Team

Lucas Pereira received his PhD in Computer Science from the University of Madeira, Portugal, in 2016. Since then, he is at ITI/LARSyS, where he leads the Further Energy and Environment research Laboratory (FEELab). Since 2019 he is an Assistant Researcher at Instituto Superior Técnico (IST). Lucas’s research applies data science, machine learning, and human-computer interaction techniques to structured and unstructured data streams to address real-world problems focusing on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). His current research focuses on future energy systems, and sustainable built environments (SDGs 7, 11, 12, 13), and typically involves the real-world deployment and evaluation of non-intrusive monitoring technologies and intelligent software systems.

Hugo Morais received BSc. and MSc. degrees from the Polytechnic of Porto in 2005 and 2010, respectively, and a Ph.D. degree in 2012 from the University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, all in the field of the electric power system. He is a senior researcher at INESC-ID and an Associate Professor at the University of Lisbon. His research interests are in the development and deployment of smart grid methods and tools. He participates in the definition of operational planning tools used by the French DSO and the development of hardware-agnostic solutions based on IEC standards to be used to control distributed energy resources. He also works actively in the development of strategies for electric mobility integration in power systems.

Paulo Bala is an Auxiliary Researcher at the Interactive Technologies Institute (ITI/LARSyS) and ARDITI (Regional Agency for the Development of Research, Technology and Innovation) since 2025. He holds a Ph.D. in Digital Media from FCT-UNL, Lisbon (2022), where he specialized in 360° video and eXtended Reality (XR). He also holds a Dual Master’s in Entertainment Technology from Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Madeira, and BSc/MSc degrees in Informatics Engineering from the University of Madeira. His research focuses on Human-Computer Interaction and XR, with a strong emphasis on cultural heritage, health and sustainability and his research work has been published in top peer-reviewed venues in Human-Computer Interaction (such as CHI, CSCSW, DIS, and ISMAR).

Marcelo received the B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in electrical and computer engineering from the Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, in 2021 and 2023, respectively. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. degree in engineering and technology with an emphasis on data science, machine learning, electric vehicles, and renewable energy. He has been a Researcher at the INESC-ID – Instituto de Engenharia de Sistemas e Computadores Investigação e Desenvolvimento em Lisboa, since 2023, participating in multiple horizon Europe-funded projects. He has received four awards and/or honours for his academic journey.

Nicollas Nogueira is a student of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon. Previously, he worked on a project applying large language models (LLMs) in the context of energy communities for ITI/LARSyS. At SENCY, his work focuses on updating and integrating the sensor infrastructure for energy and water monitoring, including communication and data storage, as well as supporting the assessment of the viability of industrial kitchens within energy communities.

Liliana Sun received her B.Sc. in Computer and Informatics Engineering from Instituto Superior Técnico and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in the same field. She specializes in Visualization & Interaction and Artificial Intelligence. She is currently participating in the SENCY project, where she develops interfaces that integrate large language models to create more intelligent and interactive AI systems.

Luís received his B.Sc degree in Eletrical and Computer Engineering at Nova FCT and is taking his master’s at Instituto Superior Técnico (IST) with major in Control, Robotics and AI. He is a Research Fellow at INESC-ID working at the ATE project. Some of his interests lie on the fields of machine learning and data science, embedded systems and also smart grid operations. He has worked in research previoulsy at Nova SBE and also at FCT.

Mariana Lameiro is currently pursuing a B.Sc. degree in General Studies at the University of Lisbon, with minors in Biology, Mathematics, and Psychology, and complementary coursework in Programming. She has been a Research Intern at LASIGE – Large-Scale Informatics Systems Laboratory, University of Lisbon, where she applied computational methodologies and Large Language Models to accelerometry data for predictive modelling of Parkinson’s disease progression. In parallel, she has been a Research Trainee at IBEB – Institute of Biophysics and Biomedical Engineering, conducting literature reviews on evoked potentials and developing technical proficiency in EEG data processing and neural signal analysis