By Andrea Hargraves 
New construction aimed at saving the sea and energy will start after summer. The complex includes a hundred companies and is almost full.
Construction of a new building in the Science and Innovation Park (PCI) begins in September, located on the outskirts of the municipalities of Aveiro and Alhavo. The information was published yesterday by João Veloso, Vice President of the University of Aveiro (UA), in an online broadcast of an integrated JN in celebration of the newspaper’s 133 years anniversary.
He explained that the building, which is the fourth to be part of the park, will have “an aspect related to the sea and energy economy, and areas of high proportion in AU research with a tremendous impact on society.” It will respond to the lack of space, PCI currently has more than a hundred companies and it is practically full. The new construction will be funded from community funds.
In the future, Joao Veloso added, another laboratory building dedicated to “health technology” is also planned, which will also accompany the research carried out in the African Union in relation to biomedical and bioengineering.
Despite the pandemic, demand for PCI has continued, which has foundations, associations and companies as shareholders, especially the University of Aveiro. “Many companies are looking to PCI to survive, seeing the potential it has due to technology transfer and innovation from the African Union,” says the university’s vice president.
International search
Pedro Almeida, the new director of the park, confirmed that the demand was very high, “not only at the national level, but also at the international level. Portugal is on the radar of large technology companies in various sectors,” noting that last week he received visits from “entrepreneurs”. . Brazil, Cape Verde and Portugal, who are looking for spaces to place their teams and work closely with the African Union. “
PCI, identified by Pedro Almeida, “is not looking for industrial projects, but for companies that bring innovation centers to help meet the challenges of the fabric of business and society.”
These are the cases of Watgrid, PICadvanced, LUGGit and Nu-ris, which are already bringing the products to the national market and across borders (read the texts on the side).
Pedro Almeida realizes that most companies in the region are still outside PCI, but says he is “committed to working to bring them together and support them in matters of technological solutions and solving the problem of the shortage of qualified workers.”
Take care of bags between hotel and flight time
What do you do with the luggage while traveling? This is the problem that LUGGit solves. Ricardo Figueiredo and João Pedrosa have created a platform that allows, in real time, to require the driver to collect bags and deliver them at an agreed time and place.
“It is common for people to arrive at a destination early and only have to check in at a later time at the hotel. Or they have to check out early, but the return flight will only be at the end of the day,” explains Ricardo, explaining that travelers want to. Make the most of time “and their bags often become a problem.” The company is located in Porto and Lisbon and intends to become international this year.
To facilitate the service request, an application has been created that can be downloaded on the mobile phone. The cost is around 18 euros. Luggage is kept in a safe place by company employees. Joao Pedrosa says each bag is sealed with an electronic buckle, allowing the customer to “know where the luggage is at any time”.
Made a unique device for the American giant
Cross-border PICadvanced stands out for technological innovation in the production of telecom components. The company, led by Anna Tavares and Francesco Rodrigues, has created a unique device for an American communications giant.
“We make the translator of the optical signal that is transmitted on the fibers into an electrical signal, which is that which everyday devices such as computers, boxes and cell phones” perceive “, which simplifies Francisco Rodriguez.
The product is completely made in Portugal. The technology is developed by a PCI based company. Then, a company in Águeda, a partner in PICadvanced, produces. The challenge now, in addition to keeping the secret, is to do it on a grand scale. By 2026, PIcadvanced wants to produce a million and a half of these devices. “It’s ambitious,” admits Francisco, but it is necessary for a “collective economy.” The company produces other devices for local operators.
Make radiation therapy more effective
Nu-Rise has developed a radiation therapy solution that helps make cancer treatments more effective. “We track the dose of radiation that is given to the patient,” explains Luis Moutinho, allowing “to identify deviations and optimize treatment,” since there is a real-time response. Colleague Joanna Melo explains that “increasing the precision of treatments” leads to “fewer trips to hospitals and fewer re-admissions.”
The prototypes developed by the company installed in PCI are already in the IPO in Porto and in public hospitals in Barcelona and Valencia in Spain. They revealed that they no longer existed because they did not have enough human resources to respond to requests from various places, “even from China”.
In the coming months, they want to increase the technical team and reach the North American market, where they have already received expressions of interest and have an indication that the accreditation processes are “faster,” says Lewis.
They “secured wine” for the largest company in the world
Watgrid has put technology at the service of wine quality control. “We have developed sensors for the bowls and barrels, in order to digitize the entire wine production process,” explains Ruggiero Nogueira, allowing the winemaker to see what is happening inside the vessels in real time.
In the normal brewing process, for example, “the winemaker has to regularly go to a bowl to take a sample of wine and analyze it,” but with the company’s sensors, based on the PCI, “it is no longer necessary to do this, because he has a device that constantly collects and sends information To the mobile phone, and alerts you if any problem occurs.
The company currently sells to some of the world’s largest wine producers, namely the United States, Chile, New Zealand, Australia and France, says Lucia Bellroux. In the future, the company intends to continue innovating and opening new markets, such as Germany and Israel.