DEEC students participate in the 4th edition of the Celfocus Merit Award in Machine Learning
On April 21st, students Diego Castañeda, Henrique Simões, and João Guilherme, from the Master's Degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Leonor Gonçalves, from the Master's Degree in Technological Physics Engineering, and Tomás Miguel, simultaneously enrolled in both courses, presented the finalist projects for the Celfocus Merit Award in a pitch format, developed within the scope of the Machine Learning curricular unit. The jury consisted of Professor Nuno Horta, president of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (DEEC), Professor Alexandre Bernardino, the professor responsible for the curricular unit at Técnico, and Bruno Ribeiro, a data scientist at Celfocus.
"I want to congratulate the five students who are here by their own merit," said Nuno Horta, congratulating the students on reaching this stage. Alexandre Bernardino also highlighted the finalists' academic performance and the rigor of the evaluation process.
The selection is purely focused on grades, reflecting your performance. I am very pleased to have students like you.
Alexandre Bernardino, responsible for the Machine Learning curricular unit
The professor also highlighted the support given by Celfocus to the curricular unit. Bruno Ribeiro complemented the intervention, underlining the importance of this contact between academia and industry.
Next, the presentations of the projects developed by the finalists took place. All of them aimed to contribute to the identification of mobility limitations and to the monitoring of the recovery process of patients in a physical therapy context.
Throughout the afternoon, reflections were presented on the inputs given to the systems, including data such as the sequence of patient movements in simple exercises, like brushing teeth, brushing hair, and flexing the hip, the analysis of symmetries and patterns, and the calculation of the effort exerted during the exercise. The projects aim not only to contribute to a faster detection of injuries but also to create a history of the evolution of patients who have suffered, for example, strokes.
Machine learning is not only about choosing the hardest model, but about framing the problem so it could be learned at all.
Diego Castañeda, finalist for the Celfocus Merit Award in Machine Learning
The merit award in Machine Learning annually distinguishes the student with the highest grade in the aforementioned curricular unit. This year, the winner will receive €2,500. A donation of €1,670 will also be awarded to improve the quality of education. The winner of the 2025/2026 edition will be announced at the Merit Awards ceremony on July 2nd.