Ricardo Correia, researcher from IT in Aveiro, won the Altice International Innovation Award 2020 in the Academy category.

In a record-breaking edition with more than 100 entries, Ricardo Correia was one of the first-place winners, receiving a 25,000 euro prize for his project “Passive Backscatter Sensors for Internet of Things Applications”.

The winning project aims to develop battery-free sensors charged by wireless power transmission, which transfer data through backscatter communication (using one frequency for transferring data and another frequency for receiving energy from transmitters). Its applicability is vast and may range from environmental monitoring to industrial control.

The Altice International Innovation Award (AIIA) was launched by Altice Labs, in September 2016, to recognize entrepreneurship and technological talent in Portugal, ultimately contributing to greater development and competitiveness in the telecommunications market.

Considered the highest monetary prize for technological innovation in Portugal, the AIIA grants winning projects a total of 75,000 euros every year — 50,000 euros in the Startups category and 25,000 euros in the Academy category.

The jury of the 2020 edition, which included renowned personalities from scientific, technological, economic and media sectors, received a record-breaking number of applications — a total of 116 entries.