The final of the E. Awards was held on 24 June at Técnico Innovation Center powered by Fidelidade. This event distinguished projects developed by Técnico students as part of entrepreneurship and innovation curricular units.
The team of Ana Borrego, Priscila Rocha, and Sofia Pereira, master’s students in Chemical Engineering, won the 7th edition of the E. Awards with their project titled ‘Green Pavement.’ This proposal, which also earned them the Brisa Merit Award in Green Technologies and Decision Strategies earlier in the month, focuses on creating a sustainable solution for motorways. The team’s idea involves partially replacing bitumen (which includes oil derivatives) with plastic waste wax, phase change materials, and approximately 20% Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP). In this way, it is possible to increase durability and reduce the carbon footprint of the pavement. Additionally, the project includes the use of wind turbines, recycled plastic signage and ecological paints, in order to promote circularity and biodiversity. The award of 3,500 euros was supported by Santander.
The DEEPBLUE22 project, developed by students Afonso Ruivo, Henrique Ribeiro, Leonardo Costa, and Rúben Oliveira, received an Honourable Mention from Armilar Ventures, along with a prize of €1,000. This project is a maritime surveillance programme that operates without human intervention.
The Cantilab project, created by students Bruno Semião, João Santos, Telmo Vaz and Tomás Miguel also received an Honourable Mention, funded by Accenture. The idea is to implement a faster method of analysis to establish antibiotic therapy more quickly. This is particularly important given the growing number of multi-resistant bacteria.
Other finalists at the event included Frutique, NeuroVision, and ReMedi.
The best posters in the competition were recognised, with the ‘Neurovision’ and ‘Via Nova’ projects each receiving a prize of 500 euros, thanks to support from Accenture. The ‘Neurovision’ project aims to create anti-fatigue warning glasses designed to reduce human error, while ‘Via Nova’ focuses on developing self-healing asphalt using used cooking oil to repair damaged areas.
The Vice-Rector of Universidade de Lisboa, Cecília Rodrigues, emphasised the importance of such initiatives and congratulated the participants, noting that everyone was a winner.
Isabel Dias, the Vice-President of Técnico for Financial Management, stressed that the Técnico community is an ‘international community’ and highlighted the importance not only of the Técnico Partner Network but also the faculty members who serve as ‘guides’ for these projects. “Entrepreneurship has an impact on society. Técnico has an impact on you and, as a result, you will have an impact on society.”
Pedro Amaral, the Vice-President of Técnico for Corporate Interface, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship, expressed gratitude to the partners and addressed the students: “This is the first time you’ve done this, but I’m sure it won’t be the last. Take advantage of it and use this opportunity to see how capable you are”.
In previous editions, the E-Awards have recognised numerous projects in various fields, including biotechnology (2024), health (2023), and artificial intelligence (2022), among others.
