Admiral Henrique Gouveia e Melo, the Chief of Naval Staff (CEMA), visited INESC TEC on April 7. This visit focused on presenting the Institute’s contribution to the sustainable growth of Ocean Economy, namely research, development, testing, and validation of Ocean Technologies, as well as on exploring potential cooperation opportunities. The agenda also included a visit to “Mar Profundo”, INESC TEC’s multidisciplinary research vessel.
From marine robotics to advanced sensing and communications, INESC TEC has been developing a series of solutions that improve the monitoring and sustainability of Ocean exploitation, addressing the context and challenges of the Portuguese sea area. While visiting INESC TEC, Gouveia e Melo had the opportunity to learn about the Institute’s work in this fields, as well as the respective Roadmaps on Capacity-Building in Ocean Technologies and the Lines of Research in Ocean Systems and Technologies.
“Our strategic plan focuses on the characteristics of the Portuguese sea area, which is huge and mostly deep and ultra-deep, and defines how we can address these challenges, developing technologies capable of operating in great depths for a longer time, safer, and which we can produce massively, with advanced levels of automation and autonomy”, explained Eduardo Silva, TEC4SEA coordinator at INESC TEC.
The Navy delegation visited the facilities of INESC TEC’s Robotics and Autonomous Systems Laboratory, at the campus of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP) and the Porto School of Engineering (ISEP). At the laboratory, the coordinators of the Centre for Robotics and Autonomous Systems (CRAS), Nuno Cruz and José Miguel Almeida, demonstrated the capability and competencies of the Centre, while presenting the ongoing projects, namely in the field of marine robotics and underwater systems.
After the laboratory, the delegation went to Leixões harbour to visit “Mar Produndo”, INESC TEC’s vessel for research, testing, and validation of ocean technologies, promoted by INESC TEC researcher Paulo Mónica. Launched in April 2021, “Mar Profundo” is a one-of-a-kind vessel that enables the quick access to the deep sea, equipped to support multidisciplinary research at sea, and able to test, for instance, ROVs (Remotely Operated Vehicles), acoustic sensors or robotic modules, up to 60 miles from the coast.
The Chief of Naval Staff was joined by Frigate Captain Lourenço da Piedade, part of the Innovation Division of the Naval Staff, First Lieutenant Vladimiro Maio Neves and Staff Sergeant Branco Marques. The INESC TEC representatives included José Manuel Mendonça, Chairman of the Board of Directors, João Claro, Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chairman of the Executive Committee, Gabriel David, Luís Seca, Graça Barbosa, Aníbal Matos and Rui Oliveira, members of the Board, Eduardo Silva, TEC4SEA Coordinator, Carlos Pinho, TEC4SEA Business Developer, Nuno Cruz and José Miguel Almeida, CRAS Coordinators, Alfredo Martins, Carlos Almeida and Paulo Mónica, CRAS researchers, and António Gaspar, Business Developer at TECPARTNERSHIPS.
The INESC TEC researcher mentioned in this news piece is associated with ISEP-PPorto.
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