On July 2, INESC TEC and TEC4SEA, with the support of EIT Raw Materials, organised the online workshop IN THE BLACK’20, under the motto “The safety of people and the planet through the application of technology”.
The Chairman Stef Kapusniak was in charge of opening the third edition of this event, showing the “IN THE BLACK community” how the themes of this workshop are interconnected since 2018, and that it will be necessary to redirect all technical efforts to promote innovative and transparent solutions, in order to ensure the safety of people and the planet. The Chairman also pointed out that all solutions can be important, “whether they’re conventional/underwater and land/sea mining“.
The first session, “Application of Technology”, featured speakers such as Bramley Murton (National Oceanography Centre), Gary Van Eck and Marc Lincoln (De Beers Group), who discussed the use of technology as a way to ensure safety in the mining industry and the management of potential threats. In this session, the participants had the opportunity to get to know real projects and the experiences of the speakers in the area.
In the second session, “Raw Projects in Sustainable Discovery and Innovation”, Nobert Zajzon (University of Miskolc) presented the upscaling project UNEXUP, which follows the UNEXMIN initiative, through the launching of technology in the market, thus providing geotechnologies and underwater exploration services. Pedro Jorge (INESC TEC’s CAP – Centre for Applied Photonics) also introduced the inSITE project, which aims to present a new solution in which the concept of data transfer, combining advanced AI algorithms with a thorough database of mineral spectra, will allow in situ classification of ore with a new generation of intelligent LIBS technology.
Michel Vanvermaete (Innovation Hub Director CLC West, EIT Raw Materials) and Eduardo Silva (TEC4SEA Coordinator, INESC TEC) closed the session, emphasising the importance of this workshop on the agenda of the European Commission and the EIT Raw Materials Community. For nearly 10 years, INESC TEC identified the need to invest in underwater robotic technologies for the exploration of the seabed, but also for the mapping of geological resources, and, as stated by Eduardo Silva, “the role played by CRAS – Centre for Robotics And Autonomous System in this matter is already acknowledged”.
Ana Pires and Paula Lima (CRAS/INESC TEC researchers), coordinators of the event, confirm that the online event was a success, with more than 100 registrations, and are already planning the next edition – IN THE BLACK’21, which will take place in Porto.
The complete workshop programme is available here.
The INESC TEC researchers mentioned in this news piece are associated with UP-FCUP and IPP-ISEP.
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