Felix A. Farret was awarded bachelor's and master's degrees in electrical engineering by the Federal University of Santa Maria, in 1972 and 1976, respectively, a specialist qualification in electronic instrumentation from the Osaka Prefectural Industrial Research Institute, Japan, in 1975, an MSc in harmonics in High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) transmission lines from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST), UK, in 1981 and a PhD in electrical engineering from Imperial College, London, UK, in 1984. He has been a member of Imperial College, London, (electrical engineering) since 1984 and was awarded a post-doctorate in alternative energy sources at the Colorado School of Mines, USA, in 2003. He is also the author of several chapters in national and international books, mainly related to the use of renewable energies and alternative energy, power electronics and harmonics in power systems. He has been a speaker on dozens of occasions in different countries dealing with electromagnetic radiation, alternative energy sources and new directions for generating renewable energy. He is currently a volunteer professor at the Department of Electrical Energy Processing at the Federal University of Santa Maria, RS-Brazil, where he has worked in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching since 1974. His main activity has been guiding research theses and dissertations in a multidisciplinary educational environment related to alternative energy sources, industrial electronics, generation quality, electronics instrumentation, efficiency of distributed generation and integration of alternative sources of electrical energy. In recent years, he has coordinated several scientific and technological projects with alternative energy sources that were transferred to Brazilian companies such as AES-South Energy Distributor, State Electric Energy Company, Hydroelectric Plant de Nova Palma, RGE Energy Distributor, CPFL and CCE Control Engineering Ltd. These projects are related to the integration of small and distinct sources of energy; voltage and speed control by load for induction generators; the development of energy systems with PEM fuel cell stacks; the minimization of harmonics in HVDC transmission systems; electromagnetism applied in electrical machines and communication systems; maximization of electrical equipment efficiency; photovoltaic power generation; and surface geothermal energy to optimize electrical energy consumption.
