Alexandre Ferreira da Silva, Assistant Professor and Researcher at CMEMS (Center for MicroElectroMechanics Systems) at the School of Engineering, leads one of the six projects approved in the tender for Exploratory Projects of the CMU Portugal Program. The “PROMETHEUS” project aims to provide a low-cost platform for a small satellite, which will revolutionize teaching and research in space.

The CMU Program (Carnegie Mellon University) Portugal competition, with 33 eligible applications, ended with 6 projects proposed for funding, totaling €390,580 of investment.

The “PROMETHEUS – PocketQube Framework Designed for Research and Educational access to Space” seeks to provide a platform for a small cubic-shaped satellite with 5 cm on a side (called PocketQube), ideal for Research and Teaching. Currently, it appears that there are no low-cost solutions that allow easy access to space and that enable an aerospace experience, through the learning and assembly of a simple satellite. This barrier is critical and limits Research and Teaching opportunities, due to the lack of experience in this environment.

The Exploratory Research projects of the CMU Portugal 2021 Program are intended to support teams of researchers from Portuguese institutions, Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and business partners, to initiate research activities with high impact potential and strategic relevance for the Program. Carnegie Mellon Portugal (CMU Portugal). The projects will develop research in subjects as diverse as: data science applied to health care, creation of satellites (PocketQube), human-robot interaction, traffic supervision for Cybercrime Investigation, artificial intelligence applied to customizable robotic exoskins, and detection of injection vulnerabilities in node.

The MIT Portugal and CMU Portugal Programs are part of a network of international cooperation programs between Portugal and institutions from several countries under the goPORTUGAL initiative – Global Partnerships in Science and Technology, promoted by the FCT.