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João Pinho
Country: Brazil
Year Started Research: 1994
Title of Research: Study and Development of Energy Alternatives,
mainly solar PV, wind, and hybrid systems for both on- and off-grid
applications
University: Grupo de Estudos e Desenvolvimento de Alternativas
Energéticas / Universidade Federal do Pará
Still Active in Research: Yes
João Tavares Pinho is Electrical Engineer by the Universidade Federal do Pará in 1977; Master in Electrical
Engineering by the Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro in 1984; and Doctor in Electrical Engineering
by the Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen (Germany) in 1990. He was Assistant Professor
at the Universidade Federal do Pará (UFPA) since 1978, and Full Professor from 1998 to 2018, when he officially
retired on June 1st. He was Founder and Head of the Grupo de Estudos e Desenvolvimento de Alternativas
Energéticas (GEDAE) from November 1st, 1994 to May 31, 2018; Head of the Instituto Nacional de Ciência e
Tecnologia de Energias Renováveis e Eficiência Energética da Amazônia from 2008 to 2016; Technical Director
of the Instituto para o Desenvolvimento de Energias Alternativas na América Latina from 2012 to 2018; Director
of Science and Technology at the State Secretariat of the Government of Pará from January 2015 to May 2016;
President of the Brazilian Microwave and Optoelectronics Society from 2004 to 2006; President of the Brazilian
Section of the International Solar Energy Society from 2007 to 2011; President of the Brazilian Solar Energy
Association from 2009 to 2011, and from 2017 to 2019; Member of the Board of Directors of the International Solar
Energy Society from 2014 to 2015. His research work has been focused mainly on solar and wind energy, hybrid
systems, and micro-grids, for both on- and off-grid, as well as for productive applications. He has both Brazilian
and Portuguese nationalities, and besides Portuguese, he speaks English, German, and Spanish. Presently he works
as senior researcher at GEDAE/UFPA and visiting researcher at the Institute of Energy and Environment of the
University of São Paulo (IEE/USP), as well as consultant and member of several councils, financing institutions, and
scientific societies.
Ricardo Rüther
Country: Brazil
Year Started Research: 1992
Title of Research: PhD Work on amorphous silicon PV (title unknown)
University: University of Western Australia
Still Active in Research: Yes
Ricardo Rüther is a Professor of Solar Energy at Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (www.ufsc.br) in
Florianopolis-Brazil, where he carries out R&D and academic activities in the field of solar photovoltaics, solar
irradiation resource assessment, electrochemical storage and electromobility. He completed a BE with honours
and a M.Sc. degree in Metallurgy and Materials Science at Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil, and
obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Western Australia at the Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering.
He was an Alexander von Humboldt post-doctoral research fellow at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy
Systems in Germany (from 1994), and was tenured at Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina in 2000, where he
is the director of the Solar Energy Research Laboratory Fotovoltaica/UFSC (www.fotovoltaica.ufsc.br). Prof. Rüther
was a member of the ISES Board of Directors in the 2005-2007 and 2008-2010 periods. He joined ISES in 1991,
and became an ISES lifetime gold member in 2008. Ricardo Rüther not only has an excellent record list in research
and teaching as a University Professor, he also contributes highly recognized to the promotion of RE in Brazil and
world-wide.
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