Arriving at the Pavilhão Multiusos de Gondomar, on April 11, for the first day of the 21st edition of the Mostra da Universidade do Porto, reminded us of a summer festival. Queues on the street, several buses in the parking lot, and the enthusiasm of high school students who lined up at the entrance.
Inside, the atmosphere was already exciting, even though it was only a few minutes pass 11 a.m. Students, parents and teachers roamed the various spaces in search of the best possible choice for the future.
As in previous years, INESC TEC joined this event; right at the entrance, between the I3s and Alice stands, the Institute showed state-of-the-art science, technology, and innovation solutions. “What is INESC TEC?” asked some students. “It’s a research unit. When you get to college, you can join us and take their first steps in the world of research in several areas: Artificial Intelligence, Bioengineering, Communications, Photonics, Power and Energy Systems, Robotics, Computer Science and Engineering or Systems Engineering and Management”, 
explained the INESC TEC researchers.
“Dad, that robot was designed to support farmers”; said a young man, pointing to Modular – E, developed by INESC TEC. He was right. It is a fully autonomous, electric robot that can safely operate in mountain vineyards. It can transport various precision farming tools, e.g., variable rate sprayers, vegetation maintenance tools, fertilisers, soil, and crop monitoring sensors – and, in the future, a grape harvester.
CRAB, an underwater robot for the inspection of infrastructures, capable of operating in areas with zero visibility, also did not go unnoticed. All thanks to the various sonars that allow examining the surrounding environment when the water is quite turbid, due to sediments or pollution.
What does a researcher do? How do you apply the knowledge you acquire in college? How to start investing in this area? Doubts multiplied and, over the course of several days, researchers from INESC TEC’s different domains answered all the questions. At the stand, a huge drone created within the scope of the European project ResponDrone drew quite the attention. It can create a wi-fi network in areas without connectivity to help rescue teams and potential victims in disaster situations. And when it comes do AI, the options are endless. Conta-me Histórias and Tweetstream2story were two of the projects that showed that users can automatically create news narratives compiled by Arquivo.pt.
But there were more interesting things at the stand. Power and Energy, one of INESC TEC main areas of research, was also addressed. Researchers were able to showcase an intelligent electric vehicle charger and a photovoltaic inverter, designed to provide solutions capable of ensuring advanced services to support the distribution network, while also raising awareness of energy poverty and efficiency.
The advice provided by Ariz and Nefi, the mascots of the ECOVALE project, was quite successful among students, teachers and parents. “Are you going to open the window? Make sure that the AC is turned off”; “The bath is not a talent contest”, were some of the tips included in the small leaflets that participants took, with promises to help reduce energy consumption.
Among the thousands of visitors and the dozens of activities that took place in each stand, the Multiusos de Gondomar closed on April 14 with a sense of accomplishment; certainly, many of those who participated will be showing the youngest generations all the work that they will eventually carry out over the future.
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