INESC TEC awarded with honourable mentions of the “The best of the technological Portugal” prize

INESC TEC awarded with honourable mentions of the “The best of the technological Portugal” prize

The projects VR2Market and MarinEye received two honourable mentions in the Innovation and Sustainability category of the “The Best of the Technological Portugal” prize, awarded by the Portuguese magazine “Exame Informática”.

02nd July 2018

Under the VR2Market project of the Centre for Biomedical Engineering Research (C-BER), a set of wearable sensors were developed to monitor vital signs and the deployment on the ground of first responders such as paramedics or firefighters. The goal “is to obtain fatigue indices, exposure to heat and stress levels, exposure to harmful gases, among others, that can be used to protect these professionals and to a better management of the teams on the ground in the event of natural disasters, for example”, explains the coordinator of C-BER and of the BRAIN group, João Paulo Cunha.

The project led by INESC TEC and developed under the CMU Portugal Program, along with the Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), IEETA / University of Aveiro, Telecommunications Institute -Pole of Porto and Biodevices S. A, stood out "by the way researchers were able to use technologies of Internet of Things in a very important context among professionals who have great moments of stress. The data collection and its transformation into real time information has great applicability in everyday life, making possible the sustainable business model "according to the nomination of the prize.

MarinEye is led by CIIMAR project and has the collaboration of INESC TEC’s Centre for Robotics and Autonomous Systems (CRAS), Centre for Applied Photonics (CAP) and Laboratory of Artificial Intelligence and Decision Supporto (LIAAD). It is a multitrophic autonomous system that will monitor the oceans in an integrated way, thus allowing a more sustainable management of the marine resources and a reduction of the impacts of environmental risks.

According to the editorial team of Exame Informática, in this work it was "rewarded the ingenuity of researchers who have been able to develop an equipment that can perform complex functions and has a more competitive manufacturing cost. In addition, it makes a significant contribution to its purpose, the scientific research.”

For the researcher of CIIMAR, Catarina Magalhães, this distinction means “the recognition of a work that will be essential for the awareness of the complexity of the marine ecosystems and for the protection of biodiversity”. The National Institute of Meteorology and Geophysics (IPMA) and the Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre - Polytechnic of Leiria (MARE - IP Leiria) complete the partners list.

The awards were held on 26 June in a ceremony in Lisbon. For more than a decade, Exame Informática awards these prizes separated in nine categories: National Brand, International Brand, Product of the year, Computer Manufacturer, Sustainability/Social Responsibility, Software, Internet and Innovation and “Personality”, the last one being decided by a jury chaired by Professor José Tribolet, president of INESC.

Exame Informática is the oldest and the most widely read in terms of technology content in the Portuguese media. Nowadays, besides the printed publications, Exame Informática is present in several platforms, including television where it has a programme for more than seven years and in which it presents the best of the technology in Portugal and in the rest of the world.

The researchers mentioned in this news piece are associated with IUP-FEUP, P.Porto-ISEP and INESC TEC.