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Editorial
I have just returned from a week-long visit to the newly inaugurated Huawei Lianqiu Lake R&D Center in the People’s Republic of China. My first impression upon arrival was that the center had already achieved one of its primary goals: it is designed to impress. Built from the ground up in just four years on the outskirts of the 25-million-people megacity of Shanghai, it is grand in every sense.
The campus, modeled after a modern city built around an artificial lake and filled with coffee shops and restaurants, spans over 100 Western-style buildings. These are connected by an internal train line and hundreds of electric bicycles. Conceived as a hub for research in information and communication science and technology, the center aims to attract 35,000 Chinese and international engineers and scientists, all dedicated solely to R&D. To put the scale of the investment in perspective: the cost of this center is estimated to be two to three times the annual budget of the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, FCT.
Even during my brief visit, I observed several noteworthy things. First, the atmosphere is far less secretive than what I experienced at the former Shanghai R&D Center. Second, the buildings remain open after dinner, and they are bustling with researchers. I saw many people dining between 6:00 and 7:00 p.m., only to return to work until 9:00 or 10:00 p.m. Third, most of the R&D engineers are young and hold only a Master's degree, not a Ph.D. Their 6-year university training, combined with two to three years at the company, is sufficient for them to function as full-fledged researchers.
Given all this, I think it is not a surprise that the United States and Europe are doing everything they can to curb the growth of this technological giant. Still, I would argue that instead of trying to hinder it, perhaps we should consider learning from its example.
José Carlos Pedro
(IT President)
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Carlos Fernandes recognized with the Lifetime Achievement Award by PTSpace
Carlos Fernandes, Senior Researcher at Instituto de Telecomunicações and Professor at Instituto Superior Técnico, was honored by PTSpace with a prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award (“Prémio Carreira”), in recognition of his outstanding professional career.
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IT at the 29th edition of Ciência Viva 2025
Instituto de Telecomunicações is returning for the 29th edition of Ciência Viva Labs, offering three dynamic workshops, in the fields of Antennas and Propagation, Telecommunications, and Biomedical Engineering, in July 2025, specifically designed for high school students.
more >>
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Ana Sofia Carmo won the 2nd Place in the 3rd Edition of the 3 Minute Thesis (3MT) Competition
Ana Sofia Carmo, our PhD student in Biomedical Engineering, has earned 2nd place in the 3rd Edition of the 3 Minute Thesis (3MT) Competition at the University of Lisbon. The award was given by Fátima Fonseca, Director of Science and Technology of FLAD.
more >>
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FCT Announces Results of Exploratory Projects under the CMU, MIT, and UT Austin Portugal Programs
IT is among the four Portuguese research institutions recognized in this call, with two awarded projects in the field of Quantum Communications.
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FCT Announces Provisory Results of the PT2030 Project Competition in all Scientific Domains
Five of our researchers were awarded funding in this call, from the areas of Organic Electronics, Optics and Photonics, Networks and Services, and Information and Data Sciences (Multimedia Signal Processing).
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PROJECT SNAPSHOT | XAIface
Measuring and Improving Explainability for AI-Based Face Recognition
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As face recognition technologies become increasingly integrated into our daily lives, from unlocking smartphones to enhancing security systems, concerns about fairness, transparency, and accountability have become more pressing than ever.
XAIface project, coordinated by Fernando Pereira, was launched in direct response to these challenges, aiming to build AI systems that are not only high-performing, but also explainable, fair, and legally sound.
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We caught up with Nuno Borges de Carvalho to learn more about him and his teamwork, in the scope of Radio Systems at Instituto de Telecomunicações in Aveiro, Portugal.
The interview focused on assessing the current dependence of wireless networks on conventional power grids and how your work has addressed this challenge, including the use of alternative energy sources, like, for example, the blackout that occurred in Portugal this past April.
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Filipe Conceição
High-Performance Transmission Techniques Using Radio Stripes
Filipe Conceição completed his PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering, with expertise in Telecommunications, at the University of Coimbra on January 13th, 2025, under the supervision of Marco Gomes, Vitor Silva, and Rui Dinis (IT/UC).
His dissertation focused on optimizing resource allocation in the uplink to improve spectral and power efficiencies in radio stripe networks. Additionally, alternative techniques were proposed to reduce computational complexity in centralized implementations.
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Adebayo Abejide
Optimization of Hybrid Structures in Integrated Photonics
Adebayo Abejide completed his PhD in Electrical Engineering at the University of Aveiro on January 22nd, April, under the supervision of António Teixeira and Mário Lima (IT/UA).
His thesis addresses the growing bandwidth demands in optical access networks by optimizing Intensity Modulation with Direct Detection (IM-DD) for short-reach Passive Optical Networks (PON). It proposes hybrid binary and multilevel modulation schemes, enhancing spectral efficiency using low-complexity and cost-efficient oDAC technologies. It also develops a fabrication tolerance model for oDAC-based PAM-4 transmitters using a photonic programmable mesh.
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Raquel Martins
Data fusion of microwaves and ultrasound imaging modalities for improved breast cancer screening
Raquel Martins is developing a thesis on data fusion of microwaves and ultrasound imaging modalities for improved breast cancer screening, at Instituto Superior Técnico, under the supervision of Carlos Fernandes and João Felício.
Her thesis is focused on the detection of breast cancer using microwave imaging. Microwaves are non-ionizing, present slightly better tissue contrast than X-rays, and the exam is potentially more affordable.
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