Celebration of the 25th Anniversary of INESC in Porto

Celebration of the 25th Anniversary of INESC in Porto – Special Reports on UOSE, USE and ROBIS

Special Report on the Optoelectronics and Electronic Systems Unit (UOSE)

INESC Porto: "A challenge that renews itself each year"

“In this quarter of a century, INESC in Porto was a challenge that renewed itself each year, causing not only a deep impact on everyone who has worked here, but also on society”. That is how Paulo Marques and Ireneu Dias, responsible for the coordination of the Optoelectronics and Electronic Systems Unit (UOSE), see these past 25 years. INESC Porto is anchored on an idea that is as valid now as it was in 1985: to provide an organized and operational structure that makes it possible - in articulation with Higher Education institutions, especially with the University of Porto - to optimize the conditions for technological research and development in the perspective of the economic valorization of knowledge. This is an important idea that promotes high added value and creates social wealth and well-being. Its fulfillment “required, requires and will continue to require much from all those involved in the process, from the most experienced, to the younger generations, whether in the Services or in the Units, and, at the same time it constitutes a very mobilizing project”, they add.

As far as the balance of UOSE in particular is concerned, José Luís Santos, researcher at UOSE and manager of that Unit until 2009, is “convinced that it was very positive because it not only brought critical mass to the Unit as a whole, but also to certain areas”. José Luís Santos adds that “UOSE has never been so good, considering its qualified workers, which allows the Unit to participate in demanding projects with a more acceptable risk and certainly these higher capacities require a more challenging attitude”.

It all started in the 1980s

The history of UOSE is intrinsically related to the establishment of INESC in Porto in 1985, at the time called INESC Norte. It all started in the early 1980s, in a time when the area of optical fibre communications was effervescent. In 1984, there were conditions to establish in Porto a consolidated activity, boosted by the project Optical Fibre Integrated Systems (SIFO). Another important moment highlighted by the manager and assistant manager of UOSE, Paulo Marques and Ireneu Dias respectively, took place in 1992 when a governmental programme was launched to finance R&D infrastructures  (Science and PEDIP Programmes). At INESC Porto, these programmes were essential for the establishment of a modern Optoelectronics infrastructure, which established the grounds for R&D activities in favourable conditions, not only in the areas directly or indirectly associated to SIFO, optical communications and optical fibre sensors, but also in microfabrication and lasers.

As a result, it was possible to establish important international collaborations, with an impact at the level of participation in European projects. According to the managers “the strategic vision of the Board of INESC Porto (DIP), as well as other external factors, such as the visit of the President of the Portuguese Republic (March 1996) and the first external evaluation (November 1996), made it possible to maintain the Unit’s activity until now, and to expand its Research and Development (R&D) areas: interferometric image, photovoltaic systems and microfabrication”. Throughout the years, UOSE’s activity always took into consideration a component of technology transfer, and the most significant example is FiberSensing.

Perspective for the future

As far as the Unit’s future is concerned, Ireneu Dias states that UOSE “will have to unquestionably make a statement on two components: scientific excellence and economic valorization of R&D”. According to the Unit’s manager, the first is “a condition for the second and, in its turn, the second promotes the first in a perspective of sustainability”. The balance between these two components established the foundations for a long-term sustained development, and that is precisely the challenge in an unfavourable macroeconomic scenario. “The Unit’s biggest ambition is to be a Research, Development and Innovation group that allows the unit to attract highly qualified human resources and thus make UOSE a worldwide renowned group that contributes to the training of highly qualified and motivated young people, as has been the case so far” Paulo Marques adds.

José Luís Santos says that “institutions such as INESC Porto are essential when it comes to reconverting the national economy, which has to be based on innovation and quality”. The researcher considers that “the young people coming out of the university today are much better prepared to face these challenges than in my time, and INESC Porto’s areas of intervention offer the necessary and privileged conditions to polarize the creativity and the dynamics that many of them have”.

Special Report on the Power Systems Unit (USE)

"There is no comparison between what we had then and what we have now"

In June, BIP interviewed Manuel Matos, manager of the Power System Unit (USE), who tells us not only about the establishment of USE, but also about the importance of those who contribute every day to its growth, as well as the challenges that the future will bring to the Unit known as INESC Porto’s “star”. When questioned about the 25 years of INESC in Porto, the manager states that the past 25 years have been “very good”, highlighting that “there is no comparison between what we had then and what we have now. What changed the most were our minds, we’ve learned a lot and we’ve created an infrastructure that is relevant and acknowledged both nationally and internationally, and has all the conditions for a financial and scientific sustainability”, Manuel Matos adds.

The first activities in the power systems area started in 1985 when INESC was established in Porto. As years went by, and as INESC Porto became more and more autonomous, USE realized that the base work that it’d been developing started to pay off when a contract with EFACEC was signed, a contract that lasts to this day, and when a grid management system was elaborated for EDP. The internationalization also progressed, with new European projects and partners coming in, which made it possible to foresee the new emerging realities in the power sector, such as distributed production, isolated grids, wind power or, at a later stage, markets, microgeneration and, more recently, smart grids and electric vehicles.

Three highlights in the history of USE 

Even though Manuel Matos believes that the most important projects are always the ones that are being worked on at the time, historically, there are three projects that should be highlighted: EFACEC - DMS/EMS, which started in 1997; the European project Microgrids, between 2003 and 2005, and INOVGRID, which started in 2007 and hasn’t been concluded yet. EFACEC- DMS/EMS was essential “for our skills to be accepted by the industry, which is confirmed by 13 years of collaboration” the manager adds.

INOVGRID, in its turn, shows how it is possible to combine efforts from research institutions, grid operators and equipment manufacturers, “in a highly innovative project, which, for starters, will revolutionize the sector in Portugal”, the manager defends. At another level, the degree of internationalization demonstrated in the projects with the Brazilian National System Operator (ONS), the Spanish Electric Grid (RESERVAS), together with REN and the Argonne National Lab, USA (ARGOS) “confirms USE’s international credibility”, Manuel Matos concludes.

USE: What future lies ahead?

Currently, USE’s strength lies particularly on a stable foundation of university researchers, complemented by contract staff via Associated Laboratory and “Ciência 2008” and by a highly motivated group of grant holders. Furthermore, the activities in emerging technological areas, with clear scientific lines, acknowledged both at national and international levels, bring the Unit credibility as an independent and contractually responsible entity. “Our national and international position is now stronger, and that’s where we are, always with the idea that if we get distracted we will lose sight of the platoon ahead”, Manuel Matos states.

As far as the Unit’s future is concerned, Manuel Matos states that “if we look at what experience has been showing us, in the future USE will continuously adapt to different conditions in order to always seek opportunities without losing sight of our mission”. Thus, it is necessary to maintain a “certain flexibility in terms of mental and human resources, and to anticipate, as we have been doing, relevant changes in our area of activity”, he highlights. “It is essential for us not to lose sight of the fact that our foundation is scientific and can only be scientific, and if we don’t worry about that today, tomorrow we’ll have nothing to offer” the manager concludes.

Special Report on the Robotics and Intelligent Systems Group (ROBIS)

A recent past

It all started in 1998, with the first steps in Robotic Soccer activities. Ever since then, the activities of the Group, which later became known as INESC Porto’ Robotics and Intelligent Systems Group (ROBIS), have been constant and its path thus far, according to António Paulo Moreira, manager of the group, ” has been very natural and our activity has increased strongly ever since we integrated INESC Porto”.

ROBIS was born in 2009, as a result of the collaboration between different professors and researchers of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP), who developed their research activities in the area of Robotics and Intelligent Control Systems. Initially, the group was divided into land robotics (autonomous and manipulator land vehicles) and “water” robotics (autonomous boats and submarines). Currently, there is a stronger bond between the group’s researchers.

Three landmarks for ROBIS

Even though recent, the history of ROBIS already has important projects. To the group manager, three projects should be highlighted: “Environmental Assessment and Modeling of Wastewater Discharges using Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Bio-optical Observations (WWECO)”, the “System to increase Artificial Intelligence in Industrial Robotics (SIIARI) and the famous Surveillance Robot (ROBVIGIL).

WWECO’s main objective is to develop methods that make it possible to improve the assessment of the environmental impact of submarine outfalls and their modeling processes, taking advantage of the recent developments in the bio-optical instrumentation and the capacity to adaptively collect data through Autonomous Submarine Vehicles, in relevant spatial and time scales. SIIARI is a project that brings immediate benefits to the promoters and to the industry in general, such as increases in productivity and competitiveness, increases in the installed productive capacity and the ability to offer new solutions to the clients, through the development of an intelligent robot system capable of rapidly and intuitively acquiring the know-how accumulated by specialized technicians. ROBVIGIL, on the other hand, will make it possible to use robots for surveillance purposes.

A promising future

To António Paulo Moreira, the “trust and the good relationships between most members of the group, combined with an admirable scientific base associated to the ability to implement and develop our own technologies” are the ingredients for ROBIS’ current strength. Moreover, the “youth and stability that characterize the group set up by a high number of highly valuable PhD students who are working with us”. Furthermore, he also highlights the crucial role that Aníbal Matos and Nuno Cruz play for their “excellent performance in finding and preparing new and interesting projects, namely in collaborations with Brazilian institutions”.

When questioned about the group’s future, António Paulo Moreira has no doubts that the “future will be very promising”. “Our aim is to become a group of reference, both nationally and internationally, in the development of knowledge, as well as in the design and implementation of innovative solutions in the domains of land, water and robotics, and intelligent systems”, the researcher highlights. The main challenges for the near future have to do with the “successful conclusion of important projects that are starting right now” and improve “the international visibility, not only in terms of new partners, but also in terms of a higher number of publications in international journals”, António Paulo Moreira concludes.