The Welcome Session marks the beginning of SBE and will count with the presence of Prof. Rogério Colaço, president of Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), Prof. João Conde, president of IST’s Bioengineering Department (DBE), and the representatives of our Partner Santander Universidades and Main Sponsors: Thermo Fischer Scientific. Don’t miss the starting point of what will be an incredible and unforgettable week!

Speakers:

Rogério Colaço

João Conde, PhD

▫️ Do you know that around 40% of the global surface is classified as an agricultural area and that more than 70 billion land animals are killed for food every year?

▫️ The increasing investment in Cellular Agriculture, which focuses on the production of plant/animal based products using cell culture and bioengineering, might revolutionize the way we see Agriculture. When it becomes cost-effective it will compete directly with Traditional Agriculture leading to a decrease in animal production and suffering. It will also avoid the continuous destruction of forests and other types of land for agriculture purposes. 

The speakers who will explore the topic are:

▫️ Dr. Ana Fernandes-Platzgummer, that earned her PhD in Bioengineering with MIT Portugal Program at IST, and is currently working on development of efficient, scalable and cost-effective manufacturing processes for the large-scale ex-vivo production of human adult stem cells (namely hematopoietic and mesenchymal stem cells) and their extracellular vesicles (EVs) in controlled bioreactors.

▫️ Dr. Sara Oliveira, who joined the MIT-Portugal Program obtaining her PhD in Bioengineering Systems. Sara developed her master’s and doctoral thesis on modifying surfaces and 3D printed multiscale structures to control cellular behavior for tissue engineering applications, and she is currently a Staff Researcher at INL dedicated to 3D Food Printing & Cellular Agriculture.

▫️ Diana Marques, that earned her MSc in Biotechnology at IST, is a Researcher at SCERG from the Institute for Bioengineering and Biosciences working on the project Algae2Fish to produce algae- and plant-based scaffolds to fabricate seabass fish filets using 3D Bioprinting and electrospinning techniques.

The moderator of this lecture will be:

▫️ Dr Frederico Ferreira, who has a PhD in Chemical Engineering from Imperial College London and a BSc in Applied Chemistry with specialization in Biotechnology. Nowadays, his research group is developing novel edible bioinks made from algae driven materials to bioprint engineered fish tissue

▫️ We live in an ever-changing world, and fashion is no exception. Trends are constantly evolving: today’s novelty is tomorrow’s old rag. Unfortunately, this mentality has made the Textile Industry one of the most polluting industries. 

▫️ That is the issue that Sustainable Fashion is targeting. The number one goal is proving that you can still be fashionable by making environmentally friendly choices regarding clothing, beauty products and design. 

▫ ️ How? This fantastic panel will break it down for you. 

The speakers…

▫️ Catarina Barbosa is a Chemical engineer and founder of Catarina Barbosa Skincare, which began with the goal of developing bespoke high-quality products combining advanced science and purely natural ingredients.

▫️ Dr. Cristina Carvalho is a graduate in Textile Engineering, with a MSc in Biotechnology/Biochemical Engineering, a PhD in Biotechnology and a Postgraduate degree in Neurosciences. Amongst other roles, she is a Professor at  Faculty of Architecture of Universidade de Lisboa and a Scientific Evaluator at the National Innovation Agency. Her research areas of interest include Textile Materials, Textile Dyes, Sustainable Textiles and Apparel, Biotechnology, Nanotechnology and Ecodesign.

▫️ Ana Costa is an Environmental Engineer with a Postgraduate degree in Management. She is the founder of ‘Baseville Studio’, a fashion & environment company, and the co-founder of ‘Catalyst Inspiring Future Fashion’, a fashion & apparel consultancy specialized in sustainability. Ana’s role is to ensure that production is responsible: from brand’s concept creation, through design, choice of raw materials, supply chain selection & management and end of cycle assessment. 

The moderator…

▫ ️Ana Neto is a PhD candidate in Design at the Lisbon School of Architecture, awarded with a PhD studentship by FCT in 2021. She is a member of the Union of Concerned Researchers in Fashion and of the Sustainable Fashion Consumption Network. Her current research is focused on how wearer-clothing relationships can last for longer, as she is also collaborating on the Debris Project focused on Education on Bioeconomy Materials for Design. 

From investigation in diverse prestige institutions to business on famous firms, Alumni from Biological Engineering will help you obtain a different perspective about your future.

Location: Salão Nobre at Pavilhão Central (Central Building), 1st floor

▫ Bioremediation is defined as the use of either naturally occurring or deliberately introduced microorganisms to consume and break down environmental pollutants, in order to clean a polluted site. 

▫ Some examples of bioremediation technologies are bioventing, landfarming, bioreactor, composting, bioaugmentation, rhizofiltration, and biostimulation. 

We bring to you the following panel of experts to talk about this topic: 

The speakers…

▫ Dr. Nídia Lourenço is a Chemical Engineer with a PhD in Biotechnology, and currently is a senior Researcher in Environmental Biotechnology and Bioengineering at BIOENG-UCIBIO, Department of Chemistry, NOVA School of Science and Technology. Her research is focused on contributing to the shift from wastewater treatment to wastewater valorization toward a resource-efficient economy. 

▫ Dr. Nacho Vilchez has a BSc in Environmental Sciences, a MSc in Advanced Microbiology, a PhD in Fundamental and Systems Biology and a 5-years postdoctoral experience in China. Currently, he is the Principal Investigator of iPlantMicro Lab at ITBQ-NOVA, and he is an expert in plant-microbes beneficial interactions, biosafety, abiotic stress management and microbiota engineering.

▫ Dr. Pedro Teixeira has a Bsc in Cellular Biology and Biotechnology and a MSc in Applied Microbiology. In a partnership between BioTask and FCUL, Dr. Pedro developed his doctoral project with the purpose to select and enhance microbial strains for the creation of better bioremediation products. Currently, Pedro Teixeira is the head of Research and development in BioTask, focusing on the development of new biotech products for bioremediation of wastewater and contaminated soils. 

▫ ️ Dr. Rafaela Cardoso has a MSc in Structural and a PhD in Civil Engineering. Her main research interests are focused on the Electro-Chemo-Hydro-Mechanical behavior of clays and structured materials and soil treatment techniques.

▫️ DataHow is a company specialized in data analysis and process modeling in biotechnology. It was founded in 2017, as a spin-off data ETH Zurich, having opened a second office in Portugal in 2021. 

Their activity is divided into two areas: digital manufacturing process optimization projects and development of software solutions for the same purpose, having as clients 10 of the 20 largest pharmaceutical companies in the world.

▫️ As the world’s leader in serving science, Thermo Fisher Scientific, with more than 75000 employees globally, develops critical solutions and builds rewarding careers. Its instruments, equipment, software, services and consumables empower scientists to solve complex analytical challenges in pharmaceutical, biotechnology, academic, government, environmental and industrial research, as well as the clinical laboratory.

▫️ Thermo Fisher enables customers to make the world healthier, cleaner, safer, has a unique scale and depth of capabilities and markets it serves. It also remains dedicated to the global fight against SARS-CoV-2 with incredible technology advancements.

▫️ Have you ever wondered about the application of informatics in bioengineering? If so, this workshop in bioinformatics is perfect for you!

▫️ Dr. Francisco M. Couto has a PhD in informatics and is specialized in Bioinformatics. He is an associate professor with habilitation at the Faculty of Sciences from Universidade de Lisboa, a researcher at LASIGE (Laboratório de Sistemas de Grande Escala) and an author of 2 books, one of which is particularly relevant to Health and Life specialists or students that want to easily learn how to process data and text. He was also the winner of the Young Engineer Innovation Prize 2004 from the Portuguese Engineers Guild and the 2018 ULisboa/CGD Scientific Prize.

▫️ Dr. Francisco will be talking about his main research contributions, namely in proposing and developing: various text mining solutions that explore the semantics encoded in ontologies; semantic similarity measures and tools using biomedical ontologies; and ontology and linked data matching systems.

▫️ The artificial organ regeneration race is on! From evaluating the body’s regenerative potential to control cell functions to decreasing our reliance on transplantations, Regenerative Medicine is crucial these days! It is a branch of medicine that aims to repair or replace damaged cells, tissues or organs as a means to restore normal function. 

▫️ Today’s scientists are looking to develop solutions to address the global need for organ transplantation, diving deep into regenerative technology.

▫️  Specialists on the subject will clear all your doubts on this topic:

The speakers…

▫️ Liliana Brito, currently at the British Heart Foundation 4-year MRes/PhD programme at Imperial College London, working with bacterial and mammalian cell models and doing research in cardiac regeneration using a gene therapy approach, and a Stem Cell Scientist in Hoxton Farms, a food company.

▫ ️ Dr. Diana Nascimento, Assistant Researcher at Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar (ICBAS, Universidade do Porto) and at Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde (i3S, Universidade do Porto), her research is about the development of more efficient bioengineered therapies for cardiovascular disorders, with special emphasis on driving cardiac regeneration and/or inhibiting the formation of fibrosis in patients with heart failure

▫️ Dr. Rogério Pirraco, Manager of the Microscopy Facilities and of the Animal Facilities at the 3B’s Research Group of the University of Minho, where he is also an Assistant Researcher.

The moderator…

▫ ️ Dr. Joaquim Cabral, Professor of IST, Founding Director of the Institute for Bioengineering and Biosciences (iBB) at IST and the Founding Coordinator of the new Associate Laboratory Institute for Health and Bioeconomy (i4HB), focuses on cell production platforms for the ex-vivo expansion of stem cells and/or their controlled differentiation into specific cell types and micro-tissues, as well as their integration with bioseparation and high-resolution purification technologies. 

▫️ Did you know that the oceans encompass about 71% of the surface of our planet and accommodate over 95% of the biosphere and that they represent the greatest extremes of temperature, light, and pressure encountered by life? Therefore, the adaptation to these harsh environments has led to a rich marine bio- and genetic diversity with potential biotechnological applications.

▫️ Marine/Blue Biotechnology encompasses the applications of biotechnology tools on marine resources and exploits the diversity found in marine environments in terms of the form, structure, physiology and chemistry of marine organisms, many of which have no equivalent on land, in ways that enable new materials to be realized.

▫️ To talk about this topic, we bring to you this panel of experts:

The speakers…

▫️ Dr. Pedro Costa: biologist specialized in Environmental Toxicology, especially dedicated to genotoxicology, histopathology, molecular toxicology ‘omics’ and bioinformatics and particularly interested in marine biological toxins and other bio-reactive compounds, their origins, modes-of-action and potential applications in drug discovery and biomedicine.

▫️ Dr. Ana Pereira: PhD in Neurobiology and Neurosciences and currently a Senior Scientist/Project Manager at Sea4Us. Sea4Us specializes in the discovery and early development of new pharmaceutical drugs based on marine compounds, where Ana in her everyday work finds the potential that the marine ecosystem has in providing us new solutions for unmet clinical needs.

▫️ Dr. Vítor Vasconcelos: with a PhD in biology, his main research focuses on cyanobacteria secondary metabolites and their uses: toxins and molecules with biotechnological applications.

The moderator…

▫️ Dr. Tina Keller-Costa: with a PhD in biology, her research focuses on the ecological role and biotechnological potential of coral symbionts, being interested in the molecular mechanisms of host-microbe interactions and in the identity and evolution of the secondary metabolites and info-chemicals involved.

▫️ The latest recent figures on research funding shows that Portuguese companies are more innovative and more connected to science. Greater competitiveness is felt in global markets where business innovation appears to be essential for the sustainability of many businesses. It is a fact that this business innovation is established with the increasing advance of knowledge, much of it transferred from research carried out in universities. Here, an interest in collaboration is generated on the part of companies, which want to apply this knowledge to their products and services.

▫️ Based on this assumption of growing innovation and combining this trend with the competitive factor brought about by the relationship generated between innovation and Intellectual Property, Joana Salta and Rui Gomes, specialists in patents J. Pereira da Cruz, SA, will respond on the 30th March, between 1:30 pm and 2:30 pm, to the following questions:

 – What is Intellectual Property?

– How to integrate it in a business strategy?

– What are the main functions of a patent agent?

Among the various activities that you can participate in this week, there will be a Job Fair, where the invited companies can answer all your questions and sooth your curiosities regarding the business world. This meeting between companies and bioengineering enthusiasts will be held on Airmeet, where with the Lounge resource you can contact directly with the representative of each company in Virtual Tables.

Don’t miss the opportunity to get to know these companies better! We’ll be waiting for you!

With participation of:

A4F – Algae for Future

Accenture

ALS

Everis

Hospital da Luz Learning Health

Hovione

Neyond

Ordem dos Engenheiros do Sul

PLUX

Simbiente

Thermo Fisher Scientific

What will you do after university? What are the options available, and how to achieve them? These are some of the main questions we all think about. Fortunately, we will have Alumni from Bioengineering Masters who are in the next chapter of our lives and are willing to share their experience with us!

Location: Salão Nobre at Pavilhão Central (Central Building), 1st floor

▫️ The Boston Consulting Group is a global consulting firm, a world leader in business strategy, whose approach combines in-depth study of of the dynamics of companies and markets with close collaboration at all levels of the client company.

▫️ Get to know BCG by solving a real case together with Gil Luís (MSc in Biomedical Engineering from IST, with research focused in Neuroscience and Optimisation Models applied to Healthcare), which illustrates the daily life, challenges and opportunities of their consultants.

▫️ This “Crack the Case” workshop has 3 main objectives:
1. To share BCG’s approach to customer problem solving in an interactive way;
2. Share best practices in resolving case interviews and preparing for interviews;
3. Share the key characteristics that the market values in candidates for a consulting firm

▫️ Is Remote Surgery the newest healthcare revolution? With the expanding development of artificial intelligence in the medical field and the secondary effects of the pandemic, autonomous surgical robots are having an increasingly important role in the current surgical interventions, not only allowing surgeries to be much more precise but also benefiting patients in terms of a shorter recovery time.

The following panel will develop this topic:

The speakers…

▫️ Carlos Henrique has a MSc degree in Marketing Management and a Digital Marketing course. Currently, he works on the development of corporate innovation strategy and execution with different healthcare stakeholders to achieve the goal of implementing a successful multidisciplinary DAVINCI robotic program, representing the company Excelência Robótica.

▫️ Dr. Estevão Lima is a professor at the School of Medicine from the University of Minho and Coordinator of Urology in CUF Hospitals, with international recognition in the application of minimally invasive surgical techniques and new technologies in the field of urology and surgery, and recently in surgical navigation and ureteral stenting. He is also a founding partner of “Hydrumedical SA”, specialized in developing innovative medical devices. 

▫️ Dr. Carlos Vaz is the General Surgery consultant at Hospital CUF Infante Santo, head of the Robotic Surgery Unit, of the Colorectal Cancer Unit and of the Center for the Treatment of Obesity and Metabolic Diseases. He was the first to perform a robotic operation for General Surgery in Portugal and a robotic gastric bypass in the Iberian Peninsula.

The moderator…

▫️ Dr. Pedro U. Lima has a MSc degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering and a PhD in Electrical Engineering. He was President and founding member of the Portuguese Robotics Society and the National Delegate to EU and ESA Space Robotics programs. He is currently a Professor at IST and a researcher of the Institute for Systems and Robotics, where he coordinates the Intelligent Robots and Systems group and is Deputy President for Scientific Matters.

Do you know what Medical Image Segmentation is? In a very succinct way it refers to the process of extracting the desired object (organ or lesions) from a medical image (2D or 3D), which can be done manually, semi-automatically or fully automatically. One of the most challenging tasks in medical image analysis is to deliver critical information about the shapes and volumes of these organs.

Dr. João Manuel Tavares, MSc and PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering, a senior researcher at the Instituto de Ciência e Inovação em Engenharia Mecânica e Engenharia Industrial (INEGI) and Professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering (DEMec) of the Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto (FEUP), will be talking about his main research areas including medical imaging.

▫️ Do you know what is a brain computer interface (BCI) and its main applications? BCIs allow the interaction with the external environment by decoding the mental intention of individuals, so they can be used to address basic neuroscience questions but also to unravel a wide spectrum of applications from exoskeleton control to neurofeedback rehabilitation.

 ▫️ To talk about this topic, we bring to you the following panel of experts:

The speakers…

▫️ Gabriel T. Velloso has an undergraduate degree in Translation, a post-graduation in Foresight, Strategy and Innovation and he is currently enrolled in the Doctoral programme in Technology Assessment, focusing on BCIs, at the Interdisciplinary Center of Social Sciences (NOVA University).

▫️ Dr. Petia Georgieva, has a Ph.D. in Control System Engineering and a Ph.D. in Computer Science. She is a Senior Researcher at the Intelligent Robotics and Systems Lab in the Institute of Electronics Engineering and Telematics of Aveiro. Her research includes machine learning, deep learning, and data mining, focusing on BCI, medical imaging, robotics, and optical and wireless communications.

▫️ Dr. Athanasios Vourvopoulos, Ph.D. in Informatics Engineering and Research Fellow at the Evolutionary Systems and Biomedical Engineering Lab of the Institute for Systems and Robotics. His main research area involves using EEG-based BCIs with interactive systems for neurorehabilitation. Currently, his research is on using simultaneous EEG-fMRI modalities for developing robust neural decoders for rehabilitative BCIs, translating this technology from the lab into the real world.

The moderator…

▫️ Dr. Hugo Silva, PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Researcher at Instituto de Telecomunicações and Professor at the Bioengineering Department of IST. He is also the co-founder of multiple innovative technology-based companies operating in the field of medical devices for health and wellbeing. His main interests include biosignal research, system engineering, signal processing, and machine learning.

▫️ Biosignals, like all signals, must be carried by some form of energy. Their acquisition, transformation and interpretation are important to provide information about all live biosystems, including an individual cell, and their behavior.

▫️ These signals can be electrical, magnetic, mechanical, acoustic, chemical and optical. Depending on its classification, their motorization can be applied in different areas, like modern healthcare and even food technology.

Two speakers will be giving us an introduction to this subject:

▫️ Ana Sofia is a PhD student in Biomedical Engineering and a researcher at Instituto de Telecomunicações (IT-IST). Her research focuses on forecasting the probability of epileptic seizure occurrence. She is also part of ScientISST – a new student project that aims at accelerating scientific development and individual biomedical endeavours.

▫️ Afonso Ferreira is a MSc student in Biomedical Engineering at Instituto Superior Técnico and a researcher at Instituto de Telecomunicações (IT-IST), specializing in biomedical signals, image processing and instrumentation. More recently, he has been working on the development of innovative and discrete wearable devices for monitoring epileptic patients and researching various form factors of biomedical sensors alongside the ScientISST team.

▫️ It is up to medical professionals to make decisions regarding their patients, but that could change with artificial intelligence, which can predict with confidence the best decisions to make!

▫️ AI can analyze big sets of data and predict next steps for treatments, indicate potential problems and overall improve efficiency of medical professionals. It also allows for more personalized and optimized medicine, as it can analyze past and current data of the patient providing better diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment.

▫️ The following panel of experts will develop this topic:
The speakers…
▫️ Filipa Baptista graduated in Biomedical Engineering at IST and currently works at Siemens Healthineers, supporting the different opportunities in integrating in one single platform all the information produced in Laboratory, Imaging and X-Ologies, supported by digital assistants (AI).
▫️ Dr. Pedro Rodrigues has a PhD in Clinical Research and Health Services awarded by the Faculty of Medicine of University of Porto, where he currently works as an assistant professor, and he is also a researcher at CINTESIS and a collaborator at LIAAD – INESC TEC.
▫️ Dr. Nuno André da Silva has a PhD in Engineering from RWTH Aachen University and a MSc in Biomedical Engineering and Biophysics from Lisbon University. Nuno conducted translational research on advanced analytical methods for molecular imaging using hybrid MR-PET (humans and small animals) at the Forschungszentrum Jülich. Nowadays, he is deputy director and head of the Data Science Lab at Hospital da Luz Learning Health.
The moderator…
▫️ Dr. Mónica Oliveira, currently a full Professor in Health Care Management Science at the Engineering and Management Department of IST, a researcher at the Center for Management Studies of Instituto Superior Técnico (CEG-IST) and a research collaborator of the Institute of Biomedical Science of IST. She is also the coordinator of the redeSAÚDE of the University of Lisbon.

Still in doubt about what to expect after university? Take a look into this Alumni Session, where you’ll be able to hear about former students’ personal experiences and different career paths, and clarify some questions you might have on what awaits you as a Biomedical Engineer.

On the closing session, an explanation about each one of the courses involved in the organization of SBE will be given by their correspondingly coordinator – Prof. João Sanches (Biomedical Engineering), Prof. Arsénio Fialho (Biotechnology), Prof. Gabriel Monteiro (Biological Engineering), Prof. Jorge Morgado (Bioengineering and Nanosystems) and Prof. Jorge Leitão (Microbiology).

To end on a high note, join us on what will be the last talk of this amazing week!

Speakers:

Arsénio Fialho, PhD

Gabriel Monteiro, PhD

João Sanches, PhD

Jorge Morgado, PhD

Jorge Leitão, PhD