also located in College City. It is a technopole geared towards research in energy, oil, and gas. In partnership with Petrobras, UFRJ intends to convert an area of 350 000 m2 into the world's largest oil-related technological research center, given that exploration and oil extraction from the recently discovered pre-salt layer fields is in urgent need of new, more affordable techniques. Intense private and state investments in the region, plus the high expectations it has generated, led it to be considered a Brazilian "Silicon Valley". The park gathers, among its main facilities: Leopoldo Américo Miguez de Mello Research Center (CENPES): founded in 1962 and managed by Petrobras, it is responsible for research and development (R&D) and for the company's basic engineering matters; it is the largest oil research pole in the southern hemisphere. Electric Energy Research Center (CEPEL): founded in 1974, it is part of group Eletrobrás and manages R&D related to the generation, transmission and distribution of electric energy. It is also the hemisphere's largest research center in the field. Mineral Technology Center (CETEM): founded in 1978 and under direct command by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI), it acts on the technological development concerning to minerals. General Electric Global Technological Center (GE): under construction, with inauguration planned to 2014. Until then, General Electric operates in the facilities of the Center of Excellence in Communication and Information Technology (CETIC). Alberto Luiz Coimbra Institute of Post-Graduation and Research in Engineering (COPPE): UFRJ's supplementary organ, it is Latin America's largest research and learning center of engineering. Also notable for owning the world's largest (volume terms) and deepest oceanic tank, which is used to simulate sea-life conditions. Additionally, there is the Center of Excellence in Natural Gas (CEGN), the Institute of Nuclear Engineering (IEN), the Nucleus of Ecosystem Recovery Technologies (NUTRE) and a virtual reality center linked to the Laboratory of Computational Engineering Methods (LAMCE). Among the corporations with research units established in the Technological Park or in other spots of College City are: L'Oréal, Siemens AG, Usiminas, Schlumberger, Baker Hughes, FMC Technologies, Repsol YPF, Halliburton and Tenaris Confab. Public biddings for the construction of new research centers and commercial tower, all capable of supporting one hundred new more enterprises, are currently under request. The Park project has also attracted over 200 small or medium-sized companies to its centers, resulting in higher stakes for its innovational potential. Projects UFRJ Newspaper