, Spain
Maria Dermiki
Atlantic Technological University, Ireland
Maria Manuela Silva
NOVA University Lisbon, Portugal
Marika Tossavainen
HAMK University, Finland
Marritta Kymalainen
HAMK University, Finland
Milica Kasanin-rubin
University of Belgrade, Serbia
Mauricio Nogueira Frota
Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Mohammed Karim BENHACHMI
University Hassan II/Casablanca, Marocco
Nicolau Almeida
Polytechnic University of Portalegre, Portugal
Noel Pereira
Birmingham City University, UK
Paulo Brito
Polytechnic University of Portalegre
Paulo Mourão
Évora University, Portugal
Pedro Gala
Polytechnic University of Leiria, Portugal
Remco Kranendonk
Wageningen University, Nedherlands
Ricardo Chacartegui
Sevilha University, Spain
Ricardo Gomes
Polytechnic University of Leiria, Portugal
Roberta Panízzio
Polytechnic University of Portalegre, Portugal
Rodrigo Moruzzi
UNESP/ São Paulo State University, Brazil
Rui Ganhão
Polytechnic University of Leiria, Portugal
Saifur Rahman
Virginia Tech Advanced Research Institute, USA
Sandra Mourato
Polytechnic University of Leiria, Portugal
Sérgio Leitão
UTAD/Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro University, Portugal
Susana Neto
IST/Lisbon University, Portugal
Szakonyi Petra
István University/Győr, Hungary
Teresa Mouga
Polytechnic University of Leiria, Portugal
Valentim Realinho
VALORIZA/Polytechnic University of Portalegre, Portugal
Vânia Ribeiro
Polytechnic University of Leiria, Portugal
Wolf-Gerrit Früh
Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, Scotland
Zahra Kalantari
Stockholm University, Sweden
