Arrival of Mariana Montenegro Montero, ESR9 at POLIMI
on October 19, 2020
From San Jose, Costa Rica, Mariana studied Mechanical Engineering at the University of Costa Rica. She later went on to join the European Wind Energy Master (EWEM) program in Denmark, where she obtained her M.Sc. in Wind Engineering specialized in rotor aerodynamic design from DTU and TU Delft.
On her spare time, Mariana likes to visit new places and play football. Singing and playing the piano since she can remember, her favourite thing is to take her dog on long walks to the park.
When asked about her motivations, Mariana said:
Being from a country that prides itself on its natural resources, I always knew I wanted to focus my career on renewable energies. Wind energy has such a vast potential, and the technology is advancing at an amazing speed, which makes the entire field fascinating to me. Floating wind in particular, is a great emerging industry, it will take the production of offshore energy to a new level, allowing for new farms to be built on deeper waters without so much disruption to the underwater life as other fixed structures, while at the same time being able to produce more energy with better wind conditions. Of course, in order to achieve success in any farm, the initial design of the turbines must be carefully thought through. The conditions in which they operate are quite complex and so the models and data used for their design must be tailored specifically. I will work on the aerodynamic modelling and testing of floating wind turbines, in order to better describe the aerodynamic forces that act on them.
The international environment and the cooperative nature of the FLOAWER project are what first called my attention to it. I hope to learn from my colleagues’ research and at the same time provide them with new aerodynamic modelling tools and data that may help them advance with their work. I am very excited to be a part of this programme. It will give me the right tools to advance in my career, and allow me to learn from the best in the field. I look forward to the advancements that will emerge from the different ESRs over the next three years.
