Coppe celebrates its legacy in research of porous medium and sustainability
Planeta COPPE / Energy / Low Carbon / Nuclear Engineering / News
Date: 13/05/2025

Coppe/UFRJ held an international conference, from the 7th to the 9th of May, in honor of the 80th birthday of one of its professors in the Nuclear Engineering Program, Professor Martinus Theodorus “Rien” van Genuchten. Organized by the Laboratory of Simulation and Methods in Engineering (Lasme), the event brought together experts to discuss advances in research on multiphase flow and contaminant transport in porous media — a strategic area for sectors such as the environment, energy, and agriculture.
At Coppe, the researcher contributed to studies on radioactive materials and their environmental implications, in addition to investigating the flow properties of carbonate rocks through the use of technologies such as NMR and microtomography.
Internationally recognized for the equation which bears his name, he also left a legacy in multiscale modeling and the application of the Generalized Integral Transform Technique (GITT), with an impact on areas such as hydrology, petroleum engineering, and climate change mitigation.
Born in the Netherlands, van Genuchten is a global reference in soil physics and hydrology. Co-author of the Hydrus software, he was awarded the Wolf Prize for Science and Art (2023) for his contributions to the understanding of water flow and contaminant transport in soils.
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