Two students from the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering of NOVA FCT have been awarded Doctoral Research Fellowships by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, I.P.), under the 2026 call in the field of Mechanical Engineering. Both stood out for the quality and scientific merit of their research proposals.
Bernardo Rodrigues Henriques secured his fellowship while still completing his master’s degree, He will pursue the project “Modelling Aneurysm Progression in the Ascending Aorta: A Patient-Specific Growth and Remodelling Approach”, supervised by Professors José Xavier and Tiago Silva (NOVA FCT/UNIDEMI) and Professor Stéphane Avril (IMT Mines Saint-Étienne, France).
His research aims to develop computational models to understand and predict the progression of ascending thoracic aortic aneurysms, contributing to a more personalised assessment of clinical risk. The 48-month fellowship includes a one-year research period in France.
Nuno Cidade do Carmo, PhD student, ranked 5th among 113 applicants with the project “Integrated Biomechanical Analysis and Advanced Computational Modeling for Safety in Autonomous Vehicles”, supervised by Professor Marta Carvalho (NOVA FCT/UNIDEMI) and Professor Hamid Lankarani (National Institute for Aviation Research, USA).
His work focuses on developing advanced biomechanical and computational models to assess the safety of occupants in autonomous vehicles, taking into account new interior configurations and seating positions. The fellowship includes a 24-month research stay at the Advanced Virtual Engineering and Testing (AVET) Lab in the United States.
UNIDEMI congratulates Bernardo, Nuno and their supervisors on this outstanding achievement and wishes them every success in their research careers!y