Four Técnico students won the “Impact Award” in the 5th Edition of GRACE Academy Awards. The project “DETU” aims to install an automatic system in any heavy passenger vehicle in order to facilitate the mobility of older people. The award ceremony was held on 26th June. Four teams were awarded in the various categories.

The teams presented a brief pitch to the jury, composed of João Queiroz (Director-General for Higher Education), Margarida Soares (IES-Social Business School), Luís Sousa (BioRumo), Luís Roberto (GRACE) and Leonor Pipa (Link To Leaders).

Ana Catarina Carvalho, Ariana Marques Fernandes, Pedro Saldanha Ramos and Sofia Moraes Sarmento, students of Industrial Engineering and Management developed the project “DETU” under the supervision of professor Ana Carvalho (Department of Engineering and Management – DEG). “We are very happy to be awarded in this category”, says Pedro Saldanha Ramos. “We have invested a lot of time in this project and now we see our effort recognised”, he points out.

The 5th Edition of GRACE Academy was focused on the topic: Sustainable Cities and Communities. Bearing in mind the growth in the ageing population, the Técnico students developed a solution that will improve the mobility in the eldery. The group prefers not to advance much about the project once it is presently being patented.

According to Pedro Saldanha Ramos “the analytical skills of our team members were a valuable input” and made the difference. “On the other hand, the approach we used to respond was quite different from that of the other winners”, adds the Técnico student.

The winners of this edition will have access to the Web Summit, BootCamp IES-SBS and to the breakfast with the CEO of Wunderman Thompson.

Several Técnico students have been participating in this competition year after year. The GRACE Academy is part of the Uni.Network Project, whose main goal is to promote the link between Portuguese companies and universities, raising awareness for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).