Clement’s Visit to Ecuador Advances Research Collaboration Opportunities
CADSWES researcher Mitch Clement traveled to Ecuador in September to explore possible collaborations with Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral (ESPOL), a top-ranked public university in Guayaquil, focusing on water resources management, hydropower operations, and decision support systems.
Meetings with the Engineering and Earth Sciences ÌýFaculty (FICT) and its Center for Research and Applied Projects in Geosciences Ìý(CIPAT) on September 14 and 15 centered on learning about their research interests and discussing potential areas of collaboration with CADSWES. Mitch delivered presentations to faculty members and graduate students on CADSWES areas of expertise: RiverWare Hydropower Optimization and Decision Making with Hydrologic Uncertainty.
The visit continued September 16 and 17 with tours of several hydropower facilities operated by the Corporación Eléctrica del Ecuador (CELEC), Ecuador’s national electric utility. Representatives from ESPOL joined these site visits, which provided an opportunity to learn firsthand about the operational challenges facing Ecuador’s hydropower systems. Discussions focused on potential collaborations among CELEC, CADSWES, and ESPOL, including the application of CADSWES-developed modeling and decision support tools to evaluate and improve system operations. For this, Clement presented Tools for Hydropower Decision Making, highlighting how RiverWare has been used throughout the United States to support hydropower planning and operations. The presentation generated discussions about how similar approaches could be adapted to address challenges in Ecuador’s energy sector.
The trip concluded with a visit to Santa Cruz Island in the Galápagos, where ESPOL is developing a new research center and pursuing research partnerships with the °Ç¸ç³Ô¹Ï. The visit provided an opportunity to learn more about future collaborative initiatives and identify areas of mutual research interest related to water, energy, and environmental management. More on the trip is located on the .ÌýÌý
