Fraunhofer Center for Assistive Information and Communication Solutions – AICOS
10.11.2025
The 16th edition of the Fraunhofer Portugal Challenge distinguished innovative projects in the fields of artificial intelligence, cyber-physical systems, and health technology—aligned with Fraunhofer Portugal AICOS’s (FhP-AICOS) ongoing commitment to applied research and the development of solutions that address real-world challenges.
The first prize in the Master Thesis Award category was awarded to Lara Sá Neves, who developed her thesis at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP) and is currently pursuing a PhD within the dual Carnegie Mellon University – Instituto Superior Técnico program. Her proposal, iHOMER, presents a pioneering algorithm capable of learning, reorganizing information, and adjusting classifications in real time, ensuring explainability and accuracy even in highly dynamic settings.
Second place was awarded ex aequo to two students from the University of Aveiro: Gonçalo Martins, with a fully passive sensor platform that requires no battery, and Mariana Valente, who developed a broadband antenna for through-wall radar, capable of detecting people through walls with high resolution.
Third prize went to Fábio Dias, from Instituto Superior Técnico, whose work focuses on robust data-transmission solutions for Organ-on-a-chip devices—an emerging technology that aims to improve drug testing and reduce reliance on animal experiments.
In the Student Award category, the winner was Gonçalo Lobo, a student at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon, who presented an architecture enabling fully encrypted inference in machine-learning models through homomorphic cryptography—an approach that allows the processing of sensitive data without compromising user privacy.
The FhP-AICOS auditorium in Porto hosted last November 5 the final of the 16th edition of the Fraunhofer Portugal Challenge, an annual technology-based ideas contest developed for students from Portuguese universities. The event brought together finalists, researchers, entrepreneurs, and representatives from academia to celebrate scientific innovation with societal impact, in an afternoon marked by knowledge sharing and strong ties to the innovation ecosystem.
The session featured a multidisciplinary jury composed of experts from academia, industry, and applied research. This edition included Liliana Ferreira, Director of FhP-AICOS, and Filipe Sousa, Head of Connected Things at FhP-AICOS, along with João José Pinto Ferreira, Associate Professor at FEUP; Carlos Soares, External Advisor for Intelligent Systems at FhP-AICOS; Purificação Tavares, CEO of CGC Genetics Unilabs; Pedro Pinto, Head of Business Development – Tech at UPTEC; and José Valente, co-founder and CEO of AZITEK. The diversity of perspectives enabled a comprehensive and thoughtful evaluation, aligned with the real-world challenges of science and industry.
The afternoon also featured an especially inspiring moment dedicated to entrepreneurship. In a relaxed, open-conversation format, Pedro Pinto and José Valente shared with the audience the journeys they built as founders and leaders of technology projects, reflecting on tough decisions, turning points, and the motivations that drive them.
Organized since 2010, the Fraunhofer Portugal Challenge is a technology-based idea contest that rewards the best proposals from master’s students at Portuguese universities. The competition includes two categories: the Master Thesis Award (for the best ideas derived from academic theses) and the Student Award, introduced in 2023, which recognizes the student with the most promising technological idea. Competing projects must fall within the scientific areas of Fraunhofer Portugal AICOS: Human-Centered Design, Artificial Intelligence, and Cyber-Physical Systems.
This year, the Master Thesis Award exceptionally distributed a total of €8,000 among the four top-ranked projects, while the Student Award grants €3,000 and specialized mentoring.
With 16 editions held, the Challenge reinforces Fraunhofer Portugal AICOS’s commitment to promoting scientific research with practical utility and supporting the next generation of Portuguese innovators.