Gabriel Azevedo

Professor Steven Wofsy

By Giovanni Rincon ’13

It’s not only about energy.

This has been my second time in Brazil and it has been a rediscovery of what I thought I knew. For me, the course has been a real learning experience and essential to understand the context of energy. For example, one of the most important ideas discussed was the one about the proportionate relation between energy and society welfare. For example, Gabriel Azevedo from Odebrecht, explained the agency of hydropower infrastructure as a key driver for regional development. However, in addition to the energy production challenge, Prof. Wofsy explained how high CO2 emissions are inherently related to energy consumption and to industrialized nations and more recently to growing economies. This means that the challenge is not only about production but is also about how we define the basics of human habitat: how this habitat should look? and how population consumes it and wastes it?

In the end, it is true that we always find energy in agglomerations of any size. Energy is a requirement to habitat in winter in order to survive. Consequently, the strategies aimed to design those habitats will have a direct impact in energy production and consumption. This is why I think design professionals should look seriously into those of contextual energy interaction. For example urban infrastructure to transform waste to energy, hydropower plants engaged with regional development, zoning regulations aimed to environmental performance not only could transform habitat but also the way energy is consumed and wasted.

Giovanni is in the Master's program in Architecture in Urban Design

Gaberiel Azevedo, Odebrect Energia, offers an overview of hydropower development in Brazil.



By Kirsten Van Fossen '12 

Although I’ve been in São Paulo for 4 months now, my participation in the Poli-SEAS course has enabled me to experience a lot of Brazil firsts, especially yesterday, at the EMAE visit. We started out the day with a boat ride across a eutrophied water reservoir (Billings) and were able to get a view of the bordering informal settlement (favela). Later in the afternoon, I was able to go on my first Brazilian rollercoaster – the service trolley that parallels the 8 pipes that drop 700 meters to produce up to 960 MW of energy at the Henry Borden hydropower plant. Although the trolley didn’t quite get up to typical rollercoaster velocity, the 17 minute-long descent at times left us at a 43° angle and consequently, our stomachs turning. At the end of the day, we sat down to a meal with a few traditional Brazilian dishes, including a delicious maracujá mousse for dessert. I’ve often been encouraged to try this maracujá, but my love for chocolate has led me other directions. 

Kirsten graduated from Harvard in May 2012 with an SB in Engineering Sciences (Environmental) and is currently researching water engineering topics at the Escola Politécnica da Universidade de São Paulo.

 Play the video to experience the ride!

Site Visit: Voith Hydro. Voith Hydro is a joint venture between Voith and Siemens created to provide turbines and generators for hydropower. It is responsible for generating more than 50% of hydropower consumed in Brazil. Voith provides full-line service in the field of hydropower. Its range of solutions includes large hydropower plants, pumped storage power plants, small hydropower plants, automation systems and innovative technology for utilizing the energy of the oceans, the modernization of power plants, as well as full life cycle service.

Impressions about the Voith site visit from group participants:

Bethany Kanten (Harvard SEAS): The amount of precision in the design of each project was amazing to hear about, and how each project is made specifically for the customer.

Jason Smith (Harvard SEAS):  The size and scale of each of the projects make seemingly simple operations true feats of engineering.

Jessica Wu (Harvard SEAS):  Giant lathes!  Contour mills!  Now I have a few more items to put on my Christmas list for next year.

Junling Huang (Harvard SEAS): The practice of engineering design is pretty amazing. Those super large-scale hydro turbines are breathtaking.

Kirsten Van Fossen (Harvard SEAS):  At an international company like Voith, there is so much more that goes into every project than you would imagine.  I would have never thought about transporting the finished products, but in their business, this is a major task.

Ligia Monteiro da Silva (Poli-USP): After doing an undergraduate research about hydropower production, it was really interesting to finally see how the equipment used in the plants is made.

Luciana Mascarenhas (Poli-USP): It was amazing to see the Jirau powerplant model at FCTH and its turbines being built at Voith!

Raphael Rodrigues (Poli-USP): It was interesting seeing the place where the energy that comes to our homes start. After all, it all starts with the design and project of those parts.

Stephen Lee (Harvard SEAS):  After the hydro power lecture and turbine visit, it was good to see how they are fabricated.

Bethany Kanten (Harvard SEAS): The amount of precision in the design of each project was amazing to hear about, and how each project is made specifically for the customer.

By Elena Fumagalli Romario '14

13 Harvard students and 15 Poli-USP students spending two weeks together discussing, sharing and learning from each other and from expert professors about the future challenges of energy production: for sure a lifetime experience. Add to this, great site visits and social activities: the result is this great collaborative course we’re having the chance to participate in.

 It has been a great week so far, very intense, but also very inspiring. Many lectures, questions, answers, discussions, site visits and laughs. The site visits are for sure making a difference in my engineering path; after years of seeing drawings of turbines, dams and solar panels, I finally fully understanding their layout, how they function and how they are connected to the rest of the plant. Moreover, the group projects we have just started are a great opportunity for all of us to share knowledge, research and learn more about the advantages and disadvantages of different energy solutions that have been adopted in Brazil and in the USA.

The group of students is great, really diverse, different countries and different studying backgrounds, but we all like studying as much as going out and having fun. This is making group bonding really easy and quick. Yes, we’re learning and having a great time. And this is just the beginning…

Elena is in her fourth year of the five-year undergraduate Environmental Engineering program at Poli-USP.

By Jessica Wu ’14

A Dam Good Visit

On our first visit to POLI-USP, Professor Monica Porto led us on a tour of the hydrological labs in her department and showed us their latest projects.  We were soon led into a massive tarp covered structure with a metal roof; I thought I was being transported back in time. 

The humid air, the beating sun, the tarp, and the metal clad roof were all familiar to me; I have been here before.  This is my first adventure in South America, my first visit to Sao Paulo, Brazil, but this is my second year participating in the POLI-USP & SEAS collaborative J-term course.  

Last year’s course brought us to the Mississippi River delta, to Vicksburg, Louisiana for several hearty meals of catfish and visits to the United States Corps of Engineers Engineering Research and Development Center (ERDC).  Ducking under the low hanging side panels at USP, I simultaneously experienced both déjà vu and nostalgia.  In front of us was a hydrological model of the dam that’s currently under construction at Jirau, which, at first glance, looked like a direct replica of the model of a segment of the Mississippi where a bridge traverses the river that resides at ERDC.

After some examination, it seems that the expansive models in both locations were constructed, first, by drawing a 100:1 topographic map.  Then, thin sheets of steel are vertically planted into the concrete foundation to form contour lines.  Lastly, each elevation is filled with concrete and leveled.  I stood with John – who is a fellow returning participant – to discuss whether the model had a fish ladder [pictured].  {Unofficial} Answer: negative.  Oh, the poor Brazilian catfish…

As we stood under the boiling tent, I remembered the event that the Brazilian students anticipated most last year: cold snow and lots of it; but last year was an abnormally calm winter in the northeast – a sign of global warming?  There was not a single dusting of snow for the first 3 weeks of the course.  Then, miraculously, snow began falling on the last night of the course, as we approached midnight and our last day together.  Everyone was excited and bundled up to go outside to experience their first taste of snowfall. 

I am certain my nostalgia will fade as we make new visits and continue on our journey as a unit.  My time in Brazil has already proven to be amazing due to the special site visits and, especially, the people.  We are en route to Paraty and I’m already looking forward to jumping into the Atlantic Ocean for the first time, and adding more ‘memories to last a lifetime.

Jessica is an undergraduate at Harvard in the S.B. in Mechanical and Materials Engineering program.

Maurício Salles, Assistant Professor, Department of Electric Energy and Automation Engineering, Escola Politécnica da Universidade de São Paulo provides an overview of wind power generation and explains recent innovations in the field.