On November 15, the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Beira Interior hosted the IEEE Engineering Day, an annual event organised by the Portuguese Section of the IEEE, which celebrates the achievements of engineering in Portugal. This year the focus under the theme “Shaping the Next Generation of Data Centers and Connectivity” brought to Covilhã a reflection on the vital role of engineering in defining the future of digital infrastructures and connectivity.
The event ended with the long-awaited announcement of the winners of the IEEE Portugal MSc Outstanding Awards, a prize that aims to recognise the most innovative and original master’s theses, which explore topics within the technical and scientific areas represented by IEEE, and which is now on its fifth edition.
Nuno Costa, a recent graduate of the Master in Informatics and Computing Engineering (M.EIC), was one of the winners of the award for his thesis entitled “Leveraging Physics-Informed Neural Architectures as Surrogate Models for Space Weather Forecasting”, which proposes models that represent a significant advance for real-time operational space weather forecasting, providing faster and more reliable forecasts, essential for mitigating the impact of space weather on modern technology.
In the realm of space weather forecasting, accurate modeling of solar wind profiles is crucial due to their significant influence on Earth’s magnetosphere and, consequently, on satellite operations, astronaut safety, and communication systems. This thesis addresses the limitations of current magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulation tools, which, while effective, face challenges in computational efficiency and predictive accuracy. To overcome these limitations, this research explores the use of advanced machine learning techniques, specifically Physics-Informed Neural Architectures such as Physics-Informed Neural Networks (PiNNs) and Physics-Informed Neural Operators (PiNOs), for creating surrogate models that balance computational speed and physical accuracy.
This research project, which received a 20/20 classification, was supervised by Professor André Restivo (DEI) and co-supervised by doctoral student Filipa Barros (FCUP), about whom he says: “I’m very grateful to them for supporting me throughout this journey, we have demonstrated the prowess of this approach, with our substitute models already being used in operational environments!”.
Nuno was also awarded the Vestas Award 2024, presented at the New Masters Celebration on November 23.