The Portuguese Committee of URSI (International Union of Radio Science) held its 16th Congresshttps://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=1731314 on November 25, 2022, at the Lisbon Academy of Sciences, with the option of remote participation, under the theme “Quantum communications: what does the future hold?”.
Progress in quantum communications was under discussion at the Congress, where the potential of quantum technology to optimise future communication networks and systems, making them more reliable and secure, was emphasised.
Another highlight of the event was the award of several prizes established by ANACOM and the URSI Portuguese Committee.
The URSI-ANACOM award was conferred to the scientific research work “Advances, challenges, and future perspectives of microwave reflectometry for plasma position and shape control on future nuclear fusion devices”, by Bruno Soares Gonçalves, of Instituto de Plasmas e Fusão Nuclear, of Instituto Superior Técnico, co-authored by Paulo Varela, António Silva, Filipe da Silva, Jorge Santos, Raúl Luís, Alberto Vale, Artur Malaquias, Yohanes Nietiadi, Jorge Belo, Emanuel Ricardo and José Dias.
The Best Student Paper Award was granted to the following scientific papers submitted by university students:
- 1st prize: João Serra, from Instituto Superior Técnico, for the paper “Rotating Spacetime Modulation: Topological Phases”;
- 2nd prize: Vladen Galetsky, from Instituto Superior Técnico, for the paper “LEO small satellite QKD downlink performance: QuantSat-PT case study”;
- 3rd prize: Miguel Coelho, from Universidade de Aveiro, for the paper “Transceiver System for Audio Alarming Using Radio FM Stations”.
As regards the Award “Best research project in the following categories: innovation, sustainability and social responsibility”, granted for the first time, the winners were:
- In the innovation category: Helena Ribeiro, from Universidade de Aveiro and Instituto de Telecomunicações, with the project “Low Budget High Power RF-DC Converters for Space Based Solar Power”;
- In the sustainability category: Paulo Capitão, also from Universidade de Aveiro and Instituto de Telecomunicações, with the paper “IoT solution for railway integrity”;
- Lastly, in the social responsibility category, Beatriz Soares, from Lisbon’s Instituto Superior de Engenharia and Instituto de Telecomunicações, with the project “Impact of the Human Variability in the Bio-Radar Signals”.
João Cadete de Matos, Chairman of ANACOM, at the opening session
Presentation of the Best Student Paper Award - José Pedro Borrego (Chairman of the URSI Portuguese Committee), António Topa (Panel Head) and Filipa Prudêncio (Panel Member)
ANACOM-URSI Portugal Award
João Serra (1st prize in the Best Student Paper Award) and the Vice-Chairman of ANACOM, João Miguel Coelho
Left to right: António Topa (Panel Head), Miguel Coelho (3rd prize in the Best Student Paper Award), João Miguel Coelho (Vice-Chairman of ANACOM) and José Pedro Borrego (Chairman of the URSI Portuguese Committee)
Left to right: Nuno Borges de Carvalho (Panel member); Bruno Gonçalves (winner of the ANACOM – URSI 2022 Award); João Miguel Coelho (Vice-Chairman of ANACOM) and José Pedro Borrego (Panel Head and Chairman of the URSI Portuguese Committee)
Helena Ribeiro, winner of the best innovation project award and João Miguel Coelho (Vice-Chairman of ANACOM)
Beatriz Soares, winner of the best social responsibility project award and João Miguel Coelho (Vice-Chairman of ANACOM)
Paulo Capitão, winner of the best sustainability project award and João Miguel Coelho (Vice-Chairman of ANACOM)
