Carlos Alves, Full Professor, Coordinator of the scientific and disciplinary area of Numerical and Applied Analysis of the Department of Mathematics at IST, and researcher at the Center for Computational and Stochastic Mathematics – CEMAT, passed away on June 30, 2021. He was 55 years old.
Carlos dedicated his entire academic career as a professor and researcher to IST and the Department of Mathematics, which he joined in 1988, having completed a Bachelor's and Master's Degree in Mathematics at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon. From 1992 to 1995 he was in Paris, at the École Polytechnique (Palaiseau), where he completed his Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics.
It is impossible to think of Carlos without feeling a deep admiration for the high performance and enormous dedication he devoted to all his functions and positions for which he was elected in the Department and at the IST. Carlos had recently been elected as a member of the School Council 2021-2024, but his contribution to the management of the structures of the DM and the IST took place very early. Among other positions, he was Coordinator of the Applied Mathematics and Numerical Analysis Section in 1999 - 2000, President of the DM in 2005-2006 and President of the Department Council in 2017-2020. He was an active member of CEMAT since its foundation in 1996, having coordinated one of its research groups since 2003, namely the Numerical and Applied Analysis group and, in recent years, he was also a member of its Executive Committee.
As a researcher, Carlos Alves specialized in the scientific area of Numerical and Applied Analysis, being internationally recognized as a reference in inverse problems for partial differential equations and meshless methods, particularly on the method of fundamental solutions. He published numerous articles with high impact, namely in terms of citations in highly ranked journals in these areas. He organized international conferences, being responsible for the publication of Special Issues of several journals, and so actively contributing to the dissemination of results and to increase the interaction between the various groups interested in these scientific topics. He was a member of the Editorial Board of prestigious journals such as: Applied Mathematics and Computation, Engineering Analysis and Boundary Elements, Inverse Problems in Science and Engineering. Concerning the international conferences organized by Carlos, the last one was in July 2019, International Conference on Trefftz and MFS Methods. Moreover, he was very enthusiastic on the next challenge: the co-organization of the international conference ENUMATH 2021 which would finally take place in Lisbon and which, due to Covid-19, was postponed to September 2023.
On a personal level, Carlos was a very sincere person, and he dedicated himself to the tasks that moved him with great passion. He was highly respected by his colleagues, friends and students. As a teacher and mentor, he attracted large numbers of students to work with him, thanks to his brilliant mind, clarity of exposure and availability. Carlos will be deeply remembered by his colleagues, friends, students, co-authors, and particularly by his wife Ana Leonor and daughter Rafaela. His memory will remain among all those who had the privilege of collaborating and living with him.
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