Posts

TIMREX Steering Commitee Meeting, 27-28 June 2024, Wroclaw, Poland

/in /by

La Palma Research Centre joined the TIMREX consortium in Wroclaw, Poland, on the 27-28 June 2024, as part of the project’s yearly Steering Committee meeting. This event was hosted by the partner Wroclaw University of Science and Technology.

The meeting began with welcome words and practicalities, followed by the overview of the agenda and the objectives of the meeting. After that, all partners engaged in discussions about administrative topics and workplan with regards to the different components of the TIMREX programme. The latest editions of the Summer School and Applied Field Exploration course were presented, including the feedback provided by the participating students, followed by discussions on how to improve these actions for next students. The Exploration entrepreneurship course, a strong entrepreneurial component of TIMREX programme, was also presented.

After that, the partners overviewed the thesis topics of the students and their internship activities as TIMREX students. The purpose of this section was to monitor the academic progress of the students, and to plan the necessary actions to fulfill the objectives of the study programme. LPRC presented the work done on Communication and Dissemination matters and how the efforts are helping the project.

Finally, the partners engaged in discussing the targets to be met in the near future and to assess the possibilities to extend the partnership for additional years.

La Palma Research Centre

LPRC presents itself to the TIMREX MSc programme students

/in /by

La Palma Research Centre (LPRC) was present at an event to introduce the non-academic partners to the students of the TIMREX MSc programme. The Partner Introductory Event was an opportunity for students to learn about the activities and added value from industry partners in TIMREX with regards to innovations in mineral exploration and the opportunities for students to join their activities.

LPRC presented the company, its mission and vision for the geosciences and sustainable development. The presentation then focused on the TIMREX work on mapping Innovation and Entrepreneurship-related skills and competencies, how these are considered in TIMREX and how students can benefit from acquiring certain skills for professional and personal development alike. The title of the presentation was “Defining future skills and competencies needs for the raw materials sector”.

Work will continue with the integration in the TIMREX curricula of means to deliver the selected skills and competencies.

 

LPRC contributes to the 4th UNEXUP Progress meeting

/in /by

The UNEXUP consortium had the opportunity to meet in person for the first time since the kick-off-meeting of the project, held in Budapest, Hungary, in early February 2020. During this period of time, three Progress Meetings were held online, due to the travel restrictions and different phases related to the ongoing pandemic that Europe is facing.

The 4th Progress Meeting took place in Porto, Portugal, on 25-26 January 2022, hosted by the partner INESC TEC. The event was hybrid, and the attendance comprised participants both in person and in virtual mode. The first day of the event was initiated with welcome words and practicalities by the UNEXUP Coordinator Norbert Zajzon, followed by a short presentation about general aspects of the project. After that, the Work Package (WP) leaders were invited to present the progress and future steps of their activities.

LPRC is the leader of WP4 – Communication, dissemination and outreach, whose tasks are related to the communication & dissemination management, development and maintenance of the outreach tools, and raising market interest. In this context, Márcio Tameirão presented the past, current, and future activities and tools to support the work plan. In addition, LPRC’s work in WPs 0 (Market strategy and business development portfolio) and 2 (Pilots) were also reflected in their respective presentations. This session was followed by an open discussion and input from the Advisory Board of the project.

The UNEXUP Final Conference will be held in Brussels, Belgium, and LPRC will provide support related to organization and planning of the agenda and venue. It will be a great opportunity to showcase the robot and engage with stakeholders and potential customers of the exploration service in the final months of the project.

Follow the project on the website for more news.

LPRC participates on a new EIT RawMaterials Education project!

/in /by

TIMREX is a newly started EIT RawMaterials project that will develop a Master’ Programme for Innovative Mineral Resource Exploration. The project started in the beginning of 2022, and it will be concluded at the end of 2024.

The Kick-off meeting was held on Friday 14th January 2022, online with the 10 partner institutions, including LPRC. A total of 20 participants had the chance to discuss the initials steps and work plan in TIMREX. From LPRC, Luís Lopes (leading WP4) and Márcio Tameirão (leading WP7) were present.

The meeting started with welcome words from Ferenc Mádai, the Project Coordinator, from University of Miskolc. Afterwards, each partner had a few seconds to briefly introduce themselves to the other participants. In the sequence, the Project Coordinator proceeded with an overview of TIMREX, the main objectives, timeline, and the KPIs to be pursued. Subsequently, both the universities and the industrial & research members of the consortium presented their organisations and their role in the project. In this ocasion, Luís Lopes presented LPRC and its competences to be brought to TIMREX.

The last session consisted of presentations of each Work Package, by their respective leaders, comprising its objectives, timeline and expected impacts:

  • WP1 – Management and Governance (University of Miskolc)
  • WP2 – Curriculum development towards Lighthouse targets (Wroclaw University of Science and Technology)
  • WP3 – Mobility scheme development and labelling (University of Zagreb – Faculty of Mining, Geology and Petroleum Engineering)
  • WP4 – Innovation and Entrepreneurship modules development (La Palma Research Centre)
  • WP5 – Mentoring and SOC competences development ( European Federation of Geologists)
  • WP6 – Field program development, organization and coordination ( Luleå University of Technology)
  • WP7 – Dissemination and outreach (La Palma Research Centre)

Follow the project updates and news on the website.

LPRC active during the last MOBI-US project Workshop

/in /by

The final event of the MOBI-US project was held in Zagreb, Croatia, on 20-21 September 2021. The MOBI-US Workshop 2 was dedicated to consortium partners and other leaders of the MSc programs involved in MOBI-US. A total of 17 participants had the opportunity to meet in person for the first time since the project’s kick-off meeting, in Budapest, Hungary. From La Palma Research Centre, Luís Lopes and Márcio Tameirão were present.

The first day started with welcome words by the Project Coordinator, followed by the MOBI-US achievements and promotional materials that have been produced to raise awareness on the project (developed by LPRC). Afterwards, the MSc program leaders were divided in groups in a Workshop-like exercise co-organised and co-mentored by LPRC. The goal was to foster the implementation of entrepreneurial & innovation skills in the offered education programs in MOBI-US.

The next block was dedicated to the improvement of project-based courses and curriculum fitness check of the mobility pathways, before the wrap-up of the first day of the event.

The second and final day of the Workshop started with an analysis made by the mentors on the submitted SWOT analyses and action plans from the Training event. During this ocasion, LPRC members made their mentoring comments on the received materials in order to support the development of joint cooperation. Finally, the consortium partners discussed about the potential future of MOBI-US.

The MOBI-US team

Stay tuned on the project’s communication channels to learn more about the final weeks of MOBI-US!

UNEXMIN GeoRobotics

LPRC representing UNEXUP at RawMat2021!

/in /by

From 5 – 9 September 2021 the academic community, engineers, scientists, industry executives, stakeholders and policy makers, and other professionals in the field of raw materials have attended the RawMat2021 Conference, an event that took place both in virtual and in person formats. The International Conference on Raw Materials and Circular Economy was held in Athens, Greece, and it was mostly focused on the technological developments and future challenges regarding Raw Materials, with emphasis given on Circular Economy aspects. In this opportunity, the abstract submitted by the UNEXUP consortium was approved to be presented at the event.

As Work Package Leader on Communication and Dissemination (WP4), LPRC represented UNEXUP at the event. The presentation titled “UNEXUP, a robot-based surveying technology for flooded mines and other underwater structures” was held on 6 September, under SESSION A4 – Mine of the future and transition to Industry 4.0. It covered the overall details of the project, the robotic technology, commercialization, and also the four field missions that took place in the past months.

Márcio Tameirão presented the UNEXUP project at RawMat2021.

The reports and webpages dedicated to the field missions of the UNEXUP project are under development, and LPRC will publish them on the website and share on social media whenever they become available. Meanwhile, follow the project news on the website and Social Media (@UNEXUP)!

LPRC @ EIT RawMaterials Brokerage

/in /by

LPRC took part as one of the many participants of the recent EIT RawMaterials Brokerage event on the Call for Projects 2022 (KAVA 8). This was the first opportunity to listen from EIT RawMaterials themselves on what they want for the upcoming calls. Thanks to the event, LPRC gained knowledge that will sure implement in the elaboration of the future proposals for this year.

LPRC is an Associated Partner of EIT RawMaterials for 2021 and, therefore, it is able to participate and lead proposals.

If you are interested in collaborating in a proposal with us for this year’s EIT RawMaterials Call for Projects, please let us know!

LPRC attending “New Challenges in the Mineral Raw Materials Industry: Safety, Digitalisation, Technology & Innovation”

/in /by

On Thursday, 12 November 2020, the Cluster Portugal Mineral Resources and the Centre for Robotics and Autonomous Systems | INESCTEC, with the support of EIT RAW MATERIALS & TEC4SEA, organized an online Workshop entitled “New Challenges in the Mineral Raw Materials Industry: Safety, Digitalisation, Technology & Innovation”. This event was in the scope of the Raw Materials Week 2020, with the purpose of emphasizing the importance of the mineral raw materials in our everyday lives, and to discuss the strategies to be pursued in order to guarantee the constant supply of raw materials in Europe.

In this opportunity, Norbert Zajzon – project coordinator of UNEXUP – was invited to talk about the project in the first Session of the event, as one of the ongoing EIT RawMaterials projects. LPRC, as Work Package leader on communication & dissemination, attended the online workshop to work on the dissemination activities of the project, and report about the outcomes of the event.

Luís Lopes and Márcio Tameirão represented the company and supported this successful event co-organized by EIT RawMaterials.

Call for participation in our projects!

/in /by

La Palma Research Centre is a partner in many EU-focused projects. Some of these projects are calling out for stakeholders involvement in their tasks. Find below what projects are open for participation and how you can get involved with them.

MOBI-US – The project will host an online workshop about its future Masters mobility program on the 3oth of June and 1st of July, two hours each day, from 9h to 11h. Participation is free, but requires registration.

UNEXUP – UNEXMIN’s natural follow-up, UNEXUP has an open pilot policy – if you have an underwater structure and have interest in getting it surveyed with top notch technology, then this is your oppportunity. Get in touch with the project through the contact form.

ROBOMINERS – LPRC is leading the Active clustering and roadmapping efforts. Therefore, engagement with stakeholders is a given. At this moment, the team is collecting projects and persons willing to do clustering activities (exchange information, debate) and to participate in focus groups to discuss the ROBOMINERS technology and the future of mining itself. Get in touch through the project’s contact form.

Your participation is always relevant and can shape the future of this projects now and beyond!