The Department of Informatics Engineering (DEI) at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP) will hold, on July 14, the 2026 edition of DEI Open Day, an annual event that brings together companies, institutions and the academic community to showcase the department’s teaching, research and innovation activities. This year’s meeting will focus on the theme “Transformation with Artificial Intelligence: Challenges and Paths for the Future“. Throughout the day, the organizers aim to launch a broad debate on the challenges posed by AI adoption in public and private organizations, seeking to identify paths toward sustainable digital transformation and the role that Informatics Engineering can play in that process.
Opening and international keynote
The program starts at 09:00 with the reception of participants, followed at 9:30 by the opening session, featuring remarks from Rui Calçada, Director of FEUP, and João Paiva Cardoso, Director of DEI. The opening talk will be delivered by Cátia S. Silva, Associate Professor at the University of Florida, under the title “From Models to AI Systems: AI Engineering for Digital Transformation“. The researcher will discuss the shift from a model-development-centered AI to an approach oriented toward AI systems engineering, addressing how recent advances in foundation models are expanding the skills required of AI engineers — from systems integration to data engineering, computing infrastructure, and human-system interaction. Cátia Silva coordinates master’s programs in AI Systems and Applied Data Science at the U.S. university and has received several awards for her teaching work, including the UF Undergraduate Teacher of the Year and the UF Rising Star Award, both in 2025.
Panel brings together industry, justice, and public administration
Between 10:30 and 12:00, a discussion papel dedicated to the event’s central theme will take place, moderated by Ana Paula Rocha, Vice-President of FEUP’s Pedagogical Council. Representatives from different sectors will gibe their contribute:
Diogo Pernes, Lead Research Scientist at OutSystems;
Nuno Fonseca, Board Member of IGFEJ – Instituto de Gestão Financeira e Equipamentos da Justiça (Portugal’s Institute for Financial Management and Justice Infrastructure);
Nuno Paiva, Head of Data Science, B2C & SME at NOS;
Rodrigo Passos, City Councillor at the Porto City Council;
Sofia Gomes, Director of Data Engineering at Feedzai.
The diversity of profiles, spanning corporate digital transformation, justice system modernization, innovation in public administration, and the implementation of data and AI solutions in a global context, is expected to fuel a discussion on the challenges and opportunities of AI adoption in both the public and private sectors.
Afternoon dedicated to ways of collaborating with DEI
After the event’s official photograph (12:15) and lunch, the afternoon is reserved for individual sessions on possible ways to collaborate with DEI, namely master’s dissertations across the department’s various master’s programs, the Integrative Project of the Bachelor’s in Informatics and Computing Engineering (L.EIC), the Project Management Laboratory (LGP), FEUP Prime and DoRPE, and opportunities related to the department’s student groups.
Through this initiative, DEI aims not only to present the current state of its scientific and pedagogical activity, but also to open the door to new partnerships with companies and institutions interested in collaborating on projects across various areas of informatics engineering.