The winners of the 9th edition of Instituto Superior Técnico’s Lab2Market programme, supported by NTT Data, were announced at the Técnico Innovation Center powered by Fidelidade on the afternoon of 3 June. Dozens of spectators gathered in the building’s atrium, in front of the suspended screen painted by robots, to watch the final event. From among five finalist groups who participated in the training offered by the initiative, the most innovative project was chosen and awarded the António Brandão Vasconcelos Award.
‘FLASHGuard!’ exclaimed the event’s moderator, announcing the winning project, which aims to monitor the beams used in FLASH radiotherapy (a promising technique that reduces the side effects of cancer treatment by using ultra-short pulses of radiation). The device guarantees real-time monitoring of the procedure, thus enhancing the safety and clinical feasibility of this approach.
The winning team was made up of students Gonçalo Ribeiro, Carolina Miranda and Gonçalo Roriz and professors Pedro Assis and Patrícia Gonçalves, from the Laboratory of Instrumentation and Experimental Particle Physics (LIP) and the Department of Physics.
Even if they don’t win the António Brandão Vasconcelos Award, reaching the finals of the Lab2Market programme is an achievement in itself. Pedro Amaral, the vice-president of Técnico for Corporate Interface, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship, praised all the teams for representing “some of the best we have here at Técnico, in terms of research and the mindset of taking things from the laboratory to the market, just as the programme’s name suggests”. “I had never witnessed such enthusiasm for practical application as I did at this event”, he said, also thanking NTT Data and emphasising that the partnership “pays dividends” and “has been very important” for Técnico.
Pedro Fonseca, the director of University Relations and Digital Upskill at NTT Data, confirmed the partnership’s success. “It’s been ten years—nothing lasts that long without adding value to both parties”, he remarked. He also expressed his appreciation for all the finalists – “From the moment you started until now, I’m sure you already feel miles apart; keep working on responsible innovation to improve lives”.
The other teams named as finalists in this ninth edition were:
OctaPlat – Juan Portillo, Luís Gato and João Campos Henriques (Department of Mechanical Engineering)
OctaPlat aims to reduce electricity costs. A floating platform, built in concrete, will generate megawatt-scale electricity from wave energy and will also be able to support large wind turbines.
On-Board Railway Track AI – João Torres, Hugo Magalhães, Susana Vieira (Department of Mechanical Engineering)
On-Board Railway Track AI develops preventive maintenance technology for railways, detecting faults early using compact sensors in non-specialised vehicles and machine learning.
Print’ n’eat – Diana Marques, Paola Alberte, Gonçalo Fernando, Afonso Gusmão, Frederico Ferreira (Institute for Bioengineering and Biosciences (iBB) / Department of Bioengineering)
Print’ n’eat uses 3D bioprinting to produce sustainable alternatives to meat and fish, using bio-ink of plant origin and algae. In this way, it is possible to create products with a similar flavour, texture and nutritional value to conventional ones.
Self-healing e-biogels – Teresa Esteves, Diogo Dias, Duarte Almeida, Maria Resina, Frederico Ferreira (Institute for Bioengineering and Biosciences (iBB) / Department of Bioengineering)
Self-healing e-biogels are self-healing, elastic and electro-conductive hydrogels, developed for medical applications such as tissue regeneration, wound healing and tissue engineering, enabling faster and more efficient treatment.
Lab2Market is an innovation acceleration programme organised by Técnico with the support of NTT Data, running since 2018. Throughout nine editions, the programme has received around 100 applications and supported 45 projects developed by more than 150 students, professors and scientists. Among these, nine startups were created (which is equivalent to 20% of the projects that have participated in Lab2Market over the nine editions, or 46% when considering only the last three editions).
