Mário Lima     Mechanical Engineer, PhD Associate Professor

This page is (nearly) always under construction!                                                                                         Actualização (updated): quinta-feira, 12 Novembro 2009

Nota prévia: Prezo muito a Língua Portuguesa, bem escrita e bem falada. No entanto, uma página exclusivamente em Português ficaria certamente com uma audiência limitada. Por isso, e à falta de uma Língua de comunicação internacional, temos que reconhecer que o Inglês é a que melhor desempenha essa função de quebrar as barreiras da comunicação.

In short, I'm proud of the Portuguese Language, well written and spoken, but I concede in the use of English as the International Language of communication.

        Para reflectir: Mil barris por segundo, Pedro Sousa (Expresso 31/12/2007), ou por que é que o petróleo está caro!                  

                           ou O Fim do Petróleo, – O Grande Desafio do Séc. XXI, James Howard Kunstler, Bizâncio, para que não digam que não fomos avisados...

O mundo industrializado assenta na energia barata. Agora, porém, o festim dos combustíveis fósseis baratos está a chegar ao fim, as alterações climáticas revelam-se iminentes e existe a possibilidade de os nossos modelos de indústria, comércio, produção alimentar e transportes, a nível global, não sobreviverem. A civilização industrial está em grandes apuros e caminhamos, como sonâmbulos, rumo a um futuro de provações e turbulência. James Howard Kunstler relata-nos o que nos espera depois de ultrapassarmos o pico global da produção petrolífera e iniciarmos, mais cedo do que pensamos, a longa trajectória de depleção – mudanças económicas, políticas e sociais a uma escala épica - A Longa Emergência. Entraremos num território inexplorado da História. Este livro apresenta uma visão alarmante do que nos espera, conferindo uma nova urgência a esta temática e proporcionando-nos acesso aos problemas críticos que modelarão o nosso futuro e que não podemos dar-nos ao luxo de continuar a ignorar.

                        e ainda A Estupidez da Praxe, José Pacheco Pereira (Público 9/01/2003), infelizmente ainda actual!

                        Pousada DIMARI, um pequeno paraíso no litoral norte de S. Paulo, Brasil.

Where to find me

        Universidade do Minho (University of Minho),  Escola de Engenharia (Engineering School),  Departamento de Engenharia Mecânica (Department of Mechanical Engineering)

        Campus de Azurém, 4800-058 Guimarães;  For a wider view of the campus go here, Portugal.

        Tel: 351-253-510226 (direct line),  Tel: 351-253-510220 (secretary of department), Fax: 351-253-516007

A litle bit more

The University of Minho is split between the cities of Braga and Guimarães, only 20 km apart in the province of Minho, the north-western corner of the country. Braga has been an old Roman settlement (Bracara Augusta), but the Historic Centre of Guimarães is a UNESCO World Heritage, as well as the Centre of Porto, the 2nd Portuguese largest city, famous for its bridges, and more recently by its impressive CASA DA MÚSICA, the Concert Hall, only 50 km away, whose international airport serves all the northern region. Also the Douro river wine region, where the Port Wine comes from... One would probably imagine that Port comes from Porto, but the vineyards grow many kilometres away from the streets of Porto and even the wine cellars are on the South bank, in Vila Nova de Gaia, a different city!

Be patient now...

Following the coast line to the littoral North of Minho, one will arrive in Vila do Conde, ideal place for the International Short Film Festival and Póvoa de Varzim, with its annual International Music Festival, before arriving in Esposende, on the estuary of the river Cávado, where ruined windmills look across the ocean...

Then, Viana do Castelo, where the river Lima kisses the Atlantic Ocean... I was born there, on the edge of Santa Luzia Mountain, exactly half way in the last century (no wonder Lima's families are popular here!). However, I spent most of my childhood near Caminha, along the margins of the river Minho and its mouth, the natural border with Galicia, and the small river Coura in Vilar de Mouros. Near the mouth of the river, the island fortress of Ínsua houses a former Franciscan convent and church, and the nearby beach is a nice surf spot!  I went to the primary school in Gondarém, a beautiful small village squeezed between the mountains and the wide river, spotted with the islands of Boega and Amores (love), overlooking Spain on the far side.

My secondary education started in Valença do Minho where I lived for one year inside the impressive fortress walls that once protected us from our "hermanos" invasions; but soon I went to the big city, Lisboa, to study in the Colégio Militar.

After about 10 years in Coimbra, in the central region,  I moved to Braga, in the North and lived in Loughborough, central England, for just over 3 years in the early 80's. Now I live further Northwest, near the small fishing village of Vila Praia de Âncora, by the coast, where small light-houses guide fisherman home on dark and stormy nights.

In these quiet places, where Berry and Mito are enjoying Spring, a flag is often blowing in the wind (this was well before the football patriotism!) while Blanco rests in the shadow, near  the edge of the Serra d'Arga forest where a shy and mysterious lizard quite often visit me...

Here are my daughters, Elisa, Sofia, and grandsoon Lucas by mid May,  9 months old.

    Academic degrees

        Mechanical Engineering - FCTUC, University of Coimbra, Portugal

        PhD - Loughborough University of Techonology, UK

    Responsible for the following disciplines

Projecto de Dispositivos Médicos e Reabilitação (2009-10, MIEBIOM)

Integradora VI (2008-09)

Teoria do Projecto Mecânico (2008-09)

    Other teaching duties

  Integradora I (2009-10, MIEMEC)

  PIEI (2009-10)

    Other responsabilities

       The Mechatronics Laboratory (Tel: 253-510100, ext. 517226)

Research Interests

       CT2M, Centre for Mechanical and Materials Technologies

        COBEM 2009, International Congress of Mechanical Engineering, 15-20 November 2009, Gramado-RS, Brasil

        MECAHITECH '10 International Conference, October 2010, Bucharest, Romania (to be updated)

        10th TEXCOMP, International conference on Textile composites, October 26-28, 2010, Lille, France

        39th Textile Research Symposium (2010), December 2010, New Dehli, India (to be updated)

    Short CV, July 2007

        Relatório de actividades do biénio 2001-2002 (activities report 2001/02) e sua avaliação (evalution), in portuguese.