Henrique Ferrolho, who completed the Integrated Master in Informatics and Computing Engineering in 2017, is in Scotland developing the software for “Valkyrie”, a humanoid robot, which will help humans to settle on Mars. After embracing the ERASMUS + program at the School of Informatics in Edinburgh, and due to his demonstrated potential, he was invited to elaborate his master’s thesis based on NASA’s robot programming. Although robotics is not his area of expertise, and he was not waiting for the invitation, he accepted it without hesitation.
In addition to having the opportunity to program a robot as unique as the “Valkyrie”, the FEUP master also received another good news: he won the only PhD position in robotics at the University of Edinburgh for European students (although there are five places, four are reserved for UK students and only one for European students). This doctoral program is provided by two collaborating universities – Heriot-Watt University and the University of Edinburgh – and has allowed Henrique to be exempt from tuition fees and receive around 65 thousand euros of funding to focus on the robot over the next four years.