Tomás Glória, alumnus of the Master's Degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering (MEEC), won the 1st edition of the Professor Sucena Paiva Award, given to the best student in the master's programme specialising in energy, and was awarded 2nd place in the 2026 APREN Award, promoted by the Portuguese Renewable Energy Association. He is currently part of E-Redes' low-voltage network planning team. In an interview with DEEC, the alumnus shared some of his journey and explained what his award-winning work consisted of.

His interest in engineering, in a broad sense, began during secondary school. After his first experiences with programming, he began researching the field independently and decided to apply for the Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science and Engineering at Técnico. However, due to the high admission grade, he ended up enrolling in his second choice: the Bachelor's Degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering. Although he initially considered changing programmes, his interest in the degree emerged during his first year. “I think electrical engineering complements programming with everything else it brings, so I didn't feel the need to change programmes,” he recalls.

At the time, I completely fell in love with electrical engineering and ended up wanting to continue [...]. I'm glad I didn't do well on the maths exam.

Tomás Glória, MEEC alumnus and winner of the 1st edition of the Professor Sucena Paiva Award

His interest in learning more about some of the applications of Electrical and Computer Engineering, combined with his desire to resolve the doubts he still had about changing programmes, led him to join Técnico's TLMoto propulsion department. For approximately three years, he was responsible for modelling and simulating a model that allowed several parameters of the motorcycle to be varied, such as the characteristics that determine how the inverter transforms and controls the energy that powers the motor, as well as the number of battery cells and other battery characteristics. “It possibly sparked my interest in energy right from the start,” he says.

At the same time, towards the end of his bachelor's degree, he also began to deepen his knowledge of the energy transition: “I started to worry a little about climate change and to read about it. The topic began to interest me a lot and, at the time, I realised that energy was a major pillar of the energy transition. I thought that specialising in energy could be where I could ‘tackle this area more directly’,” he explains.

In a way, I want to solve climate change, but I'm obviously aware that I can't solve the problem on my own. [...] When we think about the energy transition, the electricity grid ends up being at the centre of the issue, so I realised that this was the area I wanted to pursue.

Tomás Glória, MEEC alumnus and winner of the 1st edition of the Professor Sucena Paiva Award

He continued his academic journey through the MEEC, specialising in energy, and joined several projects as a research assistant through INESC-ID. Among them, he took part in the ALAMO project. Since consumption patterns can reveal information about people's activities, such as their routines and periods when they are away from home, it is essential to avoid sharing this data with a central entity in order to protect consumers' privacy and security. In this context, the project aimed to develop methods for forecasting energy consumption and production in energy communities while avoiding the need to share data with a central entity.

Later, as part of his dissertation, he pursued a new topic suggested by his supervisor, Diogo Ferreira, a researcher at INESC-ID: interactions between controllers in the electricity distribution network. In simple terms, controllers are systems that monitor and adjust parameters such as voltage, active power (associated with the transfer of electrical energy) and reactive power (associated with the operation of electrical equipment and voltage control in the grid), in order to contribute to the stable operation of the electricity grid while keeping its parameters within defined limits.

Voltage is one of the parameters that has to be kept within certain ranges for electricity to reach our homes and industry in the way that appliances are designed to receive it. If it falls outside those parameters, the equipment won't work properly.

Tomás Glória, MEEC alumnus and winner of the 1st edition of the Professor Sucena Paiva Award

However, small variations in production and consumption, including the connection of an appliance, such as a light bulb or a fan, can, depending on the conditions of the grid, cause changes in voltage magnitude. For this reason, controllers need to ensure that these values do not exceed the limits required to maintain grid stability.

Additionally, the electricity grid has several controllers that can operate independently. Since the actions of each controller can alter the grid conditions monitored by the others, they can end up influencing one another and generating undesirable behaviours. These consequences include cascading phenomena, which can cause overloads and, in extreme cases, lead to interruptions in the electricity supply.

My goal was to develop an algorithm that would define the parameters within which these controllers should operate so that they would not generate these unstable interactions.

Tomás Glória, MEEC alumnus and winner of the 1st edition of the Professor Sucena Paiva Award

This work was instrumental in his receiving the two awards. Tomás Glória highlights how particularly rewarding it was to receive the Professor Sucena Paiva Award, presented to him personally by the professor himself, as he considers him a reference figure in the field of energy. “The book I most enjoyed reading for my courses was written by the professor,” he emphasises.

On the other hand, the APREN Award represented, for him, recognition of his work outside the academic environment and its impact on the planning and operation of electricity grids integrating renewable energy sources, whose variability can cause changes in grid parameters.

Tomás Glória currently continues to work in this field, as part of E-Redes' low-voltage electricity network planning team. In this context, he contributes to analysing weaknesses in the grid and to proposing and implementing solutions to optimise its operation.

I felt completely prepared [for entering professional life]. [...] I think the time we spend at Técnico is very important for learning how to learn, and I think that left me extremely well prepared for any challenge I may face.

Tomás Glória, MEEC alumnus and winner of the 1st edition of the Professor Sucena Paiva Award

Regarding the “leap” into the job market, the alumnus highlights that the development of learning and adaptability skills during his time at Técnico was fundamental to this transition, something he says was strongly influenced by the School's teaching. “I feel that I can do anything, that I can learn, that I have the ability to adapt to any task I'm given. I don't need to know how to do a task a priori to be doing it within two weeks. It's the way of thinking that is developed here,” he says, stressing the importance of acquiring theoretical knowledge before “getting hands-on”.

If he could leave a message for new students, he says it would be not to be afraid of making mistakes: “The more often you make mistakes, the better. It means that we're already ruling out paths and getting closer and closer to the right one. I wish someone had perhaps told me this earlier and that I had learned it earlier,” he says.

Making mistakes is really important; it's the easiest way to grow.

Tomás Glória, MEEC alumnus and winner of the 1st edition of the Professor Sucena Paiva Award