Today, July 1st, the Tivoli BBVA Theatre in Lisbon hosts the prestigious HiTech 2026 Closing Session. Out of the ten finalist projects presenting their deep tech business cases, we are proud to highlight two pioneering projects from i3N research teams and one from AlmaScience, our associated laboratory.
Over the past four months, these teams have undergone intensive training and mentorship to transform cutting-edge scientific knowledge into market-oriented solutions. Their presence in the final underscores the impact and quality of innovation being developed within our ecosystem.
Meet the projects representing us today:
Developed by Ângelo Santos, Emanuel Carlos, Maria Pereira, Sara Silvestre, and Pedro Barquinha, FlexForge is a modular prototyping platform for flexible electronic circuits. By providing flexible substrates with prefabricated, discrete building blocks, it eliminates the need to fabricate new components for each design iteration, significantly reducing development time, cost, and complexity for flexible electronics.
Developed by Rui G. Gonçalves, António T. Vicente, and Manuel J. Mendes, SPARCS is a next-generation adaptive and modular solar platform. It allows anyone to assemble and reconfigure solar energy systems without tools or cables, using independent photovoltaic modules that adapt seamlessly to uneven surfaces and changing conditions.
Developed by Bruno Veigas, Mafalda Pereira, Tomás Pires, and João Resende, PetriTag is a microbiological sensing tag and platform designed for real-time food spoilage monitoring inside packaging. This sustainable solution enables early contamination detection, aiming to reduce food waste and improve safety across the supply chain.