Category Archives: Highlights

The award-winning zerozero visited by the Department of Informatics Engineering

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Created in 2003, zerozero.pt is the largest football database in the world, with two million player records and five million matches.

A delegation from the Department of Informatics Engineering visited the facilities of zerozero.pt, the project of five alumni from the Licenciatura em Engenharia Informática e Computação (LEIC) of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP), which has become the world’s largest football database, with free access, and is a benchmark on the digital and journalistic scene in Portugal.

Zerozero.pt was born in 2003, during the final years of university, as a project of five friends, four of them from the first generation of LEIC, driven by their passion for football, the need to create a reliable and detailed repository of sports statistics, and the opportunity to put into practice some of the knowledge they had acquired during the course.

Marco Sousa and Pedro Dias were the two founders of zerozero.pt who welcomed the FEUP delegation, with the former praising the bond between the two institutions. ‘The bond between zerozero and the faculty grew naturally. We believe that the fact that the five founders took their (pre-bologna) degrees in Informatics and Computing Engineering at FEUP, four of them in the ‘first batch’ of the course (1994-1999), carries a special symbolism. In fact, several of our fellow students are now professors at the university and these links have created a natural bridge between FEUP and zerozero, based on the quality, respect and admiration we have for our teachers and colleagues, who have had a real impact on our professional lives.’

The teachers who took part in this visit, Raul Vidal, João Pascoal Faria and João Cardoso – all from the Department of Informatics Engineering (DEI) – gave an overview of this relationship, which has been based on dissertation projects, partnerships within the scope of Linking Great Partners (LGP), and also on the recent recognition of zerozero as a FEUP Affiliate, on 13 January, at the Dia da FEUP ceremony. ‘This relationship materialises in zerozero’s active participation in the FEUP and U.Porto ecosystem, where we (proudly!) challenge the Academy every year and are also challenged by it. We’ve hosted several dissertations by Informatics and Computing Engineering and Information Science students, but we’ve also welcomed Communication Sciences and Journalism students to do curricular internships in our newsroom, and we’re also present in several curricular units of the current Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Informatics and Computing Engineering (L.EIC and M.EIC), successors to LEIC (pre-Bologna), such as LGP or Projeto Integrador’.

This visit took place the day after the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup trophy was exhibited on the premises of zerozero, which, in 2024, received the ‘Online Journalism’ award from the Association of Sports Journalists (CNID).

Author: Nuno Teixeira, SICC, FEUP.
Photo: zerozero

M.IA student gets a place on the podium of the country’s first quantum hackathon

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On the centenary of the publication of the works of Born, Heisenberg and Jordan (+info), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has declared 2025 the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology (IYQ). The year-long global initiative will promote numerous initiatives aimed at raising public awareness of the importance of quantum science and its applications.

The PQHack 2025 competition, organised by the Quantum Science and Technology Centre (CiTeQ) and hosted by the Physics and Astronomy Department of the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto (FCUP), took place on 8 and 9 February.

Over the course of a weekend, 39 participants in 12 teams competed to solve a set of Quantum Machine Learning (QML) challenges using Qadence, proposed by a team of experts.

‘SZS’, was the big winner of first quantum hackathon in the country, and it’s in this team that we find the Master’s student in Artificial Intelligence (M.IA) David Mesquita Scarin (first on the picture) who, together with Lucas Almeida (M:EF) and Carlos Felgueiras (University of Lisbon), won 1st place and a cash prize of 700 euros.

The other winning teams can be found on the event’s website.

PQHack is part of IQC25, an international hackathon circuit that will end with QuantathonV2, a championship that will take place from 10 to 12 October 2025 at the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina.

Foto: FCUP

DEI Talks | “Neuronflow: an event-driven processor architecture for low power AI at the edge” by Orlando Moreira (Snap Inc)

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The talk “Neuronflow: an event-driven processor architecture for low power AI at the edge” will be presented March the 6th, at 11:30, in room I-105, moderated by Pedro Diniz (DEI).

Abstract:

This presentation provides an in-depth overview of the GrAIcore Neural Processing Unit (NPU) architecture developed by Snap Inc. for Augmented Reality applications, emphasizing the role of sparsity in achieving significant power and performance improvements compared with traditional architectures. The discussion will focus on the necessity of redesigning traditional computer architectures to adopt an event-driven execution model, which is critical for harnessing the benefits of sparsity. Additionally, the talk will explore advanced training optimization techniques that enhance network activation sparsity, enabling the full potential of the event-driven multicore architecture to be realized. This holistic approach to architectural and algorithmic design is essential for leveraging the unique advantages of the GrAIcore NPU in real-world applications.

About the Speaker:

Orlando Moreira is Chief Computer Architect and Senior Manager at Snap Inc. in Eindhoven, Netherlands. His expertise encompasses computer architecture, edge AI, embedded systems, real-time systems, and data flow methodologies. Before his tenure at Snap Inc., Moreira held the position of Chief Architect at GrAI Matter Labs, where he was responsible for the compute architecture and software development kit (SDK) roadmaps.
Before, he worked for Philips Research, ST-Ericsson, Ericsson, and Intel (where he was group leader for programming and core tools – compiler, simulator, debugger and hw generation).
Throughout his career, Moreira has contributed peer-reviewed to the field of computer architecture, particularly in the areas of embedded and cyber-physical systems, as well as the field of real-time design, modeling, and analysis .
He holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Eindhoven.

PhD Defense in Digital Media: ”Artificial Intelligence and Infodemic: a study on fact-checked Health Communication and synthetic media”

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Candidate:
Haline Costa Maia

Date, Time and Place:
February 24th 2025, 10:30, Sala de Atos DEEC (I -105), Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto.

President of the Jury:
António Fernando Vasconcelos Cunha Castro Coelho, PhD, Associate Professor with Habilitation, Department of Informatics Engineering, Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto.

Members:
Christopher Mathieu, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Lund University;
Stefania Milan, PhD, Professor of Critical Data Studies, Department of Media Studies, Faculty of Humanities, University of Amsterdam;
António Maria Salvado Coxito Granado, PhD, Associate Professor with Habilitation, Department of Communication Sciences, Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas, Universidade Nova de Lisboa;
Ioli Ribeiro Campos, PhD, Assistant Professor, Faculdade de Ciências Humanas, Universidade Católica Portuguesa;
Helena Laura Dias de Lima, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Communication and Information Sciences, Faculdade de Letras, Universidade do Porto (Supervisor);
Alexandre Miguel Barbosa Valle de Carvalho, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Informatics Engineering, Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto.

The thesis was co supervised by Prof. Sérgio Sobral Nunes, Associate Professor at the Department of Informatics Engineering, Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto.

Abstract:

The proliferation of health misinformation, especially during critical times such as pandemics, has underscored the need for effective mechanisms to verify and disseminate accurate health news. This research, guided by Value Sensitive Design (VSD), investigates the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in health fact-checking, aiming to enhance the speed and reliability of information dissemination while ensuring ethical compliance. The study addresses these key research questions: How can AI facilitate the rapid dissemination of authenticated health information? What benefits does AI integration bring to health fact-checking processes? How can AI promote ethically responsible practices in the dissemination of counter-information? Through systematic reviews, case studies, and empirical research, including co-design workshops and surveys, the research evaluates existing AI applications. It develops guidelines for incorporating AI in journalism and public health information systems. This dissertation follows a structured approach centered around the three distinct phases of VSD. During the Conceptual Investigations phase, systematic reviews and meta-analyses were conducted on publications from 2020 to 2022, using the PRISMA process to analyze 57 studies. During the Technical Investigations phase, case studies and semi-structured interviews were conducted with stakeholders. In the Empirical Investigations, technological probes using AI for the dissemination phase of health fact-checking were tested through co-design workshops, focus groups, and surveys. The data collected in the Technical and Empirical phases were analyzed using thematic and exploratory methods. Findings indicate that while AI significantly enhances the efficiency of fact-checking processes, challenges related to equality, governance, and stakeholder trust remain prevalent. The study also explores the socio-technical dynamics of AI applications in fact-checking, emphasizing the importance of value-driven design to mitigate ethical risks and promote inclusivity. The implications of this research are far-reaching, offering guidelines for developing AI-driven tools that are not only technologically effective but also culturally sensitive and ethically sound. By fostering a better understanding of AI’s role in managing health misinformation, this work contributes to the broader discussion on technology governance and the ethical dimensions of digital media in public health contexts.

Keywords:  AI Ethics; Infodemic; Generative Media; Fact-Checking; Health Misinformation; Media Literacy; Journalism Innovation.

PhD Defense in Digital Media: ”Interfacing peer-produced knowledge: a framework for shadow libraries based on pervasive games”

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Candidate:
Pedro Miguel Sá Couto Condeço Ribeiro

Date, Time and Place:
February 19th 2025, at 9:30, Sala de Atos (L202A), Department of Industrial Engineering and Management of the Faculty of Engineering of University of Porto

President of the Jury:
António Fernando Vasconcelos Cunha Castro Coelho, PhD, Associate Professor with Habilitation, Department of Informatics Engineering, Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto.

Members:
Rodrigo Hernández Ramírez, PhD, Senior Lecturer in Design da Sydney School of Architecture, Design and Planning da The University of Sydney, Austrália;
Luísa Maria Lopes Ribas, PhD, Assistant Professor, Design and Communication Department, Faculdade de Belas Artes, Universidade de Lisboa;
Teresa Isabel Lopes Romão, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Informatics, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa;
Catarina Franco Lélis da Cruz, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Communication and Art, Universidade de Aveiro;
José Miguel Santos Araújo Carvalhais Fonseca, PhD, Full Professor, Department of Design, Faculdade de Belas Artes, Universidade do Porto (Supervisor);
Rui Pedro Amaral Rodrigues, PhD, Associate Professor, Departament of Informatics Engineering, Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto.

The thesis was co supervised by Pedro Cardoso, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Design, Faculdade de Belas Artes, Universidade do Porto.

Abstract:
Shadow libraries are media repositories whose primary goal is to enable access to resources that were previously restricted or inaccessible through other means. These informal publishing streams have the additional capacity to interface knowledge that does not fit or does not aim to fit within formal distribution models.
As a case study, we researched Portuguese-student shadow libraries (PSSLs) as spaces significant beyond their distributive capacity. Through physical, digital and hybrid interfaces, PSSLs challenge contemporary access to published research, enabling community members to produce and distribute informal knowledge and actively questioning the stability of peers’ roles, dependencies, and interdependencies.
This research started by investigating PSSLs community members’ current needs and requirements. Subsequently, we analysed how prominent shadow libraries align with these needs and how available platforms have the necessary affordances to respond to them. Informed by present constraints, we established a set of software requirements to support the creation and transformation of multiple shadow libraries, enable the collection of plural voices and interventions, and ensure these spaces accommodate a diverse range of resources.
In the second moment of our research, we studied shadow libraries from a new lens. We explored potential library discourses using mechanics from pervasive games as a tool with particular traits and potential. In the context of this research, these are particularly relevant due to their capacity to extend experiences beyond fixed timeframes, leading to users’ sustained and continuous involvement; extend the relationship between users and their environment, exploring the boundaries between physical and digital spaces; extend the possible interfaces for interaction introducing new hypotheses for interaction and user engagement; extend the dynamics between users and their community by integrating external variables and reshaping social interactions; extend users’ engagement at a more personal and meaningful level.
Through a practice-based research methodology, we led community members to reconsider shadow library’s distribution and production dynamics, as well as community interactions. Contributions from these explorations establish a holistic set of design strategies that challenge dominant shadow library practices and highlight the importance of protecting projects’ motivations, community requirements, dependencies, and informal principles. Collectively, the strategies and dependencies identified establish a framework for expanding shadow libraries in response to communities’ evolving needs, ultimately shaping access, distribution, production, and publication of knowledge, and peer synergies.

Keywords:
Shadow Libraries; Peer-produced knowledge; Design; Pervasive Games; Game mechanics; Publishing.

DEI Talks | “AI and the Worlds of Work“ by Prof. Christopher Mathieu (Lund University)

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The talk “AI and the Worlds of Work “ will be presented February the 25th, at 11:00, in room I-105, moderated by António Coelho (DEI).

Abstract:

“The effects of AI on work is a central point of discussion and negotiation in many fields. Machines and mechanical tools have replaced some but not all physical manual labour. The assumption is that AI will bring similar changes, eradicating some jobs, transforming many and having little impact on others. At the moment we know very little about which jobs AI will replace, transform, increase or have little real impact on, but we know that the scope of work and jobs is wide, and that changes do not occur automatically, they are usually negotiated, and negotiations have already begun to take place in a number of sectors. While industrial machines largely replaced low-skill, low-paid physically demanding manual work, the assumption is that AI will increasingly have an impact on high-skill, high-qualification, and high-consequence cognitive and even “creative” work. As AI poses challenges to workers of higher standing and better organized, the deployment and use of AI is subject to negotiation and contestation, both at workplaces and in central negotiations between employers and employee representatives. Worlds of work differ from technical and social perspectives, and as we already see, AI is confronted differently dependent upon what types of employees are being impacted and in which jurisdiction. This lecture examines the various reactions to the “threats” and “possibilities” of AI among different types of workers from telecoms to entertainment in Europe and North America, arguing that institutional factors play a significant role in these negotiations and subsequent use and deployment of AI.”

About the Speaker:

Chris Mathieu is Reader in the Sociology of Work and Organisations at the Department of Sociology, Lund University, and previously (2002-2014) Associate Professor at the Department of Organisation, Copenhagen Business School. From 2015-2018 he was coordinator of the Horizon 2020 project QuInnE (quinne.eu) – Quality of Jobs and Innovation Generated Employment Outcomes. His primary research areas include film production as well as medical education and practice. Book publications include: Careers in Creative Industries (Routledge, 2012); Accomplishing Cultural Policy in Europe (Routledge 2022); and The Oxford Handbook of Job Quality (OUP, 2022). A recent article on AI as a focus area of labour negotiations is: Ilsøe, A., Larsen, T. P., Mathieu, C., & Rolandsson, B. (2024). Negotiating about Algorithms: Social Partner Responses to AI in Denmark and Sweden. ILR Review, 77(5), 856-868. https://doi.org/10.1177/00197939241278956f

Luís Filipe Teixeira awarded FEUP’s Pedagogical Excellence Award

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On January 13th, the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP) celebrated its 188th anniversary with a revamped, more informal event under the motto “Day of Everyone, for Everyone”, with various activities throughout the day.

The celebration of “Dia da FEUP” ended with a gala dinner where, in a solemn moment, Luis Filipe Teixeira, Associate Professor in the Department of Informatics Engineering (DEI), received the FEUP Pedagogical Excellence Award from the Minister of Education, Science and Innovation, Prof. Fernando Alexandre, the Rector of the University of Porto, Prof. António Sousa Pereira, and the Director of FEUP, Prof. Rui Calçada, in recognition of excellence in teaching/learning activities.

Luis Teixeira reflects on this recognition: ‘In 2010, Professor Raul Vidal presented me with a challenge that, at the time, seemed “impossible”.  Since then, many other challenges have arisen, each with its own particularities and lessons. As teachers, we are often faced with demands that seem out of line with our main mission: to teach. This recognition allows us to believe that the effort and ‘stubbornness’ in keeping this mission alive are worth it. Beyond any formal distinction, I have found recognition in the spontaneous testimony of students who share the (huge) impact we have on their pathways. Today, we are in a time of transition, when the reality of teaching requires us to adjust teaching methods and tools to a necessarily different reality. However, regardless of the direction this reality takes, from my perspective, the pillars must remain the same: communication, empathy and trust. Because, in the end, these are the pillars that allow us to adapt to change, without giving up what really matters: our commitment to the development of our students. Their success is our success, even if it sometimes seems ‘impossible’. May this award be just the first of many more for DEI.’

And this commitment to the students is evident not only in the pedagogical surveys, a valuable tool for carrying out continuous improvement actions in teaching, emphasising the importance of the student’s voice, as in heartfelt testimonies such as this one by Isabel Rio-Torto:

‘I first came across Prof. Luís Teixeira in my first semester as a university student, in theoretical programming classes. In addition to his ability to explain complex things in a simple way (I’ll never forget the mythical lesson on recursion in which the professor took a ball of yarn to explain the concept), his undeniable flair and talent for teaching made his lessons interesting and captivating! I also remember the group of students who, at the end of the lectures, would crowd around the professor to ask any questions they had, and the professor would patiently answer them, always showing enormous empathy and dedication to teaching. We met again in my final year of the integrated master’s programme, when I approached him about the possibility of doing my master’s thesis under his supervision. Since then, Prof. Luís Teixeira has not only been my teacher, but also my master’s and now doctoral supervisor. But above all, Prof. Luís Teixeira has become my mentor. No matter how busy he is, he always has a few minutes to discuss some existential doubt and always has a word of encouragement and motivation. He is always ready to help both students and colleagues, and is tireless in his various roles (teacher, supervisor, DEI member, etc). If I had to describe the professor in one word, I would simply say that Prof. Luís Teixeira is a Professor with a big P.’

The Pedagogical Excellence Award is given annually to a lecturer who has demonstrated excellence over the previous four years in the rankings of pedagogical surveys, in the quality and quantity of pedagogical materials, and in the pedagogical CV, which assesses activities that indicate pedagogical innovation, the promotion of active student learning, and the potential for replication and dissemination.

Luís F. Teixeira holds a Bachelor’s Degree (5 years) in Electrical and Computer Engineering (2001), a Master’s Degree in Communication Networks and Services (2004) and a PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering (2009) from the University of Porto.

He is currently an Associate Professor at the Department of Informatics Engineering (DEI) of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP), a member of the Executive Committee of DEI, a Senior Researcher at INESC TEC’s Centre for Telecommunications and Multimedia and Deputy Director and Member of the Scientific Committee of the Master’s Degree in Computer Vision, an international programme offered jointly by the University of Porto, the University of Santiago de Compostela, the University of Vigo and the University of Corunha. He was previously a researcher at INESC Porto (2001-2008), Visiting Researcher at the University of Victoria (2006), Senior Scientist at Fraunhofer AICOS (2008-2013), and President of APRP – Portuguese Association for Pattern Recognition (2019-2021).

His main research topics are Computer Vision, Machine Learning and Human-centered Computing.

In addition to various subjects in the area of Programming, he has also taught subjects in the areas of Computer Vision and Computational Learning. He has participated in several EU-funded, national and contract projects, including recently the FCT-funded CAGING project as Principal Investigator and the THEIA project with Bosch Car Multimedia as a WP leader. He was part of the Organising Committee of RecPad 2011, IbPRIA 2013, ICIAR 2020, co-Chair of IbPRIA 2022, and several editions of the VISUM Summer School (VISion Understanding and Machine intelligence).

FEUP’s Day 2025

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On the 13th of January the Auditorium José Marques dos Santos hosted FEUP’s Day 2025, this year with a new format that included activities open to the entire community and a varied programme throughout the day.

Under the motto “A day by everyone, for everyone“, the event included scientific and social activities that strengthened the unity of the academic community and celebrated the achievements that consolidate the role of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto as a national and international reference.

In the afternoon, the most outstanding members of the community over the past year were honoured, with DEI standing out for the excellence of its teaching and the impact of its teachers, technicians and researchers.

The DEI honourees and award winners:

Teaching Excellence Award 2024

Luís Filipe Pinto de Almeida Teixeira

Pedagogical Recognition Award 2024

Ademar Manuel Teixeira de Aguiar

Alexandra Sofia Ferreira Mendes

Ana Cristina Ramada Paiva

André Monteiro de Oliveira Restivo

António Fernando Vasconcelos Cunha Castro Coelho

Bruno Miguel Carvalhido Lima

Filipa Marília Monteiro Ramos

Filipe Alexandre Pais de Figueiredo Correia

Gonçalo da Mota Laranjeira Torres Leão

João António Correia Lopes

João Carlos Viegas Martins Bispo

João Pedro Matos Teixeira Dias

Luís Filipe Pinto de Almeida Teixeira

Nuno Filipe Gomes Cardoso

Nuno Honório Rodrigues Flores

Rui Pedro Amaral Rodrigues

Sara Filipa Couto Fernandes

Teresa Carla de Canha e Matos

Tiago Boldt Pereira de Sousa

Mentions of Excellent Performance 

Catarina da Silva Teixeira e Castro

Retired Professors 

Maria Cristina de Carvalho Alves Ribeiro

Honouring 25 Years at the Service of FEUP 

João Pedro Carvalho Leal Mendes Moreira

Jorge Manuel Gomes Barbosa

DEI Talks | “Towards Industry and Operator 5.0: Challenges and Opportunities“ by Dr. Rodolfo Haber (CSIC/UPM)

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The talk “Towards Industry and Operator 5.0: Challenges and Opportunities“ will be presented January 24th, at 15:00, room B011, moderated by Gil Gonçalves (DEI).

Abstract:

“Built on the pillars of human-centricity and resilience, Industry 5.0 is focused on fostering the industry towards a new paradigm that not only remains within economic boundaries but also actively contributes to well-being and sustainability. The adoption of Industry 5.0 principles is just at the beginning phase in Europe, where the paradigm is transitioning from awareness and methods development to implementation including the Operator 5.0. In this conference, the industrial human needs, human factors and potential future applications are analysed, exploring the links with cyber-physical human systems and enabling technologies. The initiative of Community of Practice of Industry 5.0 (CoP Industry 5.0, European Commission) is also presented. Transitioning from Operator 4.0 to Operator 5.0 involves advancing beyond the integration of digital technologies into fostering a more human-centric, intelligent, and resilient workforce in smart manufacturing environments. Key related issues with Operator 5.0 will be also discussed.”

About the Speaker:

Rodolfo Haber received the Ph.D. degree in Industrial Engineering from the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain, in 1999. Researcher of the Spanish Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) since 2006. From 2020-24, he has been Director of the Center for Automation and Robotics of the Spanish Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) and Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM). He has authored 3 books, 14 patents, 1 trade secret, 21 book chapters, and dozen of articles in indexed journals and conference papers (h-index:42). He has been co-founder of the starts-up Kinequo S.L. (2015), Xymbot Digital Solutions S.L. (2020) and Invofox SL (2022). Since 2002, he has belonged to the IFAC’s TC3.1/5.1 Computers for Control/Manufacturing Plant Control of IFAC, ASME TC Model Identification and Intelligent Systems and IEEE IES TC on Industrial Cyber-Physical Systems. He is member of the Editorial Board of several journals, editing nowadays a Collection Topic “Smart manufacturing systems and industry 4.0

Technologies” (Scientific Reports, Nature Portfolio). He represents CSIC in “Data, AI and Robotics (DAIRO)” EU Association and he is member of Industry 5.0 Community of Practice Initiative (European Commission). His main research activities are focused on cyber-physical systems, Internet-of-Everything, intelligent systems, modelling, control and supervisory systems, artificial cognitive systems and Industry 5.0.

LinkedIn: https://es.linkedin.com/in/rodolfo-haber-43b82b14

ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Rodolfo-Elias-Haber-Guerra

GoogleScholar: https://scholar.google.es/citations?user=07IZQjQAAAAJ&hl=es

Nuno Costa honoured with the IEEE Portugal Outstanding MSc Thesis Award 2024

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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.