In the 8th edition of TecStorm, the BAMN - Bistable Auxetic Materials (for the) Neck team, formed by ISEL students, won second place in the Health 4.0 category with a promising project. The event, known as the country's main technological competition, stands out for promoting young entrepreneurship and the development of innovative ideas with the potential to transform society. TecStorm took place at the Champalimaud Foundation, in Lisbon, on the 19th, 20th and 21st of April. For 24 hours, the BAMN team had the opportunity to explore their idea: an emergency medical neck brace using auxetic materials. For the members of the team, made up of students Beatriz Costa and Mariana Neto from the 2nd year of the Degree in Biomedical Engineering at ISEL, together with the student Guilherme Santos from the 2nd year of the Degree in Software Development and Applications at ISCTE, this experience was deeply enriching. Through collaboration and knowledge exchange, they learned valuable lessons that they intend to apply in the future. They see this achievement as the beginning of a promising journey. The team was supported, from conception to creation of the project, by professors Tiago Charters de Azevedo (DM/ISEL and Oficina Digital do ISEL), Nuno Costa and Joana Silvestre, and this support was fundamental in the development process. Students and teachers congratulate the entire Junitec team for the initiative. Images: Beatriz Costa e Mariana Neto

The closing event of the CUSTODIAN project, in which ISEL participated, took place on April 23rd at TERINOV - Terceira Island Science and Technology Park, in Angra do Heroísmo, Azores. Within the scope of this project, in which the group of teachers Future Internet Technologies (DEETC/ISEL) participated, with Professor Carlos Mendes as the responsible researcher, an innovative system was developed that allows fishing vessels or a system placed on land to receive, at all times, the location of fishing gear, as well as receiving personalized warnings and alerts about equipment position drifts and sea conditions. It also allows the exchange of bidirectional land-sea messages, thus making up for the lack of connectivity between fishermen and land using classic mobile communications, which occurs at moderate distances from the coast. Standing out for its impact and innovation in the field of environmental sustainability, CUSTODIAN aimed to face contemporary environmental challenges, proposing solutions and practices that aim to support fishermen and local authorities in preserving marine habitats, through, for example, enhancing reducing the loss of fishing gear, reducing the time and fuel spent on collecting or recovering them or generating alerts when entering protected areas. This project, financed by the Blue Growth Program of the EEA Grants Portugal, is the result of an international consortium led by the company SOLVIT - Innovation on Telecommunications, in partnership with the AIR Centre - Atlantic International Research Centre, LOTAÇOR - Serviço de Lotas dos Açores, S.A, the Docapesca - Portos e Lotas, S.A., ISEL, UAVision,, the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and TERINOV - Science and Technology Park.     Imagens: TERINOV - Science and Technology Park

As part of the patronage, REN (Redes Energéticas Nacionais) donated IT material to ISEL's Future Internet Lab. This contribution aims to renew equipment in laboratories, thus boosting the capacity for research and technological development in this higher education institution. During REN's technical visit to ISEL, the milestone of this donation, the president of ISEL, professor José Nascimento, thanked the equipment and said that, in this way, the already historic connection between the institutions is strengthened. . Jorge Mendes, engineer responsible for IT infrastructure and operations at REN and former ISEL student, expressed his excitement upon returning to his educational institution and took the opportunity to recognize REN's historic role in social causes. He highlighted the company's ongoing efforts towards sustainable development and support for communities. He noted that, at an academic level, actions like this are not that frequent and that this donation thus represents another step in an area where the company did not have much presence from the point of view of supporting society, something that REN sees as an obligation. Jorge Mendes highlighted that “it is one of the ways we have to give back to society what it gives us, due to the fact that we operate in concessions that are natural monopolies”. He also launched a challenge: “there are other ways we can collaborate and, therefore, I leave this challenge for the future”. The president of ISEL and Eng.º. Jorge Mendes thanked Professor Nuno Cruz for accepting this challenge and carrying out this action. Also for your commitment and commitment as head of the laboratory. Also present at the event were the vice-president of the area of ​​infrastructure and IT, professor Pedro Silva, the advisor for the area of ​​communication, professor Filipa Almeida, the vice-president of the department of Electronic and Telecommunications and Computer Engineering, professor Manuel Barata , the person responsible for the Future Internet Lab, professor Nuno Cruz and professor Nuno Cota, founder of this laboratory. REN's gesture, in addition to directly benefiting ISEL, serves as an inspiring example of how companies can contribute to the progress of higher education and innovation in Portugal. Highlighting the importance of strengthening relationships between the business sector and educational institutions, encouraging greater collaboration and investment in educational and technological advancement.  

On the 31st of May, an open school event was held at the Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa (ISEL) within the purview of the PAFSE project, funded by the Horizon 2020 research and innovation program. ISEL is one of the partners and its pilot schools are: high school José Gomes Ferreira, elementary school Pedro de Santarém, 2,3 Filipa de Lencastre, high school Padre António Vieira, EB23 Almirante Gago Coutinho, EB23 Luís de Camões, high school António Damásio and high school Dom Dinis. This project aims to motivate young people to STEM areas and has intervention trough 7th to 9th school years. During the open school day at ISEL, students showed their final work with the posters idealized in a group related to public health and the environment, based on gamification resources in engineering. These posters were displayed in the main atrium, providing students with the ability to observe the work of other colleagues inserted in the project and to exchange impressions. ISEL has developed 3 educational scenarios: Droplets and the physics of virus transmission; Energy sources and public health impact; Noise pollution and quality of life. The students and teachers present had the opportunity to visit some of ISEL's laboratories and to get to know some of the research that teachers and students do. These activities were aimed to encourage students to choose the area of engineering and teachers to identify synergies. The day was filled with activities. The students who implemented one of the scenarios had the opportunity to try the tools and games of the other scenarios: simulations of the spread of diseases by air, the game about the impacts of the selection of primary sources for energy consumption and virtual reality of noise exposure. In addition to the pilot schools, some professional schools (Ciências Geográficas, Gustavo Eiffel, Cenfim and Escola Digital Rumos) were present, majority of which are also partners of the project, the FLL- First Lego League, the Toyno and some parents and friends. The school Zespól Szkól nr 2 im Jana Kochanowskiego from Łańcut, Poland, was also present. The target of the project was reached, as students saw the outcome of their work, having an idea of how they might approach projects in the future, and some of them showed an interest in following the engineering area. But above all, the project was a great learning for both schools, teachers and students, as for the project organizers. The event started at 9 a.m. and was scheduled to end at 1 p.m.  Between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. ISEL welcomed about 600 students and teachers.    

Professor Maria Ana Baptista (DF/ISEL) is a co-author of the article "Global Tonga tsunami explained by a fast-moving atmospheric source",  published in the journal Nature.   The article explains the excecional aspetes of the global tsunami originating from the colossal explosion of the Hunga Tonga volcano-Hunga Ha'apai (Tonga archipelago, South Pacific) that occurred on January 15, 2022. Based on the analysis of data recorded at global level and numerical and analytical models, the authors demonstrate that the atmospheric propagation of acoustic gravity waves that radiated from the powerful volcanic explosion provided the energy needed to originate a high-speed tsunami, global and long-lasting range. This work also has as a consequence the need for the revision of the current systems of  early-warning  of tsunamis. Link to the article  here.  

The ISEL and the Higher School of Dance (ESD), on behalf   of the ISEL-Eco-Schools program, participate in the "Time   of the   Planet" initiative that takes place today, March 26, 2022, between 20h30 and 21h30. We encourage the academic community to participate in the places where they meet in this die/hour. On campus, between 20h30 and 21h30, indoor / outdoor lights will be switched off.   The "Time   of the   Planet" or "Earth Hour" consists of putting out the lights in the entire world at the same   hour, for 60, in a movement against climate change. This is a worldwide initiative of WWF-World Wide Fund For Nature-(The   Time   of   Planet  -WWF), which first held in 2007 in Australia (that year, more than 2 million Australians and about 2000 companies turned out the lights for 60), and which has been growing from year to year to become in a global sustainability movement with more than 3.5 thousand million people in 192 countries and territories to show their support for this cause by symbolically disconnecting its lights. So, on the last Saturday of March, houses, streets, buildings and monuments put out their lights on   Planet's   Hour, creating an impossible visual memory to ignore. This year, the action is by the restoration of nature! Natural systems face the greatest global loss ever, putting the essential resources to life on Earth at risk. By being Nature a key ally against climate change, it has become urgent and necessary to repair the damage, restore ecosystems, and join efforts to protect biodiversity. "Move you by Nature" is the challenge that the "Time   of the   Planet" launches this year to the population, united to the European campaign with the same goal. At this time, it is not enough to protect nature-it is essential to restore what we have already destroyed. Protecting what is intact and regaining what is degraded are   two sides of the same coin.