São Paulo – Born in Tinghir, southern Morocco, engineer Youssef Morghi has studied nuclear accident prevention for several years. But it was in Brazil he decided to continue his career, dedicating himself to his doctorate and postdoctoral studies.
From a small town, he moved to Fez, graduated in industrial engineering from the Moulay Ismail University (UMI) in Morocco, and obtained a master’s degree in nuclear engineering from Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University (USMBA), also in his home country.
But in the African country, the researcher still longed to work directly inside the plants. “There are no plants in Morocco, only research centers. So, I started looking for opportunities abroad. The first contact I discovered was in Mexico, but without a scholarship. And then, I discovered CAPES on the internet,” Morghi told ANBA. CAPES is the Brazilian Coordination Foundation for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel, which offers research grants for higher education in Brazil.
After submitting two applications, the researcher joined the Center for the Development of Nuclear Technology (CDTN) in Minas Gerais. “It worked well because they also had agreements with some countries in Africa,” he explained.
Home inspiration
The Moroccan’s father is a professor and encouraged his academic career and studies. “My inspiration was in my home. I have two other brothers who got a master’s or doctorate. My father always told us not to stop studying after the undergraduate course,” he revealed.
With the result of the scholarship in Brazil, in February 2015, at first, the family was anxious, but the researcher decided to make the big move. In March of the same year, he began his studies on Brazilian soil. “When I arrived, I only spoke English, but it was ok because the professors and students also did. I started learning Portuguese at the UFMG,” said the researcher about the course for foreigners at the Federal University of Minas Gerais.
Nuclear safety
The Moroccan’s studies consisted mainly of simulations to predict and avoid nuclear accidents inside plants. “We perform simulations so when the reactor has a loss of coolant accident, for example, an emergency system is activated immediately to direct water to the reactor core,” explained Morghi. Activities include simulations, coding, tools, and geometric designs.
Postdoctoral studies took place at the same institution; he continued using the knowledge from the previous research but delved deeper into the probabilistic analysis of safety. In addition, the researcher conducted studies within the Angra I nuclear plant in the city of Angra dos Reis, state of Rio de Janeiro. He completed his postdoctorate at the end of 2021.
Future in Brazil
Now, the researcher seeks to develop his career as an engineer. “In this field, I think there are more opportunities here regarding nuclear power,” he told ANBA. In addition to the workspace factor, he talked about the great reception in Brazil. “In the workplace, there is not much difference [with Morocco], I am a little shy, but here, I was already playing football in their team after two months. If it had been where people weren’t friendly, maybe I wouldn’t have [fitted in],” he recalled.
Another differential Morghi saw in Brazil was the diverse team. “The team on one of the projects was all foreign,” he said about one of the works he developed as an engineer at the Angra I plant.
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Translated by Elúsio Brasileiro
