Miguel Alves, a student in the Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science and Computer Engineering, won 3rd place in the international ideaUP! 2025 competition, promoted by FH Salzburg – University of Applied Sciences in Austria, where he is currently studying as an outgoing Erasmus+ participant.
He competed with the project Nature Protector, a startup he founded, facing dozens of applications from students, researchers, and entrepreneurs from various higher education institutions and Austria’s innovation ecosystem.
Nature Protector proposes an integrated system for the prevention, detection, and response to forest fires, combining technology, data analysis, and coordination between entities, with the aim of protecting forests and rural areas, reducing environmental damage, and mitigating CO₂ emissions. The jury highlighted the strong social and environmental impact of the solution, as well as its implementation potential.
The ideaUP! 2025 competition received 38 project submissions, evaluated by a specialized jury according to criteria such as degree of innovation, user benefit, differentiation, and economic viability. Achieving 3rd place represents significant recognition of the quality of the work developed by the ISEL student in a highly competitive international context.
