The International Conference on Ocean, Offshore & Arctic Engineering (OMAE 2018) included a special symposium held in honour of professor Carlos Guedes Soares. The OMAE is held annually, attracts hundreds of participants from academia and industry and addresses the most diverse thematic areas, such as Offshore and Ocean Engineering, Safety and Reliability. Carlos Guedes Soares, professor at Técnico, was honoured in this 37th edition. “I was surprised when I heard about the creation of this symposium two years ago. My first reaction was to decline because I considered myself still very young and my career was not yet come to an end”, shares professor Carlos Guedes Soares. “However, my colleagues insisted and I ended up convincing myself that more than 30 years have passed since I got my PhD. The clock didn’t stop working during this period of time”, he adds.

The symposium in honour of professor Carlos Guedes Soares was focused on “Maritime Technology and Ocean Engineering”, a topic that has been addressed by the professor throughout his career. “I was pleasantly surprised that this symposium was the largest of its kind. About 115 articles were submitted, while in previous symposiums the number of articles submitted ranged from 20 to 60”, adds the researcher at CENTEC.

The symposium was attended by several colleagues of professor Carlos Guedes Soares, namely professor Ronald Yeung from MIT, professor Torgeir Moan, his PhD supervisor and professor António Falcão, a colleague from Técnico. “It was very rewarding to see my colleagues here showing their appreciation for the work we have been doing”, confesses professor Carlos Guedes Soares, who also recalls the outstanding classification of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering at Técnico in the 2017 Shangai ranking – among the top 3 worldwide. “About 85% of the publications considered by this ranking are from CENTEC researchers. In fact, CENTEC and Técnico are a worldwide reference in this scientific area”, says professor Carlos Guedes Soares.