StrongMar. 60 million to turn the technology into the sea – Observer

The Institute for Systems and Computer Engineering, Technology and Science (INESC TEC) will integrate 18 projects to develop marine technologies in Portugal over the next two years. The projects entered in StrongMar program, representing 60 million euro investment and arise from the desire to create a center of technological skills, geared especially to the deep sea.

Increase the qualifications of human resources of Portuguese researchers or working in Portugal, increase scientific and technological potential to Portugal, the investment in R & D [innovation and development] national, by raising European funding, or contribute to the sustainable exploitation of scientific potential, technological and economic Sea are some of the objectives of StrongMar “explains Eduardo Silva, coordinator of the Robotics Center and Systems Autonomous Institute.

StrongMar is a project of” training scientific, technological and economic feasibility of a national research group, in collaboration with foreign partners top, “officials say. Among these are the University of Aberdeen, the University of Girona, the Heriot-Watt University NATO Science & amp; Technology Organization. The Technological Algarve Research Centre (CINTAL) is another of the 100 partners who sided with the INESC TEC for the program.

All these projects make to have a network 100 partners, with whom we create synergies to go further in the investigation to the sea. Of the approximately 60 million representing 18 projects, INESC TEC absorbs approximately 20% [11 million] and is leading four, “says the official.

of 18 integrated projects in StrongMar, 11 are innovation and development (R & D), six of them Portuguese. Among them are the Turtle , a project that seeks to develop “the first underwater robotics platform deepwater in Portugal”, the CORAL , which is for the development of sensors for exploration resources in the deep sea and the country’s sub-fund, the My tag , which will work on a project “monitoring and dabs of follow-up in the ocean”, the 3Port for the management of port processes in an integrated manner, the SCAN , which will develop calibration systems for aquaculture, and the MareCom , you want to create an alternative to satellite and radio technologies VHF for communications at sea

Added to also three scientific training projects for the sea industry. – two of them developed by INESC TEC – and four projects to be financed by EEA Grants program, a program developed and financed by Norway (the main contributor of the program), Iceland and Liechtenstein, in order to reduce economic and social inequality between the countries of the European economic Area.

in addition to StrongMar, the Portuguese Institute account register by 2018, “three to five patents” related to projects for the sector, even assuming the objectives to “develop 10 to 12 prototypes,” do “about 36 operations” in the sea, publish around 24 articles on the topic in international journals, increase the number of employees in at least ten to year and see approved other projects related to maritime technologies.

the Institute also has filed a request to the Continent Platform Extension Portugal, which is currently “under review at the UN,” according to officials. If approved approved, could make the area of ​​the country grow “up to 4 million km2″, 40 times higher than the present, which would be important in view of the commitment of the Institute in the development of marine technologies.

Text edited by Pedro Esteves