Inauguration of CDF-LAICA at Técnico
The inaugural session of the Concurrent Design Facility - Laboratory for Advanced Investigations and Collaborative Analyses (CDF-LAICA) took place on September 9 at 11am. LAICA provides the environment and tools that allow the development of concurrent engineering, an innovative approach to the design of complex systems that promotes parallel (rather than sequential) progress in all domains involved.
At this moment, the CDF-LAICA aims at teaching complex systems engineering and familiarising students with the methodologies used in Space Engineering, and has been developed at the Institute for Plasma and Nuclear Fusion (IPFN) benefiting from the presence of Prof. Lionel Marraffa as visiting professor at the Department of Physics in the framework of the 'Distinguished Visiting Professor' (DVP) programme of this department.
The ceremony was opened by Doctor Bruno Gonçalves, President of IPFN, who highlighted the importance of this new facility to further broaden the R&D&I and the training activities of IPFN. After, Professor Luís Lemos Alves, Coordinator of the scientific domain of Plasma Physics, Lasers and Nuclear Fusion with the Department of Physics, presented the DVP programme that allowed inviting Professor Marraffa to Técnico for one year.
Professor Lemos Alves thanked “the Management Board and the Scientific Council of Técnico for setting the framework that allowed creating the DVP programme, the Department of Physics for designing the initiative and for inviting Professor Marraffa, the Instituto de Plasmas e Fusão Nuclear for hosting the invitee and facilitating the development of the CDF, Professors Mário Lino da Silva and Alberto Vale for acting as team leader and developer, and Professor Marraffa for leading the development of the CDF.”
Professor Mário Lino da Silva, CDF Developer and Team Leader, presented the CDF-LAICA, noting that “the facility is open for teams/research groups willing to deploy this methodology for Space studies and other complex engineering projects”, concluding with the invitation “Come and join us!”. This presentation displayed a video-message from Ilaria Roma (ESTEC/ESA) who stated “I’m delighted to be here for (…) the inauguration of LAICA (…) a success not only for IST but for the entire community of stakeholders, in terms of (…) educational aspects (…), creativity (…) and technical capabilities. Today (…) we are here to celebrate this big achievement, and we from ESA share your proudness – well done!”
The first part of the event was closed by Professor Rogério Colaço, President of Técnico, who thanked Professor Marraffa for his commitment and noted that “at Técnico with are used to make big things we few, little resources”, acknowledging the successful efforts behind the development of LAICA.
The event closed with a visit to the CDF-LAICA, where several Aerospace Engineering MSc students discussed their concurrent engineering work.
