Mario Veiga Ferraz Pereira

Mario Veiga Ferraz Pereira (born March 12, 1953) is a Brazilian scientist and engineer known as Mario Veiga in Brazil and Mario Pereira outside Brazil. He founded PSR, a consulting and software development company in the energy sector. He is best known for his work in electrical engineering and operations research. Mario Pereira is also known for developing the Stochastic Dual Dynamic Programming algorithm, used to solve multistage stochastic programming problems, in particular in the context of power system operation and planning.

In 2021, Pereira was elected to the National Academy of Engineering for contributions to methodology and implementation of multistage stochastic optimization in hydroelectric scheduling, energy planning, and policy.

Early life and education
Pereira was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Yeda Veiga Ferraz Pereira, the first Brazilian female Astronomer, and Mauro José Ferraz Pereira, both civil and electrical engineers and astronomers at the National Observatory (Brazil). He attended Colégio de São Bento and Colégio Santo Inácio.

Pereira received his B.S. in electrical engineering from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro in 1975, his M.S. and his Ph.D. in computer and systems engineering from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in 1976, and in 1985, under Nelson Maculan Filho.

Career
Mario started his career as a researcher at Eletrobras Cepel, Brazil, in 1975, which he left in 1990. At Cepel, he worked on multiple topics at the intersection of power systems and operation research, including hydrothermal scheduling, reliability, power systems operations, and inflow models. During this period, he developed the Stochastic Dual Dynamic Programming algorithm, which is used to solve multistage stochastic optimization problems, particularly in hydroelectric scheduling. His algorithm led to software that became the official operation tool in Brazil. It has been used in many other countries, including Canada, Colombia, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, and the United States.

Between 1983 and 1985, he was a project manager at the Electric Power Research Institute, EPRI, in the United States. At EPRI, Pereira worked with George Dantzig among several other researchers. Moreover, between 1988 and 1990, he was also a professor of electrical engineering at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro. Between 1989 and 1990, he was vice president of the Brazilian Society of Operations Research.

In 1987, Pereira founded PSR, a consulting and software development company in the energy sector. He was CEO at PSR until December 2018, when he became Chief Innovation Officer (CINO). Pereira has continued his academic work    and developed multiple operations research based tools for power systems planning and operation. In 2001, he was an advisor to the presidency during the Brazilian energy crisis. He has consulted for multiple countries, including the United States, Canada, and many South America and Asia countries.

Awards and honors

 * Finalist for the Franz Edelman Award in 1985 from INFORMS for his work: Coordinating the Energy Generation of the Brazilian National Hydrothermal Electrical Generating System.
 * Elected to the Brazilian Academy of Sciences in 2001.
 * Order of Rio Branco from the President of Brazil in 2002.
 * IEEE Fellow class of 2010 for application of multistage stochastic optimization to power system operation and planning.
 * Medal of the National Order of Scientific Merit from the President of Brazil in 2010.
 * Elected to the Brazilian Academy of Engineering (pt:Academia Nacional de Engenharia) in 2017.
 * IFORS Distinguished Lecturer in 2018.
 * Elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2021 for contributions to methodology and implementation of multistage stochastic optimization in hydroelectric scheduling, energy planning, and policy.

Publications
Selected publications:

Books:

Book chapters: