Instituto Superior Técnico once again opened its doors to several projects by secondary school students in another edition of the “FAQtos Award”. The final ceremony took place on 8 July, at the Alameda campus (Congress Centre) under the theme “The World of Radio Frequencies”. The first place was awarded to the Vilela Secondary School (Paredes, Porto).
The project developed by these students recognised the importance of adapting technology to the specific needs of each person, creating the “ElderTech” kit which aims to facilitate the support to the elderly and people with physical or mental limitations. This kit consists of a set of modules made up of sensors that include fall detectors, gas, temperature, and rain sensors, automatic lighting, and air conditioning, among others. Communication between the modules is carried out via radio transmitters and communication between “ElderTech” and the caregiver via GSM, allowing the caregiver to receive personalised warnings.
The Cybercrew team, made up of students from the Francisco Franco Secondary School (Funchal, Madeira) ranked 2nd. The project “Protected in the World of Radiofrequencies” consisted of creating a prototype – the “Pratic Sea” – which would work as a vending machine (dispenser) for doses of sunscreen, providing the population with protection against ultraviolet radiation, using the radio frequency band in mobile communications and for use in RFID (radio frequency identification) devices.
Third place was awarded to a team from the Braga Professional School, for developing “Basket4All”, an innovative and accessible system that allows visually impaired individuals to actively participate in basketball games, making this sport more inclusive, favouring equal opportunities within the sporting world.
This year’s Editions brought together 48 teams, involving 177 students, 32 supervising teachers, and 27 different schools. The three best-placed teams were awarded prizes of 500, 1000 and 1500 euros.
The ‘FAQtos’ project makes publicly available relevant information on electromagnetic radiation in mobile communications, namely concepts related to electromagnetic waves and exposure levels, among other aspects.
According to Luís M. Correia, a professor at Técnico, a researcher at INESC INOV-Lab, and the project coordinator, “this contest has served as a motivation for students to engage in extracurricular activities, also involving their local communities”. In addition to highlighting the quality of the projects submitted every year, he stressed the role of Técnico in supporting such initiatives: “Técnico is a school of reference, so it is clear that its involvement motivates and attracts students to compete for the Award”.
The projects presented in this year’s edition also include an experimental project to germinate radishes under the influence of RFs, the measurement of radio frequency flux intensity at school, smart shoes that aim to help visually impaired people identify obstacles, a tool capable of measuring a variety of atmospheric pollutants in real-time, the creation of a publication in the form of a magazine aimed at telling the good stories of the last 10 editions of the FAQtos Award competition, the implementation of a technological solution to help and monitor patients with dementia, especially Alzheimer’s, and the creation of a radio amateur station and a radio spectrum monitoring and listening post.
*This text was written in collaboration with the ‘FAQtos’ Project
