INESC TEC signs protocol and inaugurates new lab at UTAD

INESC TEC and the University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro (UTAD) signed a new institutional protocol, within the scope of the existing relationship between the two institutions – emphasising the fact that UTAD became INESC TEC associate in 2019. Following the signing of the protocol, INESC TEC inaugurated another infrastructure at the School of Science and Technology: the research laboratory Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory (HCILab).

The protocol was signed by José Manuel Mendonça, Chairman of the Board of Directors of INESC TEC, and Emídio Gomes, Dean of UTAD. “This protocol settles and cements the strategic participation and collaboration, and the exchange of resources, allowing us to be even more ambitious in the projects in which we are involved”, said José Manuel Mendonça, highlighting that “UTAD is an associate with a presence in the General Council of INESC TEC”.

According to Emídio Gomes, “UTAD has sought to honour the past, present and future of INESC TEC, with whom we are very proud to cooperate. The future of research and innovation in science and engineering at UTAD will always depend on this cooperation”.

The signed protocol essentially aims to settle the cooperation relations between the two institutions, to ensure the joint implementation of activities in terms of scientific research, technological development, economic and social transfer, and valorisation of knowledge, capacity-building and training of human resources, and specialised consultancy – while fostering the sharing of human, material, and infrastructure resources.

The INESC TEC hub at UTAD currently welcomes 28 professors, who carry out their research and development activities as integrated members of INESC TEC; it also features the MASSIVE laboratory (Multimodal Acknowledgeable multiSenSory Immersive Virtual Environments), inaugurated in 2018, dedicated to the multidisciplinary study of the relationship between virtual reality technologies and the different dimensions of human performance.