About Us

Who we are

Let our Founder explain

GECoS (Group of Energy Conversion Systems) is a group of researchers of Politecnico di Milano working in the field of environmentally friendly energy conversion technologies.  Its story is a story of success: founded in early ‘80s, when I was lucky enough to enrol two brilliant students, Giovanni Lozza and Stefano Consonni, who are now eminent professors, to establish a first research nucleus.  Since then, many other young brilliant researchers joined the group bringing their enthusiasm and passion for research. The group continuously enlarged, and nowadays it is the largest and most qualified Italian academic group doing research in the energy field. During the years, GECoS established a vast and qualified connection grid with International Institutions doing research in the energy fields, as well as with a variety of Industries, utilities, engineering companies, etc.

Prof. Ennio Macchi

Professor Emeritus Ennio Macchi - Fouder of GECOS

When they ask me the reasons of this success, I quote these two main factors:

Great care to human factors: we have the possibility of selecting the best students of the courses we are teaching at Politecnico, and of testing their attitude for research during their Master an Phd thesis work. We try to favour their professional growth with long stays abroad in qualified Institutions and by inserting them very young in academic activity; moreover, we regularly have internal meetings where we exchange our experiences, promoting a strong sense of belonging

Broad range of research areas: rather than focusing to highly specialized research niches, as common practice in academic research groups, we preferred a different path, mixing two approaches: (i) to fulfill the applied research requests coming from industrial partners and (ii) to monitor the research themes proposed by national and international Institutions. This mix of cooperation with industrial partners and participation to international research projects allowed the group to acquire a profound knowledge of the present state of the art of energy technologies as well as a vision of novel technologies brought about by future scenarios

In the first years of activity, GECoS research was mostly focused on power production from fossil fuels in large scale stationary plants (in those years there was the advent of natural gas combined cycles and the impetuous performance increase of gas turbines) as well as for industrial cogeneration. Our main partners in these activities were the main national Utilities (ENEL, ENI, SNAM, Edison, A2A, etc.) as well as Manufacturers (Ansaldo, Nuovo Pignone, Franco Tosi, etc.) and Engineering Companies.

In more recent years, the activity widened to topics more and more important in the energy scenario: renewable energies (solar, wind, biomass, geothermal, small idro), Carbon Capture and Sequestration, hydrogen economy, fuel cells, micro-cogeneration, power-to-gas, smart grids. In addition to the theoretical activities that made the group strong, i.e. simulation, optimisation and design procedures of advanced components and complex energy systems, GECoS succeeded in creating important laboratories, including the micro-cogeneration lab,  LEAP and the SolarTech.

What we do

What we could do for you

The Group for Energy COnversion Systems (GECOS) is involved in research activities covering the whole spectrum of advanced technologies for electrical, mechanical, chemical energy conversion ranging from small scale applications to large power stations. The research analyses various aspects of power generation, related to energy efficiency, economics, system optimisation and environmental impact. 

Studies are devoted to supporting the power generation industry, now facing demanding challenges, mainly related to the need of reducing the negative impact of polluting emissions, including greenhouse gases, while maintaining the competitiveness on the liberalised markets. Specific research teams are focused on renewables, electrochemical energy systems and hydrogen, along with fossil and waste/residual fuels. Reference is made to both commercially available advanced technologies and innovative solutions at early development stage.

The working methodology is based on strong theoretical foundations. We have vast experience in modelling complex energy, industrial and chemical processes with in-house built software, along with the support of commercially available tools. Our experimental capabilities are also supporting most of our research and industrial projects activities.

The group research activities are always evolving. If you have an impelling curiosity or want to delve into a new topic with us, do not hesitate to contact us!