Meet CIIMAR

The Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research (CIIMAR) is a non-profit association dedicated to research, dissemination, and technology transfer in the fields of Marine and Environment Science.

In the month we celebrate the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, we talked with five CIIMAR researchers.

Name of the company: CIIMAR
Business area: Researchers
Names: Marisa Almeida, Sandra Ramos, Catarina Magalhães, Ana Paula Mucha and Fátima Carvalho
Position in the company: Technical Manager
INESC TEC centre with which the company collaborated: Centre for Robotics and Autonomous Systems (CRAS) 
Names of the projects: Marinneye, SpilLess, Biorem, ROSM and NetTag
Project managers at INESC TEC: Eduardo Silva, Alfredo Martins and André Dias

What is the connection between CIIMAR and INESC TEC?

Both institutions promoted several research projects that allowed combining different knowledge, namely natural science and robotics engineering.

What are the main results of this collaboration?

This collaboration led to several multidisciplinary projects proposals, like Marinneye, SpilLess, Biorem, ROSM and NetTag, with innovative ideas that combined two research dimensions: biology and chemistry with robotics engineering. More specifically, the projects focused on developing new ocean observation technologies like the biosampler (Device for capturing in situ aquatic microbiomes), developed within the scope of the Marineye and with a patent application (European Patent Application EP18215568.9, 2018). As to the SpilLess, ROSM and Biorem, this partnership focused on developing novel technologies for the use of bioremediation techniques, important to address oil spills. Regarding the NetTag, CIIMAR and INESC TEC developed new ROV technologies to help recover fishing nets and prevent marine litter resulting from fishery practices.

How do you rate your experience with INESC TEC?

It’s has been a very rewarding experience; it allowed us to explore several areas and promote brainstorming about innovative ideas, benefiting from a deep multidisciplinary context. This was crucial to the development of new technologies and solutions to monitor and address environmental issues.

What do you value most in this collaboration?

The willingness to face new challenges and the flexibility to adapt to different work situations.

What can we expect from CIIMAR in the upcoming years?

We’re committed to preserve this collaboration, particularly in terms of presenting innovative and disruptive projects, and developing new solutions to promote science-based knowledge and to preserve marine ecosystems, focusing on their benefits.