Chair
Hugo Humberto Plácido da Silva
Contacts:
Biography:
Hugo is an award-winning inventor, researcher, and entrepreneur, having co-founded multiple innovative technology-based companies, operating in the fields of biomedical devices and data science for healthcare and quality of life. He obtained his Habilitation in Biomedical Engineering and completed his PhD in Electrical and Computers Engineering both from the Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), University of Lisbon (UL), where he is currently an Invited Assistant Professor. Hugo is also a Senior Researcher and Coordinator of the “Information and Data Science” thematic line at the IT – Instituto de Telecomunicações, to which he is affiliated since 2004. Both at a technical and scientific level, he has actively contributed to and participated in more than 60 national and international projects, funded by grants from Horizon Europe, Portugal 2030, Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT), and several other private and public institutions (e.g. Vodafone, Nokia, and others). Hugo has 10 granted patents and published 270+ papers in peer reviewed journals, international refereed conferences, and book chapters. His work has been distinguished both internationally and domestically with several awards, including the IEEE Entrepreneurship Impact Award, “Career Award alumniIPS”, the “Best Industrial and Enabling Technology” at the European Commission’s DG-CONNECT Innovation Radar Prize, or the Ordem dos Engenheiros Young Engineer Innovation Award, just to name a few. Hugo is an IEEE Distinguished Lectured since 2025, IEEE Senior Member since 2018, and IEEE Member since 2010, affiliated with the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. Furthermore, he has been appointed Member of the European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems (ELLIS) / Lisbon Unit for Learning and Intelligent Systems (LUMLIS).
Vice-Chair
Maria de Fátima Domingues
Contacts:
Fátima is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Biotechnology at Khalifa University (BMEBD-KU) in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and a Collaborator at IT – Instituto de Telecomunicações. She obtained her PhD in Physical Engineering from the University of Aveiro, Portugal, in December 2014, and in 2015 began a Postdoctoral position at IT and at the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) – Madrid, Spain. Fátima is currently the principal investigator in the area of photonics applied to biomedicine at BMEBD-KU, an area in which she has published more than 130 scientific articles in high-impact journals and conferences. In 2024, she was included in the group of the 2% most cited scientists in the world, according to rankings by Stanford University and Elsevier. Her current areas of interest and research are focused on the development of optical sensors for biomedical applications, namely, for monitoring physical rehabilitation processes, detecting biomarkers, and other physiological parameters. In conjunction with these research lines, she has also actively collaborated on several projects, both nationally and internationally, and is frequently recruited as a project evaluator for entities such as the European Research Council (ERC) and the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (HORIZON MSCA DN). In the area of dissemination and professional development, M Fatima Domingues has served on organizing committees for several international scientific conferences and meetings, including IEEE HealthCom 2022 and 2025, IEEE WF-IoT 2024, 2025 and 2026, IEEE ICC 2024 and Globecom 2025. She is a Senior Fellow of the IEEE and an active member of several IEEE Societies.
Secretary
Letícia Costa de Sousa
Contacts:
Biography:
Letícia Sousa is a master’s student in Biomedical Engineering at Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), where she completed her undergraduate degree with a Diploma of Academic Excellence. Currently, she is part of the “PhD Fast Track” doctoral program at IST, which allows her to begin her doctoral research early, focusing on the development of biomedical sensors for monitoring fatigue and physical activity. The merit of her final undergraduate project, focused on integrating Biomedical Engineering into STEAM education for high school students, was recognized, having obtained the highest possible final grade and being selected for publication and presentation at the International Conference of the Portuguese Society for Engineering Education (CISPEE2025).
Treasurer
Patrícia Justo Bota
Contacts: