Fires, Deal of the Century, Lockdown and Covid19 – the world’s top trending words during 2020!
Motaz Ayiad started his secondment in June 2020 at the University of Porto, Portugal. The country moved from total lockdown in June to its contingency plan by July. Fortunately, Motaz’s research is computer-based, so he worked remotely from home and attended several virtual meetings with his supervisors, Helder Leite and Hugo Martins. He moved his work to the University in July, where he found a calm environment. The laboratory was deserted which allowed him to move freely, listen to music and join meetings without head-phones! As a result, he made great progress; he finished his Julia programming tasks, and submitted a journal paper to MDPI Energies. You can read the published version here: State Estimation for Hybrid VSC Based HVDC/AC Transmission Networks. He then started on a second paper in August, which he aims to publish in 2021.
Motaz is InnoDC’s professional photographer, and despite the almost solo life at the beginning of the secondment, he still enjoyed:
- Solo walks around the city, taking photos of unusually quiet popular sites.
- Photographing the Black Lives Matter protest in Porto, the first crowded event during Portugal’s contingency stage.
- August’s Eid Al-Adha celebration with close friends under full protective measures. And
- Several inshore fishing trips!
