EnginEEring and innovation ThE ART Of ANTICIPATINg ThE fuTuRE

76 Pages·2015·7.99 MB·English

EnginEEring
and innovation
ThE ART Of
ANTICIPATINg
ThE fuTuRE
REVISTA COPPE 50 ANOS 1

A heritage of all Brazilians 2
tHE 1960’s
The Invention of a Dream 6
Alberto Luiz galvão Coimbra: Idealism Put into Action 8
The Pioneers 12
tHE 1970’s
Crisis and Reinvention 20
Coppetec: the Originality of Building Partnerships with Companies 24
tHE 1980’s
Political Opening, Economic Cutback 28
The Partnership with Petrobras that Led Coppe toward the Sea 30
Technology Allowed Advances into the Deep Waters 32
Lobo Carneiro: The Quest for a Sovereign Country 34
Agustín ferrante: A Pioneer in the use of Computing
for Offshore Structures 36
tHE 1990’s
The Social Perspective 40
growing Presence in the Agenda of National
and International Debates 42
An Interview with Luiz Pinguelli Rosa 46
tHE 21st CEntUrY
Looking into the future 55
Searching for Low Carbon 58
Expanding the frontiers of Marine Knowledge 61
The Naval Turning Point 62
The Social Dramas of the New Century 63
Ready to face the Challenges of Pre-salt 64
Expanding horizons 68
Innovation and Integration of Knowledge 70
A hERITAgE
Of ALL
BRAzILIANS
IT WAS A MODEST BEgINNINg, BuT ThE RESuLTS WERE NOT. BACK IN 1963,
A gRADuATE COuRSE ThAT WOuLD hAVE gREAT INfLuENCE ON ThE BRAzILIAN
uNIVERSITIES AND ENgINEERINg COuRSES WAS CREATED IN TWO SMALL ROOMS
IN ThE CAMPuS Of ThE fORMER uNIVERSIDADE DO BRASIL AT PRAIA VERMELhA.
When professor Alberto Luiz excellence that made the most ambitious
galvão Coimbra created the visions of its founder a reality.
first master’s degree course in
Chemical Engineering in Brazil, he al- Pioneering Efforts
ready imagined a center for improving Since 1963 more than 14,000 students
knowledge and developing technology of Coppe have been awarded their mas-
capable of providing solutions to Bra- ter’s and doctoral degrees. Many of these
zilian problems in different areas and students pursued an academic career
of renewing old predominant academic and created graduate courses based on
practices at universities. Coppe’s education model throughout the
To accomplish his objective, Coim- country. It is no exaggeration to say
bra developed a graduate course model that the graduate system in Brazil, in
that was completely innovative in Bra- engineering and in other areas as well,
zil at that time, focusing on scientific was influenced by Coppe.
research, full-time study and well-paid Nowadays, Coppe is the Brazilian
and fully dedicated professors. uphold- graduate engineering institute that
ing these principles, the small group of received the largest number of 7s and
the master’s degree course in Chemical 6s - the highest scores attributed by
Engineering expanded to give rise to CAPES to courses with an equivalent
Latin America’s greatest teaching and re- performance to the most important
search center in engineering: Coppe –The centers of education and research in
Alberto Luiz Coimbra Institute for gradu- the world. The appraisal is performed
ate Studies and Research in Engineer- by Capes, the Brazilian federal Agency
ing– which is an institution of academic for Support and Evaluation of graduate
2 ENgINEERINg AND INNOVATION
Courses. Coppe students have already Critical Spirit Creating the Future
received 14 Capes Thesis Awards, which, Coppe researchers have advanced knowl- Proud of its past, Coppe is still alert to
since 2006, are given to the best doc- edge; therefore, Coppe has acted as a future demands. Sustainability is the
toral theses presented throughout the mediator together with governments in keyword of dozens of projects developed
country. Two students also received the development of studies and projects. by its researchers. Coppe is the Brazil-
the Capes greatest Award for Doctoral Nevertheless, it does not mean that ian research institution with the largest
Thesis, which is given to the best thesis Coppe does not participate anymore, in- number of scientists in the Intergovern-
of each one of the following three ma- dependently and with critical spirit, in mental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
jor research fields: Engineering, Exact the public debate on government actions established by uN and has headquar-
& Earth Sciences and Multidisciplinary related to the topics of its expertise. tered the Brazilian forum on Climate
Science (Materials and Biotechnology). Coppe pointed out some mistakes on Change since 2004. The institution
But the contributions from Coppe are the nuclear agreement between Brazil contributes to and offers technical sup-
far beyond the academic world. Over the and germany in 1975; denounced the port to the formulation of national and
last five decades, the institution has conduction of tests to produce a nuclear international policies in one of the most
been providing solutions to problems in weapon at the Cachimbo Air force Base in challenging areas today.
liaison with companies, governments and Pará, in 1986; questioned the privatiza- Coppe also continues to invest in
social organizations. More than 13,000 tion of companies and infrastructures in new engineering fields. In 2013, on its
agreements have been signed since 1970, 1998, and warned the government about 50th anniversary, the institution created
which shows the dynamism of Coppe. the imminent energy crisis in 2000, one its 13th graduate program – the Nano-
Technology developed by Petrobras year before the 2001 blackout. technology Engineering Program. That
has helped to put Brazil in the leading The following pages show a brief but is how Coppe remains faithful to the
position in deepwater oil production and comprehensive overview of the most dreams of its founder. Coppe has turned
today it is used in the exploration of the important milestones of this story – a out to be a heritage of all Brazilians due
pre-salt layer – the most widely known story that has difficult moments such to its technical knowledge, clear vision
example. Research conducted at Coppe as the traumatic departure of the in- of challenges and commitment to the
has helped to develop state politics in stitution’s founder and long periods of country.
various fields. for instance, several stud- funding shortage for research. Coppe
ies carried out by Coppe researchers have had to reinvent itself by creating in-
contributed to implement the Brazilian novative management systems and im-
National Biodiesel Program. proving partnerships with companies.
ThE ART Of ANTICIPATINg ThE fuTuRE 3
1960 1961 1962 1963 1964
0
 Brasília, the new federal  Jânio Quadros resigns  Brazil wins the Soccer  The Samba School  The Military
capital and an icon of as President. Vice- World Cup for the Salgueiro revolutionizes Coup on March
modern architecture is president João goulart second time in Chile. the esthetics of the 31st overthrows
inaugurated. assumes the position. samba parades with President João
 The Brazilian film The
the plot about Chica da goulart. Marshal
 Rio de Janeiro, the  Russian Yuri gagarin Payer of Promises wins
Silva. humberto Castello
former capital, is now becomes the first man the Palme d’Or at the
Branco assumes the
called the State of in space and he reveals Cannes film festival.  In March, Alberto Luiz
presidency.
guanabara. that “the Earth is blue”. Coimbra launches the
 Professor Athos
master’s degree course  The show Opinião
 John f. Kennedy is  The Berlin Wall is built da Silveira Ramos
in Chemical Engineering, (Opinion), a
elected President of the in the context of the creates the Institute
6 at the Institute of political and social
united States. Cold War, when there of Chemistry at the
Chemistry of the musical, debuts in
was a rivalry between universidade do Brasil.
universidade do Brasil, Rio de Janeiro.
the united States and
 Peak of the Cold War the seed from which
the Soviet union.  glauber Rocha
between uSA and uSSR: Coppe has grown.
releases Black
 The Bay of Pigs crisis of the Soviet
 Ieda Maria Vargas, from God, White Devil
Invasion: unsuccessful missiles installed
Rio grande do Sul,is and attracts more
attempt by troops in in Cuba.
crowned Miss universe international
favor of the united
 The Bossa Nova show in the united States. attention to the
States to invade Cuba.
at Carnegie hall, in Cinema Novo, a
 Approximately 250,000
 The first Culture Popular New York, conquers the Brazilian film
people attend the
9Center, of the Brazilian foreign audience and movement.
Civil Rights March, in
National Student union sparks interest for the
Washington, D.C, led by  Nelson Trevisan is
(uNE), is created by Brazilian modern music.
Martin Luther King. the first student to
university students and
receive a master’s
intellectuals in Rio de  The President of the
degree in Chemical
Janeiro. united States John f.
Engineering, which
Kennedy is assassinated.
 Professor Alberto Luiz was the course that
galvão Coimbra presents gave rise to Coppe.
the document entitled
 Coppe and the then
“An Opportunity for
BNDE sign the first
1the Implementation of
funtec agreement,
a graduate Course in
which would be the
Chemical Engineering in
major funding for
Brazil”, in the National
graduate research in
School of Chemistry
the following years.
of the universidade
do Brasil (now called
ufRJ).
1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
 The Second  floods and landslides  Marshal Arthur da Costa  The Law n. 5,540 allows  Professors considered to
Institutional kill 250 people and more e Silva assumes the the university Reform. be left-wingers are fired
Act suspends all than 50,000 people are Presidency of Brazil. The system of course or compulsorily retired.*
existing political made homeless in the credits is adopted.
 gilberto gil and  The North-American
parties. states of Rio de Janeiro The universidade do
Caetano Veloso create astronauts Neil
and guanabara. Brasil is now called
 The master’s the Tropicalism, a Armstrong and Edwin
universidade federal do
degree course  The military government movement for renewing Aldrin, from Apollo 11,
Rio de Janeiro – federal
in Mechanical introduces a two-party the language of the walk on the moon.
university of Rio de
Engineering is system. The political Brazilian Popular Music
Janeiro (ufRJ).  President Marshal Costa
created. The parties called Arena and (MPB), which influenced
e Silva becomes sick and
master’s degree MDB are created. other types of art.  The Nuclear Engineering
dies. he is replaced by a
courses in Chemical Program is created at
 Coppe creates the  Coppe acquires an IBM military junta.
Engineering and Coppe.
Electrical Engineering 1130 computer and
in Mechanical  general Emílio
Program. creates its Department  The ARPANet or the
Engineering garrastazu Médici is
of Scientific Calculus, Advanced Research
become programs nominated President of
which gave rise to the Projects Agency
and the Brazil.
Electronic Computation Network of the united
Coordination for
Center of ufRJ. States Department of
graduate Programs
Defense, a computer * Aluizio de Souza Carvalho,
in Engineering  Coppe’s headquarter Anderson Moreira da Rocha,
network considered to Augusto Araújo Lopes Samith,
(Coppe) is created. moves to Cidade Bruno Alípio Lobo, Edgar José
be a precursor of the
universitária, at Ilha do guerra, Elisa frota Pessoa, Eugênio
Internet, is created. Malanda, Eulália Maria Lahmayer
fundão. Lobo, Evaristo de Moraes filho,
friedrich gustavo Breiger, guy José
 Student protests in
 Coppe creates the Paulo de holanda, haroldo de Melo
Paris almost overthrow Souza, hugo Weiss, Jayme Tiommo,
Metallurgical and João Cristóvão Cardoso, José
the french government Américo da Mota Pessanha, José
Materials Engineering,
and have repercussions de Lima Siqueira, José francisco
the Civil Engineering, Mendes del Peloso, José Leite
worldwide. Lopes, Lincoln Bicalho Roque,
the Production Manoel Maurício de Albuquerque,
Engineering and the  The March of the One Maria Laura Mouzinho Leite Lopes,
Maria Yedda Leite Linhares, Marina
Naval Engineering hundred Thousand São Paulo de Vasconcelos, Marisa
Coutinho Afonso, Maurício Vinhas
(which is now called challenges the Brazilian
de Queiroz, Miriam Limoeiro
Ocean Engineering) military government. Cardoso, Miriam Santos Souza
Machado, Plínio Sussekind da
programs. Rocha, Quirino Campofiorito da
 The fifth Institutional
Rocha, Raimundo José D’Araujo
 In the Civil Engineering Act, which suspends Costa and Sarah de Castro Barbosa.
Program, Coppe the constitutional
creates the field of guarantees, is issued.
geotechnics, motivated
by the constant flooding
events that have been
occurring since 1966.
tHE 1960’s
ThE INVENTION Of A DREAM
In the beginning of the 1960’s Bra- fication of engineers capable of pro- and who was the coordinator of the
zil was eager to fulfill expectations ducing science and technology instead Department of Chemistry at the uni-
and hopes raised two decades be- of just applying foreign solutions and versity of houston at that time. With
fore. It was a time for euphoria. knowledge. Tiller’s help, Coimbra was able to get
The two governments of getúlio Coimbra’s dream was to have a funding from American foundations
Vargas were responsible for establish- graduate system similar to those in to hire foreign professors and offer
ing a primary industry in the country the united States, which combined grants so that some Brazilian students
and for making advances in infrastruc- teaching and research. Coimbra, who in could take the master’s degree course
ture. Juscelino Kubitscheck, who in 1949 received a master’s degree from in the united States. After coming
1956 assumed the presidency promis- Vanderbilt university, decided to visit back to Brazil, the young students
ing “50 years of progress in five”, was the main universities in the uSA in who had just completed the master’s
the leader of a national development 1960 and came back amazed with the degree course abroad would become
project, aimed at replacing imports of efficiency of the academic institutions teachers in the new course.
industrialized goods. in changing processes and curricula At the School of Chemistry, most
At the same time, the creativity and to invest in research. It was a conse- of Coimbra’s colleagues considered
Brazilianness of bossa nova, the cine- quence of the dispute with the Soviets, this a utopian and inconvenient ini-
ma novo movement and the daring ar- who in 1957 were ahead in the space tiative. however, he was lucky to
chitecture of the country’s new capital, race after having launched the first have the support of the director of
Brasília, called the world’s attention. artificial satellite under the Sputnik the Institute of Chemistry at univer-
The Brazilian soccer team was about to program. sidade do Brasil, Athos da Silveira
win the World Cup for the second time. Ramos, who accepted to include the
That was the scenario that inspired the Cold War: new course in the organizational
professor Alberto Luiz galvão Coimbra Support from Both Sides chart. Athos authorized Coimbra to
when he presented the document en- It was the time of the Cold War, a new use two small rooms at the Praia Ver-
titled “An Opportunity for the Imple- state of tension that emerged after melha campus.
mentation of a graduate Course in World War II and divided the world In March 1963, the course was
Chemical Engineering in Brazil” to the into two power blocks led by The So- launched and followed the principles
School of Chemistry of the then univer- viet union and the united States. The that were regarded as laws by its cre-
sidade do Brasil (now called ufRJ), in u.S. government wanted to extend its ator: the full dedication of teachers
March 1961. influence over Latin American nations, and students, an unknown system in
In the document, Coimbra stated as there was a threat that they would the Brazilian undergraduate education
that the undergraduate education in be influenced by the Soviets, especially system until then.
Chemistry was insufficient and pro- after fidel Castro, the revolutionary In January 1964, Nelson Trevisan was
posed the creation of a graduate leader who conquered the power in Cu- the first student to receive a master’s
course in which it would be possible ba, announced the country’s adhesion degree in Coppe’s Chemical Engineer-
to practice the so-called “engineer- to communism. ing course for the dissertation entitled
ing science”. According to Coimbra, however, to expand Coppe, Coimbra Physisorption: Theory and Model. The
the country could only be autonomous sought support from both sides.The student of the first class of the course
when the incipient industry could make Brazilian professor gained the support that gave rise to Coppe was advised by
use of national technology. To do so, it from frank Tiller, an American who Professor August zamith, of the School
was necessary to invest on the quali- had been his master’s thesis adviser of Chemistry at ufRJ.
6 ENgINEERINg AND INNOVATION
PErFiL
COIMBRA AND JOSé PELúCIO
A DECISIVE ENCOuNTER fOR ThE fuTuRE
Of RESEARCh AT uNIVERSITIES
In the beginning, the course survived and Research in Engineering (Coppe) was In search of the best students to take
on the tight budget from the Institute formally created to comprise these two the newly created courses, Coimbra would
of Chemistry and a few foundations, on graduate courses and the other new ones send two teachers to travel all over Brazil
Coimbra’s determination and on the dedi- that would be created in quick succes- to interview undergraduate students and
cation of a small group of teachers. Things sion: in Electrical Engineering, in 1966; explain them what was a graduate course.
got better when Coimbra was introduced in Metallurgy and Materials, Civil, Naval In 1967, Coppe was already receiving
to José Pelúcio ferreira. In charge of the (after renamed as Ocean Engineering) the first doctoral candidates and several
Department of Economics of BNDE (now companies were searching for solutions
called BNDES), Pelúcio was looking at op- to technological problems. Petrobras was
tions to use the budget allocated by BNDE one of the first companies. In 1968, the
to qualify employees at companies. Most IN SEARCh fOR ThE Chemical Engineering Program signed an
people did not use the budget appropria- agreement with the company to develop
BEST STuDENTS,
tely or did not use it at all. The newly crea- a project to study permeation techniques
ted master’s degree course in Chemical En- through membranes, which was a topic
COIMBRA WOuLD
gineering could benefit from this budget. of interest to oil refineries and to other
The encounter between Coimbra and SEND TEAChERS TO types of the industrial processes requir-
Pelúcio was decisive for the future of the ing mixture separation. The results of
TRAVEL ALL OVER
Brazilian universities and scientific re- the initial project were the conclusion of
search in the country. Besides being in tune many master’s dissertations and docto-
BRAzIL TO INTERVIEW
with each other, they soon became friends ral theses and, more recently, even the
an discussed the criteria and guidelines of uNDERgRADuATE creation of a company that manufactures
what would be the Technical and Scientific products with this membrane technology.
STuDENTS AND ExPLAIN
Development funding (funtec). The faculty was expanding with the ar-
The turbulence following the military rival of important figures in the national
ThEM WhAT WAS A
coup in March 1964 did not prevent the engineering scenario and of more foreign
creation of funtec. In the following years, gRADuATE COuRSE. professors, and some of them came from
the budget of funtec was used to cre- countries behind the so-called Iron Cur-
ate graduate programs in Brazil, paving tain. Without being intimidated by the
the way for a national technological and suspicions of the military government
scientific development policy. The first and Production Engineering in 1967; and regarding everything that came from the
agreement was signed on December 21st in Nuclear Engineering in 1968. communist orbit, Coimbra brought the
1964, with the master’s degree course in The summer rains in 1966 were devas- renowned Russian naval engineer Dimitri
Chemistry, created by Coimbra, which was tating in Rio de Janeiro and its surround- Vastvoscev, and Vitor Lenski, who was a
the seed from which Coppe grew. ings. floods and landslides killed 250 pe- Russian authority on strength of materi-
Since 1963, encouraged by frank Tiller, ople and left 250,000 people homeless. als. It was the beginning of 1968 – the
Coimbra started to consider the creation Coppe turned its attention to the dramas fateful year that would end up with the
of graduate courses for other engineering of the Brazilian population, and the Civil issue of the fifth Institutional Act on
fields. With the support of the director of Engineering Program started its activities December 13th. Since then, constitutional
the School of Engineering, Afonso henri- by creating an area of geotechnics. In its rights were suspended; police brutality
ques de Brito, the master’s degree course first year, it was coordinated by Professor against suspects of left-wing activities
in Mechanical Engineering was created Willy Lacerda, and by the engineer Willem increased and the dictatorship was con-
in 1965. Just afterwards, the School of van Lejden, a Dutch invited to teach at solidated in Brazil.
Engineering and the Institute of Che- Coppe. In the following year, Willy went In this new scenario, the boldness
mistry gave up the opportunity to house to take his doctoral degree course abro- of Coimbra and Coppe would face major
these two graduate courses. Therefore, ad, and professor Jacques de Medina as- barriers that would cost the professor
the Coordination for graduate Programs sumed the position of coordinator. and the institution dearly.
A ARTE DE ANTECIPAR O fuTuRO 7
ProFiLE
ALBERTO LuIz
gALVãO COIMBRA
Idealism Put into Action
It is an undeniable fact that Al- on the country’s development and sover- fogo. Alberto Luiz galvão Coimbra was
berto Luiz galvão Coimbra saw far eignty and on the establishment of a na- baptized with the name of his paternal
ahead when he founded Coppe in tional technology. This was our dream. grandfather, but his last name was inher-
1963. At a time that teaching at univer- To some degree, the dream came true.” ited only from his father, who was a dis-
sities in Brazil was just an extra activ- tant relative of friar galvão, the only Bra-
ity, he got into trouble when he strong- the First Years zilian-born Saint. however, his mother,
ly defended a teaching model based on As there were no doctors or profes- who had had a high-quality education at
the full dedication of teachers and stu- sors among Coimbra’s close relatives, an elite boarding school, would influence
dents. Whereas the engineering schools nothing in his history would lead us to his nationalist spirit and objector nature.
were basically worried about qualifying suppose that he would play a major role “Today my mother would be considered
engineers for the job market, Coimbra in the evolution of the Brazilian univer- a left-wing woman. She used to admire
wanted to invest on research. Today, sity. Coimbra’s father, Deodato galvão the ideals of the french Revolution and
at the age of 90, suffering from sub- Coimbra, was the adventurous son of a of Socialism. My father was more conser-
sequent retinal detachments, it is dif- great ironware merchant from Itu, a city vative. I inherited this nationalist vein
ficult for him to watch soccer matches in the countryside of the state of São from my mother,” says Coimbra.
or to read a book. however, he still has Paulo. When he was 14 years old, he went The couple encouraged their chil-
a critical vision of the country. to study and work in England and lived dren to practice the English language
“Brazil’s investment in Coppe and in with some of his family’s friends. he only and everybody used to speak English at
other graduate centers is not totally came back from Europe in his thirties home in the then bucolic Copacabana.
used by the governments to develop to establish himself in Rio and import This fact was very helpful when Alberto
national technology. We cannot just American clothes to sell to the greatest lived in New York at the age of 17. his
sell iron ores and soybeans. We have to shops in the country. That is how he met father went to work abroad and took
establish an important industrial park,” zahra, the daughter of Alberto Pereira all the family with him. Coimbra had
says Coimbra, with the same national- Braga, who owned a factory of wallpa- already finished school and spent one
ist energy that motivated him to start pers and Carnival goods that were sold in year out of school dedicated to reading.
the task that many people thought to his own shop, Casa David, located at Rua he used to be immersed in books by
be impossible: to create an engineer- do Ouvidor, in downtown Rio. his favorite authors – Belgian george
ing graduation course. Today he says he The couple’s first son was born with Simenon and American Mickey Spillane
is “happy to see several Coppes in the the aid of a midwife, in 1923, in the man- – and classics of the Modern Library
country.” “We wanted to have influence sion of the family Pereira Braga in Bota- collection. In addition, he learned how
8 ENgINEERINg AND INNOVATION