astronomy

Luis Veiga da Cunha

Luis Veiga da Cunha is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Luis Veiga da Cunha rather than just read about it. In short: Luis Veiga da Cunha (born 1936 in Lisbon), is a Portuguese scientist, Professor at the Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering of the NOVA University Lisbon. Early life and education Da Cunha graduated in Civil Engineering at the Technical University of Lisbon and he holds a PhD degree from the same university.

Key takeaways

Luis Veiga da Cunha belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Luis Veiga da Cunha to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Luis Veiga da Cunha from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Luis Veiga da Cunha (born 1936 in Lisbon), is a Portuguese scientist, Professor at the Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering of the NOVA University Lisbon.

Early life and education Da Cunha graduated in Civil Engineering at the Technical University of Lisbon and he holds a PhD degree from the same university. His main professional interests are related to Environment and Natural Resources Policies and Management, with a special emphasis on Water Resources.

Career in Portugal (until 1983) He worked in Portugal until 1983 in teaching, research and consulting activities. During this period he was involved in numerous research projects and undertook consulting and teaching work in Portugal and in several foreign countries. Between 1971 and 1983 he was Director of the Division of Hydrology and River Hydraulics of the National Laboratory of Civil Engineering, LNEC in Lisbon, where he initiated the development of several new lines of research in the areas of water resources management and planning and of sustainable use of water resources.

Visiting professorship Da Cunha was Visiting Professor at Colorado State University (Fort Collins, Colorado) for the full academic year 1975-1976.

NATO career (1983–1999) Between 1983 and 1999 Da Cunha lived in Brussels where he served as Administrator of the Scientific and Environmental Affairs Division of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. This Division was the executive arm for the programmes initiated by two Committees of the NATO Council: the Science Committee and the Committee on the Challenges of the Modern Society. The programmes of these two committees were originally intended to foster scientific, technological and environmental cooperation between the North American and the European NATO countries. Later, after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, they mainly focused on cooperation between NATO countries and the so-called partner countries in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Among his responsibilities while serving at NATO, he launched and directed various programs in the area of the environment, in particular the Special Programs on “Environmental Security” and “The Science of Global Environmental Change”. Each of these areas developed into a large number of projects and about 60 books have been published based on the results.

Return to Portugal (1999–present) In 1999 Da Cunha returned to Portugal, as a full Professor at the NOVA University Lisbon. He also became a member of the National Council on Environment and Sustainable Development since 2001 and of the National Water Council since its creation in 1994. From 2001 to 2005 he has served as the Portuguese national delegate to the NATO Science Committee.

Climate and environmental work Da Cunha was a member of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) of the United Nations (1999-2001) and a Lead Author of the chapter on Water Resources of the Third Assessment Report of the IPCC, published in 2001. He was also author and coordinator of the chapter on Water Resources of the Portuguese National Projects SIAM I and SIAM II (Climate Change in Portugal: Scenarios, Impacts and Adaptation Measures, 2001-2006).

Professional associations and leadership He was founder and the first President of the Portuguese Water Resources Association (1977–78) and Director of the International Water Resources Association. He was Director of the International Water Resources Association and Chairman of the Committee on River Hydraulics of the International Association on Hydraulic Research. He has been a member of the Editorial Board of Water Policy, the official science and technology journal of the World Water Council. He has also been a member of the Editorial Board of Water International, the journal of the International Water Resources Association. From 2010 to 2013 he was a member and coordinator of the "Gulbenkian Think Thank on Water and the Future of Humanity", an international group of reflection established by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation that gathered eleven distinguished scientists and experts in global water issues. The book "Water and the Future of Humanity" (Springer) was published in 2014, as a result of this work. Veiga da Cunha is a member of the Portuguese Academy of Engineering and a member and of the French Water Academy.

Publications Da Cunha is the author of several books and publications on environmental and water resources issues.

Awards and honors Da Cunha was awarded the Portuguese Order of Military Order of Saint James of the Sword (Grand-Officer) for scientific and cultural merit, and the French Ordre national du Mérite (Grand-Officer). He was Minister of Education of Portugal in 1979-1980.

Political career Da Cunha was elected a corresponding member of the Engineering Sciences section of the Lisbon Academy of Sciences in 2008.

See also Water resources management Environmental policy International Water Resources Association Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

References

External links Luís Veiga da Cunha at Portal da Literatura

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Luis Veiga da Cunha

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Luis Veiga da Cunha claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Luis Veiga da Cunha before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Luis Veiga da Cunha ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Luis Veiga da Cunha

In research: Luis Veiga da Cunha appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Luis Veiga da Cunha in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Luis Veiga da Cunha is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1936 births, 20th-century Portuguese scientists, Academic staff of NOVA University Lisbon, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Luis Veiga da Cunha outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Luis Veiga da Cunha in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Luis Veiga da Cunha means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Luis Veiga da Cunha out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Luis Veiga da Cunha in simple terms?

Luis Veiga da Cunha (born 1936 in Lisbon), is a Portuguese scientist, Professor at the Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering of the NOVA University Lisbon. Early life and education Da Cunha graduated in Civil Engineering at the Technical University of Lisbon and he holds a PhD degree…

Why does Luis Veiga da Cunha matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Luis Veiga da Cunha?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Luis Veiga da Cunha.