Since his inception at PSR, Mario was the company’s founder in 1987 and CEO until December 2018, when he became Chief Innovation Officer (CINO).
Academic Background
- DSc in Optimization – COPPE/UFRJ
- MSc in Optimization – COPPE/UFRJ
- BSc in Electrical Engineering – PUC-Rio
Professional Experience
- In Brazil, he advised most international and local investors on contracting strategies, acquisitions, and investments in new capacity.
- He was the main designer of Brazil’s energy contracting auctions (80 GW of new generation capacity contracted since 2005, for approximately US$550 billion).
- He co-designed Brazil’s bioelectricity program and developed methodologies for wind energy auctions.
- He is a Fellow of the IEEE and a member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering.
- He created the methodology for Dual stochastic dynamic programming (SDDP), used in dozens of countries to optimize energy systems. In English, it is called Stochastic Dual Dynamic Programming (SDDP).
- He received the Rio Branco Presidential Medal for his contribution to the Brazilian electricity sector; the Scientific Merit Medal for his research contributions; and is a co-recipient of the Franz Edelman Award for the development of stochastic optimization tools for the operation of hydrothermal systems.
- He is the author or co-author of four books and approximately 200 articles in international journals.
- Recently, in 2021, he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) of the United States.
