The Pedro Oliveira Innovation Award honors the research projects that Exame Informática considered to be the most innovative of the year. This year's edition of “The Best & The Biggest of Technological Portugal” honored a Técnico research project, comprised of a partnership between Institute for Plasmas and Nuclear Fusion (IPFN), the Institute for Systems and Robotics (ISR), the Center for Nuclear Sciences and Technologies (C2TN) and Institute of Telecommunications (IT) of University of Aveiro.

The big event organized by Exame Informática and VISÃO, annually distinguishes entrepreneurs, innovators and companies in the field of Technology, in the categories: National Brand, Manufacturer of the Year, VOLT, Social Responsibility, Digital Service and Innovation - Pedro Oliveira.

The FRIENDS project has been distinguished with honorable mention in the Innovation - Pedro Oliveira category and Professor at IST and Researcher at IPFN Alberto Vale was present at the ceremony which took place on November 23 at the Portuguese Communications Foundation in Lisbon. The FRIENDS Project -Fleet of dRones for radIological inspEction, commuNication anD reScue Development - aimed for the development of a solution with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for communication support in search and rescue missions. This goal had particular emphasis in disaster scenarios and in the presence of radioactive material, in which UAV allow safer inspection and monitoring.