The former Electrical and Computer Engineering MSc student, João Serra, won the “Best Thesis Award” in the field of telecommunications. The award ceremony took place last Wednesday, 12th May. The “Best Thesis Award” was launched by the Portuguese Association for the Development of Communications (APDC), in partnership with the Consortium of Portuguese Schools of Engineering (CEE), and aims to recognise the best master theses in the fields of information technology, telecommunications and media.

When João Serra applied for the “Best Thesis Award”, he was aware that his work would compete directly with “high quality theses”, but he decided to apply anyway. “Obviously, I feel happy and very grateful for the support of professor Carlos Fernandes, professor Sérgio Matos and Dr João Felício”, says João Serra.

The work “Dual-Band Beam Scanning Antenna for the Satellite Ka-Band Based on Rotary Transmit Arrays” proposes an innovative low profile, very low-cost beam scanning ka-band antenna for the user terminal of mobile satellite internet systems, at 30 GHz. “Telecommunications, especially Antennas and Radio propagation, have always captivated me”, says João Serra, who is currently attending the Doctoral programme in Telecommunications at Técnico, under the supervision of professor Mário Silveirinha.

An award that recognises talent in the areas of information technology and telecommunications

Launched in February 2021, the “Best Thesis Award” aims to reward the merit of students from partner universities of the Consortium of Portuguese Schools of Engineering (CEE): Técnico, Faculty of Engineering – University of Porto, School of Engineering – University of Minho, University of Aveiro, NOVA School of Science and Technology and Faculty of Sciences and Technology – University of Coimbra. The 1st edition of the award received 53 applications, of which only 46 met the eligibility criteria.