Afonso Amaral
Research Scientist, Critical Technology Strategy Initiative
Dr. Amaral earned his Ph.D. in Engineering and Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University, focusing on the European international competitiveness landscape.
He has been helping to build capabilities within the European Commission to monitor the impact of Supply Chain disruptions. Together with the Commission's Chief Economist Team, he has built an early warning mechanism to monitor supply chain disruptions. Currently, the team is working on extending such a tool to assess possible supply chain disruptions in net-zero Green Technologies, such as photovoltaic solar panels, wind turbines (onshore and offshore), electrical vehicle batteries, heat pumps, fuel cells, hydrogen electrolyzers.
In addition, over the past five years, Dr. Amaral has specialized in Industry 4.0 maturity models and implementation of critical technologies in Small and Medium Enterprises, their integration in Industry 4.0, and how these companies can shape themselves to reap the full benefits of their inherent digital transformation.