Nos últimos anos foi-me dada a oportunidade de ensinar largas centenas de alunos excepcionais com quem aprendi muito.
Inesperadamente, criei uma forte relação com vários dos meus alunos e suas famílias, o que me permitiu descobrir culturas diferentes e uma geração que conhecia mal.
Em Confinado pode encontrar uma vintena de testemunhos de alunos que responderam ao desafio de escrever uma página sobre se de alguma forma eu tive influencia nas suas escolhas de vida e de algum episódio que recordassem.
As passagens reproduzidas são uma pequena amostra.
My experience with Prof. Pinho was unique among all my friends in my life. I did not expect that but it did make a significant impact in my life. I respect this man and cherish the life lessons he shared with me. I still remember one ordinary night we stood outside his apartment building in New York, talking about my recent difficulties and seeking for advice. This intellectual old man lighted a cigarette and spoke: “You can make a cloud but you cannot make it rain”. This conversation became a good memory and a life motto to myself. I think that’s what this special friend of mine gifts me – pursue the life that you want to have at your most, while enjoy the process of getting there and stay inner peace.
Sheng Yan
Master on energy and environment, Columbia University
Entrepreneur
Beijing, ChinaI hold a B.A. in Sustainable Development and an M.S. in Sustainability Management from Columbia University, NY.
I fondly remember approaching Prof Pinho in my sincere effort to get into his Global Energy Policy class at Columbia. Given his popularity as a Specialist in the subject and a wonderful teacher, the course was already full, yet he was kind enough to take me in. Prof’s openness to share with us his rich and varied experiences in the subject, gave us the opportunity to get a valuable insight into the way policy makers think. He taught us to always look at the bigger picture and also instilled in us the importance of building networks through connections. Thanks to him, I personally got to know like-minded peers from different parts of the world, and my interactions with them have enriched my learning by broadening my horizon and bringing in different perspectives to my thinking even today. In this connection, I would like to highlight here, my wonderful experience of attending a talk hosted by him at Columbia along with Dr Nobuo Tanaka, on Nuclear Energy, and thereafter having dinner together with him at a Japanese restaurant in Midtown west. Our conversation over dinner inspired me to no end and remains a significant part of my education.
As a teacher, he always encouraged us to strive for more and have provided us with timely advice which came a long way and helps me even today in my work.
The insights on base load wind power or the nuances around the global energy paradigm, which I imbibed from his teachings, have shaped my thinking in forming Hinduja Renewables and I remain sincerely grateful to you for the same.
Shom Hinduja
CEO Hinduja Renewables
Hinduja Group
Mumbai, India
I remember professor Pinho’s class as one of the most meaningful educational experiences of my life. To me, professor’s Pinho class would approach me to the fundamental aspects of the energy topic and the intersections with climate change and the oil and gas agenda globally.SOFFIA ALARCON DIAZ
Director, LATAM, Sustainable Finance
HIS Markit
New York cityMy name is Chen Li and I was born in Hefei, Anhui Province in China, the city of innovation. My early life was impacted by my parents which they taught me to try new things without hesitation, especially my dad, who is an entrepreneur pioneering the real estate industry and always dreams big. He later on transitioned into the new energy vehicle battery industry during the peak period of the real estatebubble. While the trigger of that transition is because of an encounter that he found all the solar- powered lights in a developed community were not running well due to the battery is not working. After that, he then gathered a group of scientists and engineers to fix that issue and smoothly engaged with the development of the power battery. To power my life, my parents incited me to go study abroad.
I attended Purdue University in the US to continue my undergraduate study majoring in management from my previous study in China. This transition made me first time to stand alone on myself living outside of my home, my country and my comfort zone. And it also taught me to live strong. After graduation I moved directly to Washington D.C. to experience the think-tank, diplomatic and political matters across the world while studying at Johns Hopkins SAIS. The atmosphere is great, but the fact that I would like to have a change drives me to my next chapter at Columbia University in the city of New York to continue my study in energy policy and management where I was surprised to find the Global Energy Policy course taught by Professor Pinho. During the first class I remembered that Professor Pinho laid out the world energy landscape which was the first time I happened to see the different trends of energy demand and consumption around the globe in a simple way of comparison. He always uses his style of humor to stimulate us to start thinking and at the same time he listened to different group of students’ discussions. Openly sharing and exchanging his own opinions from his knowledge and experience at the government instead of reading the fixed textbook to the class really moved me. It is not a typical class but a wonderful experience for me to not only get in touch with global energy trends but to understand it in a simple way. It really taught me how to touch people’s feelings while communicating with different people, as good communication is more important in nowadays society.
This class is one of my most favorite classes until now and Professor Pinho has strengthened my confidence and consistence in the energy world of practice in China and worldwide. When I started my career in the new energy vehicle battery field in 2017, I had a global thinking mindset, to benchmark China’s energy needs and the world trends, and I also started with the revolutionary thinking mindset, to find a path to encourage more clean energy than traditional ones. With the new clean energy ambition laid out by the EU and China recently in 2020 of getting the carbon reduction to the further level makes me feel strong of the bright future of the clean energy world so as the new energy vehicle battery industry. And I am happy to be one of that promoters to proceed the cause to transition the world into a new energy world thanks to Professor Pinho’s encouragement. I was also honored to have him give a speech during the Tech Conference in Hefei, which he combined his China appreciation and his global background detailing the world energy trend.
My entire year of 2019 was almost immersed with a strategic deal for the company my father started. The company now is among the leading power battery technology companies in the world. With the strategic partnership with Volkswagen Group, it will leapfrog the past and move forward to the next level.[i] And hopefully to lead by example to promote sustainable development of energy.
[i] https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202005/29/WS5ed0815fa310a8b24115972f.html
Chen Li
Gotion High Tech
Hefei, China
We took a whole semester of global energy policy from Professor Pinho in 2011. Though difficult, the course was wildly popular because he made the mundane textbooks and academic journal articles come alive by having us do the real-world case studies and play simulation games. Thanks to the inspirations by his course, we decided to enter the energy industry, which, in retrospect, has turned out to be a good decision for both of us.
LIN SHE, YHUAN ZENG
Masters of International Affairs, Columbia University, 2011
Energy professionals
Houston, Texas
Professor Pinho’s course greatly surpassed my expectations due to its international approach and practical focus. In hindsight, it was one of the most influential and useful courses of my master’s program. Little did I know that, a couple of years later, I would apply my classroom experience to a real-world situation, as I participated in the design, drafting and enactment of Mexico’s very own energy reform (a milestone that also made it to the front page of the New York Times in its own right).Alejandro Chanona Robles
Mexican Energy Regulation Commission
Mexico City, Mexico
Very few people have shaped and marked my academic education in the way that Professor Manuel Pinho has. His contributions to my professional and personal growth are without a doubt something I cherish constantly, and I can confidently say that he has been of great influence in my life. I am honored to put in a few words what a privilege it was to be Mr. Pinho’s student and sit in his class.
ISABEL ORTIZ MONASTERIO BORBOLLA
Mexico City, Mexico
While Mr. Pinho encourages the academic accomplishments of his students, their development as individuals is equally important to him. He will bring the real world into the classroom, inspiring you to seek experiences that connect you with peers across the globe, challenge you to acquire new life skills and re-shape your worldview. Perhaps Mr. Pinho himself is my best example of what life-long learning means.
Celine Rottier
Investment officer
European Investment Bank
Luxembourg
I met Manuel in 2016 where he was a visiting professor at the University if Queensland and giving a course on Global Energy Policy. It was one of the best courses I have taken at the University. Manuel is a leader in global energy policy. He is a consummate communicator and story teller. At the end of the class term Manuel facilitated a group from the class to attend a global energy seminar in Beijing. Having studied the theory of energy policy in class we were then able meet with many important policy makers and researchers in China. I am sure the upcoming book will be very interested read.
Greg Paulsen
Principal System Engineer at HKRP Australia PTY Ltd
Portugal will hopefully play another role in my near future. After COVID pandemic is over, my fiance and I want our wedding to take place in Portugal – and obviously, we would be honored if Professor Pinho could attend!Kseniya Shelkovskaya
Siemens AG
Atlanta, Georgia
United StatesI am a 3rd generation member of the Hinduja family that owns the Hinduja Group. The Group (http://www.hindujagroup.com) was founded in 1914 by my late grandfather P.D. Hinduja, and today has diversified into 11 verticals ranging from Automotive, Banking and Finance to IT and ITES, Specialty Chemicals and Renewable energy. The Group’s businesses span across continents and employ over 150,000 people, with offices in many key cities of the world. I lead the Alternative Energy and Sustainability initiatives for the Group and have specific interests in Clean mobility and Technology.