Interdisciplinarity and Innovation in the Spotlight at ISMAT with the Visit of the PUC-Rio Researcher
Design.ISMAT had the honour of welcoming Professor Dr. Jorge Lopes from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio) this week. The visit offered multiple opportunities for interaction between the professor and the undergraduate students in Communication Design, through a diverse set of academic and extracurricular activities.
Throughout the week, the professor was present at the Cocoon Lab, where he provided specialised consultancy and demonstrated the operation of a clay printer. He also delivered two lectures — one in the ISMAT auditorium and another at the MODO association — in addition to direct interventions in classroom settings.
With a deeply interdisciplinary academic and professional background, Prof. Dr. Jorge Lopes works in the fields of product design, rapid prototyping, and biodesign, developing research and consultancy projects in areas as diverse as medicine, biology, the oil industry, archaeology, Egyptology, visual arts, and virtual, augmented, and extended realities.
His doctoral research, conducted at the Royal College of Art in London, combined design and medicine, and is currently on display at the Science Museum in London and the Onassis Foundation in Athens. His work has been featured on 18 covers of international scientific journals in the fields of medicine and biology, including the prestigious Nature.
As a consultant for the Cocoon project, the professor took part in the administrative meeting held at IAAC – Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia in Barcelona during the last week of March, alongside researchers from ISMAT, the University of Porto, Aalto University (Finland), and the FabLab in Reykjavik (Iceland).
During his stay in Portimão, he also addressed around 130 secondary school students who participated in the bootcamp organised by Design.ISMAT. The week concluded with an institutional meeting with ISMAT’s Academic Director, Prof. Dr. Rui Loureiro, during which potential partnerships and future joint projects in the professor’s various areas of expertise were discussed.
