I am thrilled to announce that today I successfully defended my doctoral thesis. Five years of hard work culminate in six words: Unanimously approved and with distinction. I couldn’t be happier to share this moment with the people I love the most!
I also leave here a translation of the acknowledgments that will appear in the public version of my thesis:
“I wish to thank Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) for financially supporting my Ph.D. through the research grant SFRH/BD/144047/2019 (DOI:10.54499/SFRH/BD/144047/2019) and project 2022.06780.PTDC (DOI:10.54499/2022.06780.PTDC). I am also grateful to Instituto de Engenharia de Sistemas e Computadores – Investigação e Desenvolvimento (INESC-ID) for hosting me and providing all the necessary conditions for my research.
I extend my deepest gratitude to my scientific advisors, Prof. Pedro Tomás, Prof. Nuno Roma, and Prof. Gabriel Falcão, for their patience, guidance, and unwavering support throughout these last four years. Without them, this Ph.D. would not have been possible. I also wish to express my appreciation to the members of the High-Performance Computing Architectures and Systems (HPCAS) Research Group.
A special thank you goes to Ana de Jesus and Vanda Fidalgo, who not only handled the usual bureaucratic aspects of research work but also went the extra mile to offer students valuable advice.
I am deeply thankful to my friends and colleagues whom I have met on this journey—each of you has left an important mark that I will never forget.
To my family, I am forever grateful for your love and support along this path. To my mother, Maria Rosa, my father, José Morgado, my sister, Ana Luísa, my grandmother, Maria Eugénia, and my uncle, Afonso—I owe it all to you.
I also want to thank my best friend, Sandro Cunha, who has always supported me and taught me that anything can be solved over a glass of wine.
Finally, I extend my gratitude to all those with whom I have crossed paths and who have contributed, directly or indirectly, to my success.”
