Several Técnico students were awarded by the European Innovation Academy (EIA), at the EIA 2023 event, held earlier this month in Porto. The aim of the event was to highlight the most promising ideas and projects in the area of innovation. Four of the ten highest scoring teams were composed of Técnico students. Eleven Técnico students participated in the event, five of which were part of the teams recognised by the jury.
After the preliminary application stages for the two thousand-euro scholarships that cover the costs of participating in the event, supported by Técnico and Santander Universidades, the eleven selected students were integrated into teams with colleagues from international universities during the month of July. The development of ideas was based on training and workshops given by entities such as Google, the University of California, Berkeley and Stanford University, over three weeks, which culminated in project presentation sessions held in Porto, at the beginning of August, where five members of the “initial eleven” saw their efforts recognised.
Francisco Maria Calisto, a PhD student in Computer Science and Engineering, is one of the Técnico students whose team was awarded at the event. His project, BreastScreening-AI, aims to use artificial intelligence to improve the diagnosis of medical images in the field of breast cancer. The student explains that Técnico played an essential role in providing him with “solid training in areas such as human-computer interaction and user-centered design, which were fundamental to the success of the project”.
Also honoured at the event were Rúben Sousa (Master Programme in Mechanical Engineering) and Mariana Pinto (Undergraduate Programme in Chemical Engineering). They are members of the SmartGarden Coffee team, which focuses on the impact of climate change on coffee production and the reuse of abandoned spaces to build greenhouses to grow coffee, thus bringing production and the end consumer closer together.
Another awarded student at the event was Diogo Falcão (Undergraduate Programme in Engineering Physics), who was involved in the BoomTickets project, which aims to boost user ticketing and partying experience by offering a direct social marketplace. The Técnico student Dinis Henriques (Undergraduate Programme in Mechanical Engineering) was also awarded for the Re:public project, a redesign of air cushion packaging in an attempt to minimise the waste of transporting goods.
