OceanPixel Pte Ltd (OP) is a Singapore start-up company spin off from the Energy Research Institute at Nanyang Technological University (ERI@N).
About Us
Our commitment is to do more and better, through innovation, development and transfer of knowledge processes.
Our Mission:
• To develop sustainable solutions for the blue economy through innovation, knowledge transfer and dissemination
• To promote the development of a national value chain with strong potential for exports and based on innovation and qualified personnel
VIEW SERVICES WavEC At a Glance

Professor António Sarmento
Founder of WavEC and Board Advisor
History
Pico Power Plant (400 kW)
Azores
WavEC Offshore Renewables was founded in 2003 - under the name Wave Energy Centre - as a private non-profit association aiming to develop wave energy and support companies and research centres in the area, through technical and political strategies.
In 2013 WavEC changed its name to WavEC Offshore Renewables due to the extension of activities into offshore wind and prospect of expansion to other fields. WavEC defined as its mission to develop offshore renewable energy through the creation and transfer of knowledge, innovation and dissemination.
More recently WavEC extending the scope of activities to offshore aquaculture and ocean engineering projects.
Team
WavEC is formed by a multidisciplinary team specialized in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Computers, Industrial Management, Biology, Environment, Economics and Business Studies.
Marco Alves
President of the Board of Directors
VIEW BIOGRAPHYPhD and M.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering and M.Sc. in Management and Strategy.
Marco is currently the President of the Board of Directors at WavEC - Offshore Renewables, having previously held the position of Chief Innovation Officer (CIO) at CoLab +Atlantic. Marco holds key expertise in several scientific fields including fluid dynamics, costal engineering, control systems, numerical modelling and data science. His track record has been mostly focused on marine renewables, a field in which he has wide experience in providing technical and strategic support to technology developers.
António Sarmento
Board Advisor
VIEW BIOGRAPHYPhD in Mechanical Engineering at IST from the U. of Lisbon. Retired (2013) Associate Professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering of IST.
Founder and Board Advisor of WavEC since 2023. Former President of the Board of WavEC (2003-2022). Founder (2005) and member of the Board of OEE (Ocean Energy Europe, previously the European Association of Ocean Energy) until 2010. Associate Editor of JOWE (Journal of Ocean and Wind Energy). Active in the field of marine renewable energy for almost four decades with work on hydrodynamics, control, conceptual design, LCOE and public policies.
José Chambel Leitão
Member of the Board of Directors - Hidromod
VIEW BIOGRAPHYJosé Chambel Leitão has a Civil Engineering degree and a Doctorate degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Lisbon. He has about 30-year experience in consultancy and operational systems in the areas of wind wave’s propagation, hydrodynamics, water quality and dispersion problems, hydrology and river basin management. He is a Director at Wavec and one of the managers of HIDROMOD.
Pedro Valverde
Member of the Board of Directors - EDPI
VIEW BIOGRAPHYPedro Valverde is responsible for the Cleaner Energy field of EDP Innovation and advisor of the director of “Les éoliennes flottantes du golfe du Lion”, an offshore wind project in southern France. He is member of the board of directors of WavEC. Since 2008 he has been involved in the WindFloat project in Portugal as member of the Executive Committee. He works with the venture-capital fund of EDP Innovation. McS degree in Electronics and Computers from IST University and post graduation in Project Management and Assessment from Catholic University Portugal.
Ricardo Morgado
Member of the Board of Directors - WAM Investments
VIEW BIOGRAPHYRicardo Morgado is Director of WAM Investments, Family Office dedicated to investment and assets management, including the promotion of projects and technologies of the Blue Economy sector, such as Offshore Wind Energy and Aquaculture. Until October 2021, WAM Investments held 100% of the capital of ASM Industries.
He has a Degree in Environmental Engineering and a Pos Grad in Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency, both in University of Aveiro. He also has a MBA in Catolica Porto Business School and a Pos-Grad in Sales Management, in Porto Business School.
Nuno Vaz
Member of the Board of Directors - TechnipFMC
VIEW BIOGRAPHYNuno Vaz is responsible for TechnipFMC New Energy Ventures business development in Iberia. Nuno has 24 years of experience, split between 11 years in the Construction business, and 13 years in the Oil & Gas Subsea Production Systems business. Nuno joined TechnipFMC Norway in 2009, where he accumulated different roles before moving to TechnipFMC Portugal in 2021. Nuno has a baschelor's degree in Civil Engineering, with postgraduate studies in Structures in Civil Engineering, both by the University of Porto, and an MSc in Systems Engineering by the University of South-Eastern Norway.
Ana Brito Melo
Chief Operating Officer (COO)
VIEW BIOGRAPHYAna Brito e Melo holds a PhD (2000) and a Master (1995) in Mechanical Engineering and 5-year degree in Civil Engineering (1992) from the IST (Instituto Superior Técnico) of the Technical University in Lisbon. Ana has more than 20 years of experience in marine renewable energies, starting from tank tests and numerical modelling, towards technology assessment, site selection and market studies. She was Executive Director of WavEC during 8 years (Jan 2012 – July 2020). She is further responsible for the operational management of the international organization IEA-OES.
Janete Gonçalves
Communication Manager
VIEW BIOGRAPHYPost Graduate in Digital Marketing at IPAM Marketing School (2020-2021). Degree in Social and Cultural Communication at the Universidade Católica de Lisboa (1998). Experienced communication professional responsible for all communication and dissemination activities within WavEC and its projects. Skilled in communication planning, digital & social media and offline content creation, event management, public outreach and engagement, and internal communication. www.linkedin.com/in/janetegoncalves
José Cândido
Head of Economy and Business Development
VIEW BIOGRAPHYPhD in Mechanical Engineering by Instituto Superior Técnico (IST). Degree in Oceanography/Meteorology by Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa (FCUL). Senior researcher and project manager in offshore renewable energy projects. Research and consultancy activity in offshore renewable energy economics, resource assessment and site selection.
Paula Bastos
Economic and Environmental Impacts Researcher
VIEW BIOGRAPHY5-year degree in Marine Engineering by Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. Acquired experience in multidisciplinary projects in the O&G sector for Petrobras before moving to Lisbon in 2019 and obtaining a master’s degree in Energy Engineering and Management by Instituto Superior Técnico. Since then, has been gaining experience in energy markets and solutions related to renewable energy. Paula joined Wavec in 2022 to integrate the research team by performing life cycle and socio-economic analyses within offshore renewable energy projects.
Craig White
Junior Researcher
VIEW BIOGRAPHYMaster’s degree in Renewable Energy Systems Technology at Loughborough University, UK, with specialisation in offshore wind and advanced solar. Craig worked in solar system design and smart buildings at Swansea University for 2 years, before moving to Lisbon in 2019. Craig joined WavEC in 2020 in the scope of the FLOAWER ITN to work on the development of techno-economic tools and databases for offshore wind and he will enroll in a PhD from Instituto Superior Técnico.
Laura Aguilera
Project Manager and Engineering Specialist
VIEW BIOGRAPHYLaura is a Civil Engineer and holds a PhD in Ocean and Coastal Engineering, a MSc in Environmental Hydraulics, and Post-Graduations in Project Management and Solar and Wind Energy. Since 2010, she has been gathering experimental and numerical modelling experience in offshore renewable energies and coastal engineering. In her PhD, she studied the impact of large monopile offshore wind farms on waves. Laura joined WavEC in 2023 to support the implementation of offshore renewable projects and work in techno-economic analysis for offshore renewable energy systems.
Francisco Correia da Fonseca
Head of Engineering and Operations
VIEW BIOGRAPHYFrancisco is a senior engineer with over eight years of experience in the offshore renewable energy sector. Francisco holds a MSc in Mechanical Engineering and a Postgraduate in Sustainable Energy Systems. His work has been focussed on techno-economic and pre-feasibility (pre-FEED) studies, resource assessment, prototype testing, O&M and logistic assessments for offshore wind (in particular floating wind) as well as other marine renewable energy projects.
Luís Amaral
Research Engineer
VIEW BIOGRAPHYMaster in Electrotechnical and Computer Engineering at IST. With 7 years of experience in engineering (more than 4 in the Offshore Energy sector), he has a multi-disciplinary skill-set and has been working in a broad range of European Research Projects and Consultancy Services, from Offshore Logistics to Electrical Permitting. Currently, he is supporting the electrical infrastructure development and licensing of both Wave and Offshore Wind projects. Luís is also the lead software developer of some WavEC’s in-house tools, having contributed to most offshore logistic studies delivered by WavEC.
Mário Vieira
Engineering Specialist
VIEW BIOGRAPHYMário is a Mechanical Engineer and a PhD from the Univ. of Lisbon. Mário has been gathering expertise on offshore renewable energy, both at experimental (operations at the Pico Wave Plant) and numerical simulation levels, for the past 10 years. In his PhD, he evaluated the viability of using monitoring systems on the structures of offshore wind. Mario has been an Invited Professor at Instituto Politécnico de Setúbal. At WavEC, Mário’s expertise supports economic feasibility studies, experimental testing, O&M assessments and structural compliance studies of marine renewable energy projects.
Inês Machado
Head of Marine Environment and Licensing
VIEW BIOGRAPHYInês holds a Master’s degree in marine sciences from the University of Porto and a PhD in marine sciences from the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon. Her research is focused on the assessment of effects of human activities on the marine environment, looking into the environmental impacts of offshore renewable energy projects e.g., benthic communities, underwater noise, biofouling growth and impacts on marine mammals. She is a lecturer in IST, on environmental aspects of offshore technologies, marine spatial planning and GIS tools to support site selection of renewables.
Miguel Amado
Marine and Coastal Systems Researcher
VIEW BIOGRAPHYBachelor's degree in Marine Science and Master’s degree in Marine and Coastal Systems at the University of Algarve. Miguel is part of the Environment and Licensing team, working in the different areas of environmental monitoring, supporting campaigns for data acquisition and the development of spatial planning and analysis tools to support renewable energy site selection
João Baltazar
Research Engineer
VIEW BIOGRAPHY5-year degree in Marine Engineering, and Master's and Ph.D. degrees in Mechanical Engineering by Instituto Superior Técnico (IST). João accumulates 20 years of experience as a researcher on the modelling of the potential and viscous flow around rotors and floating structures. In parallel, João has taught courses such as Fluid Mechanics, Resistance and Propulsion of Ships, Offshore Wind Energy, Marine Current & Tidal Energy and Modelling and Control of Ocean Energy Systems.
Ricardo Santos Pereira
Wind Energy Specialist
VIEW BIOGRAPHYMaster of Science in Aerospace Engineering from IST Lisbon (2010) and PhD in Wind Energy from the TUDelft (2016). Ricardo has more than 10 years of experience in Wind Energy and Marine Renewables' science and technology. He did consultancy for industry, conceptual prototype design, experimental laboratory work and developed analytical and computational tools. He has worked as a lecturer over the last years, developing the online course 'Technology of Offshore Wind Farms' at the TUDelft and currently he is the responsible for the IST course 'Offshore Wind Energy'.
Pedro Sarmento
Consultant
VIEW BIOGRAPHYAfter graduating from the Instituto Superior Técnico (IST) with a degree in Electrotechnics and Computer Science Engineering, he chose to join Accenture consulting company, where he spent 15 years specializing in software development and acquisition, IT architectures, IT organizational models, project management, and digital transformation. At TAP, he led the IT's Digital Innovation and Strategy team. At the moment, the emphasis is on strategic consulting and digital transformation for the aviation and tourism industries. At WavEC he participates on ILIAD – Digital Twin of the Oceans project.
Alliances/Partners


WATERBORNE has been set up as an industry-oriented Technology Platform to establish a continuous dialogue between all waterborne stakeholders, such as classification societies, shipbuilders, shipowners, maritime equipment manufacturers, infrastructure and service providers, universities or research institutes, and with the EU Institutions, including Member States.

+ATLANTIC aims at advancing knowledge on the interactions between the Ocean, Atmosphere, Climate and Energy in the Atlantic, through an integrated and holistic approach from deep sea to space.

Escola Azul (Blue School) is an educational programme of the Portuguese Ministry of the Sea. Its main goal is to improve the level of Ocean Literacy in schools, creating responsible and active generations that contribute for the Ocean's sustainability. WavEC is one of the Escola Azul partners.

MERIC focuses on interdisciplinary research for harnessing marine renewable energy and adapting the existing technologies to the extreme conditions of Chile. WavEC partner since 2020.

An environmental engineering company that develops environmental engineering projects and solutions that seek compliance and balance between projects in renewable energy, industrial, mineral extraction, highways, railways, ports, airports, electricity generation and transmission and sanitation. WavEc partner since 2019.

The Chair of Wind Energy Technology objetive is to further research in the field of renewable energies and to promote Rostock as a leading location for the development of new wind energy technologies. WavEC partner since 2019.

Start-up comapny active in designing, manufacturing, assembling, installing, financing and operating offshore wind turbines. WavEC partner since 2019.

Portuguese company with more than 20 years of experience of work with some of the major world producers in aquaculture. WavEC partner since 2017.

World leader company in Marine Warranty Services in the field of offshore oil and gas, offshore wind energy and maritime transport. WavEC partner since 2017.

Ocean Energy Systems Technology Collaboration Programme
WavEC is responsible for the secretariat of the Executive Committee

WavEC is member of the Board of Directors

European Energy Research Alliance. WavEC is member of the Board.


Established by the IEA Ocean Energy Systems (OES) in January 2010. WavEC is is the national delegate.

WavEC is Chair-invited Member since 2013.

Lisbon Ocean Innovation Centre
Testimonials

Very professional work. Pay attention also for the details that each different clients need with a customize profile. For this new sector, that´s important point to be marked. Each new project idea has a different level of development and technical skill for group and person. Wavec for our specific case, understand very well our needs.

O Parecer corresponde, integralmente, ao solicitado, tendo superado as minhas melhores expectativas. Excelente.

We had a very pleasant, cooperative contact from the beginning until the end of the project. WavEC was professional, well organised and pro-active. The turn-out of the project was beyond expectations. We certainly look forward to continue our cooperation in the future.

WavEC performed the work as it was expected and - in the uncertainty of the project - was able to produce a valid and compressive work. I recommend WavEC for all energy offshore projects as a most valid partner.

I have been working with WavEC in several projects for the last two years. I have had the opportunity to work closely with Antonio Sarmento, Marco Alves and Alex Raventos. To achieve Wedge Global’s rapid technology development in Europe and the US, we relied upon the talents of highly motivated people such as WavEC’s Team. We’ve got great results in different topics, hydrodinamic simulation, control strategies, system design and economic modelling, which have been crucial to our ongoing success. WavEC was pivotal in preparing and submitting applications for funding opportunitties in Europe and the US, and really helpful to entry into new geographies such as the US. During my interactions with the WavEC Team, I found them to be independent thinkers that considered not only near term issues but also longer term strategic concerns that placed our overall approach in an appropriate context. Their thinking shows that they can integrate big and very challenging problems. Furthermore, their ability to effectively communicate with others and sell ideas enabled us to promote our agenda broadly. In our two years of working together, WavEC improved our business and helped position Wedge Global as a reputable brand in the wave energy industry. In my opinion, WavEC should set up a branch in the US to improve the quality of its services.

Great job and already recommended to one of our shareholders IBERDROLA.

Fluid communication and collaborative working environment. High quality of results and positive availability to explain details on how those results were obtained

I am very happy to write to confirm that WavEC – Offshore Renewables (Portugal) are contributing to the IEE funded Project SOWFIA as leader of Work Package 4. The project runs from October 2010 to September 2013. WavEC’s contribution has been carried out in a professional manner and all tasks required at this point in time have fully completed according to the work programme. It is a pleasure to work with WavEC; the work has been to an excellent high standard and on time and we would be delighted to work with WavEC again, should the opportunity arise.