Portuguese alumni's love affair with China

Editor’s Note: João Graça Gomes from Portugal is a research and development engineer at the Sino-Portuguese Centre for New Energy Technologies (SCNET). He received his master’s degree in energy and power engineering from the China-UK Low Carbon College (LCC) of Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) and another master’s degree in energy and environmental engineering from the University of Lisbon (ULisboa).

He has harvested great achievements in his learning and research, including the scholarship for outstanding international students in China granted by the Ministry of Education. The scholarship was offered by the China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG). He also got a merit award for overseas students issued by the Ministry of Science and Technology. He also won the best policy paper award in the SJTU Model United Nations conference, and was named a winner of the SJTU round in the IET Present Around the World. He was one of the best speakers of the International Conference on Low Carbon Asia and Beyond (ICLCA). He has published four non-academic papers at REN21 and the Word Bank, and cooperated with the World Energy Council and the European Wind Energy Association on their reports. His review - Novel coronavirus: What can Europe learn from China – released on Publico, a popular Portuguese newspaper, received more than one million hits.

Gomes has worked on China-Portugal cooperative research projects, focusing on energy storage, power planning and renewable energy. He has worked for SCNET since 2021 and won several international awards, such as the best speaker at the Fifth Sustainable Process Integration Conference and the Seventh ICLCA, for his research during his first year.

Before joining SCNET, Gomes worked as a renewable energy policy analyst at the Portuguese Renewable Energy Association and as a teaching assistant at ULisboa and SJTU.

He is a board member of the Future Energy Leaders 100 program of the World Energy Council and an ambassador of the European Climate Pact. In 2017, he was nominated as a top young electrical engineer at the Portuguese Institute of Engineers, and was selected among the top 10 employees of the New Energy Institute at the SGIDI Engineering Consulting (Group) this year.

Opening the journey to China

Gomes started his studies at the LCC of SJTU in 2018 as a postgraduate majoring in energy and power engineering. Before that, he received his first master's degree in energy and environmental engineering at ULisboa, during which time he showed great interest in climate change and energy.

During his research, several scientific papers from SJTU brought Gomes with inspirations and left a deep impression on him. This aroused his interest to study at the university.

In 2015, Gomes joined a one-month exchange program and came to study at Tianjin Foreign Studies University. It was his first visit to China. After that, he visited Shanghai and Beijing. In 2017, he came to China again just to travel around the country out of curiosity and love for the culture. Before his tour to the country, his understanding of China was very limited. As time went by, the more Gomes learned about China and its investment in science and technology, the more he craved to know about the land.

Gomes quit his job as an electrical engineering researcher in Portugal, and decided to pursue electrical engineering studies at SJTU. In addition to his yearning for China, his decision was based on further consideration. The rapid advance of the new energy industry, Chinese government’s emphasis on environmental protection and energy development, as well as the fast economic growth attracted him to learn and work here.

When he came to China, Gomes realized that he made the right choice. Shanghai left a deep impression on him. He was impressed by the city’s population, which was more than twice that of Portugal, and the high-rise buildings, which were very modern. He was also taken by the efficiency and convenience of the city, thanks to its high-speed railways, the Alipay payment system, and QR codes.

Forging ahead supported by helpful teachers and friends

SJTU is a place filled with talents. Gomes found that his classmates work very hard and seriously in their studies and research. A lot of them started learning early in the morning and wouldn’t return to their dormitories till the evening. They studied more than 14 hours a day. Everyone at the university wanted to do their best, which encouraged Gomes to grow and make progress continuously.

Teachers at SJTU were very professional in their own fields. They provided Gomes with careful guidance, which benefited him a lot. Compared with his learning experience in Portugal, Gomes found courses taught at SJTU more challenging. Thanks to teachers’ help and shining examples set by his classmates, he kept advancing and making breakthroughs. Apart from rich study tours, the enthusiasm of teachers and peers brought him with joy and friendships.

Gomes with his classmates at the LCC at SJTU.

Engaging in energy and technology and contributing to world changes

During his second year as a graduate student, Gomes had the opportunity to visit the CTG and the Three Gorges Dam in Yichang, Central China's Hubei province. Gomes took the dam as the second Great Wall in China, which demonstrated the country’s commitment to leading the world in technology at the beginning of the 21st century. Gomes said he will always remember those friendly faces, the kindness of people working on the dam and their love for this project.

At present, Gomes is working as a research and development engineer at the SCNET under the CTG and the Portuguese power company Energias de Portugal. The center conducts research, technical cooperation and exchanges on new technologies such as energy storage and management, smart grid like distributed power generation and offshore wind power. Gomes carries out relevant studies.

Gomes said he really likes his job and found it very meaningful. Exploring new energy and reducing carbon emissions are great causes that affect all mankind. Hopefully, they will make contributions to creating a more sustainable environment through their research, according to him.

Aiming high to boost Sino-European friendship

Gomes has lived in China for four years, and he loves this place all the more. What he likes most about China are the people, who are very friendly, diligent and reliable. Thanks to them, Gomes has never felt lonely or homesick. He also likes the beautiful natural scenery. In the past few years, he has been to many cities across the country, enjoying many fine views, which left a deep impression on him. Different cities in China have brought him with different experiences. In Beijing and Shanghai, Gomes embraced the modernity and prosperity of busy metropolises; while in Chongqing and Chengdu, he enjoyed the slow pace of life and all kinds of food.

Gomes’s Chinese name is Guo Xingyuan, which was given by a Chinese teacher when he studied Chinese at a Confucius Institute. The teacher said he hopes that Gomes’s future will shine like stars, guiding him to keep going all the way to bright and distant places. Gomes said he loves his name a lot.

SJTU, Shanghai and China have changed Gomes’s life and many overseas students like him, he said. They have brought shining points and infinite possibilities. Gomes sincerely appreciate Chinese universities for the crucial role they played in his education, providing the best tutoring and research guidance for international students like him. He said that he will utilize what he has learned to contribute to the friendship between China and Portugal, as well as China and Europe.