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This is the 28th volume of Memorial Tributes compiled by the National Academy of Engineering as a personal remembrance of the lives and outstanding achievements of its members and international members. These volumes are intended to stand as an enduring record of the many contributions of engineers and engineering to the benefit of humankind. In most cases, the authors of the tributes are contemporaries or colleagues who had personal knowledge of the interests and the engineering accomplishments of the deceased. Through its members and international members, the Academy...
This is the 28th volume of Memorial Tributes compiled by the National Academy of Engineering as a personal remembrance of the lives and outstanding achievements of its members and international members. These volumes are intended to stand as an enduring record of the many contributions of engineers and engineering to the benefit of humankind. In most cases, the authors of the tributes are contemporaries or colleagues who had personal knowledge of the interests and the engineering accomplishments of the deceased. Through its members and international members, the Academy carries out the responsibilities for which it was established in 1964.
Under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering was formed as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. Members are elected on the basis of significant contributions to engineering theory and practice and to the literature of engineering or on the basis of demonstrated unusual accomplishments in the pioneering of new and developing fields of technology. The National Academies share a responsibility to advise the federal government on matters of science and technology. The expertise and credibility that the National Academy of Engineering brings to that task stem directly from the abilities, interests, and achievements of our members and international members, our colleagues and friends, whose special gifts we remember in this book.
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BY JOHN M. UNDRILL
FRANCISCO PAULO DE MELLO, a pioneer engineer in electric power system dynamics and co-founder of Power Technologies Incorporated (PTI), passed away Dec. 11, 2022, at age 95. Born in Goa, India, in 1927, Paul pursued his university education at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1945 to 1948. He worked at General Electric (GE) during summers and graduated in 1948 with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering. At the time of his graduation, his family connections were in Brazil.
While on a summer assignment at GE in Schenectady, New York, he met Barbara Stebbins. The two married in 1948 and moved to Rio de Janeiro, where he worked for the Rio and São Paulo Light Companies. In 1955, Paul and his family returned to Schenectady, where he joined GE’s Electric Utility Engineering Department. In 1969, he left GE with several colleagues to co-found PTI, where he played a critical role in advancing power system engineering. He retired from formal involvement in PTI in 1987 but remained active in professional collaborations for many years.
Paul’s work at GE, PTI, and beyond spanned electric power system dynamics, ranging from steam plant boiler and turbine controls to the management of transient inrush currents in large transformers. At GE, he became a leading figure in the analysis and testing of power system dynamics. Early in his career, he worked with analog computers, which were at their peak capabilities at the time, while also exploring the emerging field of digital computation.
By the mid-1960s, digital computer programs had become the primary tool for dynamic simulation. Paul led an optimistic and creative team of engineers whose expertise was rooted in analog computation but who pushed the boundaries of simulations in step with the rapid evolution of digital computing. Those who worked with Paul, whether on boiler controls, transmission projects, or the characteristics of electrical machines, gained a deep understanding of dynamics and control – an area where analog computation excelled. As digital computation advanced, Paul’s approach to analyzing dynamic behavior evolved, but he remained unwavering in his insistence on clear statements of what had been accomplished, what had not, and, most importantly, what needed to be done next.
Paul was an enthusiastic educator and a central figure in PTI’s professional training programs. He led by example, whether working closely with small groups huddled around a computer terminal or teaching classes of dozens of engineers. Thousands of power system engineers remember his PTI courses and his class notes have been published by the Instrument Society of America. His many formal papers, published by ISA and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), remain key technical references in the field of power system dynamics. His research on stabilizing lightly damped oscillations in power transmission networks is widely recognized and continues to be used worldwide.
De Mello led PTI’s efforts in assisting transmission entities in Venezuela, Brazil, and Argentina in designing large extra-high-voltage (EHV) transmission projects. Paul and Barbara lived in Rio de Janeiro from 1974 to 1976 while he supervised PTI’s work on the expansion of Brazil’s EHV transmission network. During this time, he built up and led a team of engineers from both Brazil and the United States, helping position Brazil as a leader in large-scale power system development.
Throughout his career, de Mello’s homes in New York and Brazil served as hubs of both friendly gatherings and intense technical discussions.
I learned much from long discussions with Paul that often were suspended without resolution as we departed for home at the end of the day. Those discussions were always continued and resolved constructively on the following mornings when we exchanged the often-different reasoning that we had worked out overnight. Those who worked with him found it a pleasure and a privilege to receive his critical review of their work; it was always kindly given, always constructive, and always encouraging.
Paul was a fellow of the IEEE and the Instrument Society of America and a member of the National Academy of Engineering (1984). He was a founding partner and vice president of PTI and served as a director of the Brazilian engineering company, Projetos Téchnicos Elétricas Limitada.
He was predeceased by his first wife, Barbara (Stebbins) de Mello; his second son, Douglas, of Landenberg, Pennsylvania; and his five siblings: Alfred of Uruguay, Maria Eugenia (Termaat) of Virginia, Victor of Brazil, Maria Christina (Snyder) of Hawaii, and Maria Margarita (Carvalho) of Portugal.
He is survived by his wife Margaret (Handron) of Albany; three children: Robert (Carol) of Willsboro, New York; Pauline (Dennis Kuklis) of Granite Bay, California; and Stephen of Allentown, Pennsylvania. He is also survived by daughter-in-law, Sharon (McGowan) de Mello of Landenberg, Pennsylvania; three stepchildren; six grandchildren; nine step-grandchildren; and numerous great-grandchildren and step-great-grandchildren.