Mariana Simão, researcher at CERIS (Civil Engineering Research and Innovation for Sustainability), was distinguished by the Portuguese Association of Theoretical, Applied and Computational Mechanics (APMTAC) with the “Best 2017 PhD thesis”, an award that distinguishes young researchers in the fields of Applied and Computational Mechanics. The thesis is focused on two fields of engineering: hydraulics and fluids mechanics, with interaction in pipe systems from a mechanics and civil engineering point of view and, on the other hand, biomedics, through biofluid mechanics in blood vessels, applying engineering to cardiovascular medicine.
The work by Mariana Simão titled “Fluid-structure interaction in pressurized systems” was carried out under the guidance of professor Helena Ramos. It presents an integrated vision and establishes a link between three scientific areas: hydraulics, structures and medicine. According to professor Helena Ramos, this work “has undoubtedly contributed to the advancement of scientific knowledge within fluid and biofluid mechanics, in the fluid-structure interaction and in the computational modeling for fluid flows”. “I think this work stands out for being an unexpected PhD thesis that brought together two scientific areas, both alike and different, which should go hand in hand”, points out Mariana Simão.
The thesis by Mariana Simão results from a healthy problem that she had. “I had a health problem that knocked me out for a while. When it feels like everything is falling apart someone comes up, in this case my PhD supervisor, who encouraged me to apply my knowledge”, explains the researcher at CERIS.
According to professor Helena Ramos “each PhD thesis is a challenge and an incentive for us as supervisors. The success depends on supervisor-student relationship”. This research resulted in 9 articles published in international magazines, 5 articles published in international conferences and in 1 national conference.
Eight theses in the area of Applied and Computational Mechanics applied to APMTAC award. Besides the scientific works, candidates’ CVs are also evaluated.
