WBME 18th – Workshop On BioMedical Engineering

About Us

The main goal of this annual conference is to expose students, engineers, scientists and the overall academic and scientific communities to the greatest recent advances in the fields of Technology, Health and Biomedical Engineering taking place in some of the most prestigious research institutions. Each year different subjects are explored, always according to our audience's preferences. This is a 100% free event, and it also offers a participation certificate so make sure you don't miss it!

This is for you!
For fifteen years, WBME was held only for one Saturday. On the 18th edition we maintain the event molds, keeping the adding practical workshops in the following week, in order to provide students with a more in-depth knowledge and to teach them some useful tools for both their academic and professional career. Plus, being a completely free event, it's the perfect opportunity for students to brush up their skills and learn a bit more!

We hope this event will contribute to open new opportunities for research, from contact with people of the best science universities in the world, in this fascinating area that is changing the world of healthcare and life quality.
Join us from October 12th to 17th!

Program

Workshop: “Non-invasive brain stimulation with applications in rehabilitation”

12th October - 10:30 AM

Sofia FernandesDuration: 1h30
Location: IBEB - 0.09

OpenTalk “Stress, Anxiety and Pressure at the Academy”

13th October - 11:00 AM

Madalena PintãoDuration: 2h
Location: FCUL - 8.2.14

Workshop: "Introduction to Machine Learning: an application to breast cancer"

14th October - 5:00 PM

João MendesDuration: 1h30
Location: FCUL - 8.2.14

MasterClas “Pitching Biomedical Engineering (and still be listened to on that)”

15th October - 6:00 PM

Afonso SimõesLocation: FCUL - 1.3.14

Workshop “Robotic Surgery - The Role of Biomedical Engineering in the Operating Room”

16th October - 10:00 AM

Vasco SilvaDuration: 1h
Location: FCUL - 1.4.14

Workshop “Soft Skills”

16th October - 3:00 PM

Ana PrataLocation: FCUL - 8.2.19

Full Schedule

Monday
10/12

Tuesday
10/13

Wednesday
10/14

Thursday
10/15

Friday
10/16

Workshop “Non-invasive brain stimulation with applications in rehabilitation”
Sofia Fernandes
(Room 0.09 IBEB)

OpenTalk “Stress, Anxiety, and Pressure at the Academy”
Madalena Pintão (GAPsi)
(Room 8.2.14)
11:00AM – 1:00PM

Workshop
“Introduction to Machine Learning: an application to breast cancer”
João Mendes
(Room 8.2.14)

MasterClass
“Pitching Biomedical Engineering (and still be listened to on doing that)”
Afonso Simões
(Room 1.3.14)

Workshop “Robotic Surgery - The Role of Biomedical Engineering in the Operating Room”
Vasco Silva
(Room 1.4.14)

Workshop “Soft Skills”
Ana Prata
(Room 8.2.19)

Saturday
17/10

Check-in

Opening Session and Quiz

1st Lecture

Coffee Break with networking

2nd Lecture

Lunch

Roundtable

Coffee Break

3rd Lecture

Poster Presentation

Best Alumni

Closing session with poster winner reveal

Partners - lecture’s day

Patrícia Figueiredo

“Multimodal EEG-fMRI: Why, how, and what have we learned?”

Full Professor in the Department of Bioengineering at Instituto Superior Técnico (IST) and Principal Investigator at Institute for Systems and Robotics (ISR-Lisboa).

She holds an engineering degree in Physics from IST and a DPhil in Neuroimaging from the University of Oxford, with international appointments including Honorary Senior Lecturer at University College of London and visiting positions at the Martinos Center and École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne.

Dr Patrícia Figueiredo is interested in imaging human brain function noninvasively, by exploiting the wonderful versatility and never-ending possibilities of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and by combining this with the highly complementary technique of electroencephalography (EEG) whenever appropriate.

In one line of research, she seeks to obtain more quantitative measures of brain function by evaluating the underlying cerebrovascular dynamics through the integration of multiple MRI techniques, including imaging of tissue perfusion and cerebrovascular reactivity.

Raquel Mega is a Specialist in General Surgery at the Hepato-Bilio-Pancreatic Surgery and Transplantation Unit at Hospital Curry Cabral (Local Health Unit of São José, Lisbon).

Her clinical practice focuses primarily on abdominal organ transplantation, complex hepatobiliary surgery, and advanced gastrointestinal surgical pathology.

Alongside her hospital practice, she is actively involved in pre- and postgraduate medical education as an academic faculty member at NOVA Medical School (NOVA University Lisbon).

She is an author and co-author of numerous scientific publications and presentations at national and international medical congresses, contributing extensively to clinical research and professional surgical societies.

Raquel Mega

“The Future Is Now: Robotics in Liver Transplantation and Surgery”

Joaquim Alves da Silva

“Circuit mechanisms driving movement disorders”

Joaquim Alves da Silva is a physician, psychiatrist, and neuroscientist. He is a Principal Investigator at the Champalimaud Foundation and an Invited Assistant Professor at NOVA Medical School, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa.

He graduated in Medicine in 2003 and obtained his PhD in Medicine, specializing in Mental Health, in 2018. His research focuses on the neural circuits involved in motor control, particularly in Parkinson’s disease and other movement disorders.

Throughout his career, he has combined scientific research with teaching and has received several awards for his contributions to neuroscience

Henrique Vazão de Almeida received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Materials Engineering from Universidade NOVA.

Before starting his Ph.D., he worked in the Biomaterials field for 5 years. Henrique graduated in 2016 with his Ph.D. in Bioengineering from Trinity College Dublin, Ireland (Daniel J. Kelly and Fergal O’Brien as supervisors). In 2016, Henrique started to work as a Postdoc at Lino Ferreira’s Lab, and in 2017 he was awarded an FCT postdoctoral fellowship.

In the context of the postdoctoral fellowship in cardiac tissue engineering, he moved to ITQB/iBET. In 2019, he was awarded a junior PI funding (iBETXplore) to execute a project in the context of 3D bioprinted tissues for drug screening and disease modeling.

In 2021, Henrique was awarded the “Individual Call to Scientific Employment Stimulus - 3rd Edition” fellowship. In the context of his recently granted award, Henrique moved to CENIMAT|i3N. Henrique is a bioengineer, material engineer, and expert in nature-derived biomaterials.

He is interested in novel tissue engineering and regenerative medicine approaches to restore damaged biological tissues and bioengineer in vitro models. Currently, he is focused on developing cardiac tissue engineering strategies based on conductive biomaterials. He also started to work with point-of-care devices for disease management and regenerative medicine.

Henrique Vazão de Almeida

Afonso Germano

“Best Alumni”

Afonso Germano is a Biomedical and Biophysics Engineer who obtained his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon, completing his Master’s degree in 2025 with a final thesis grade of 20/20.

His research focused on developing a high-throughput, automated reach-to-grasp system to investigate motor control and movement disorders, particularly dystonia.

His work combined engineering and behavioural analysis to study motor function in animal models.

Currently at AstraZeneca, he focuses on developing artificial intelligence solutions and internal tools to automate workflows, empower teams, and drive the practical adoption of AI across daily operations.

Partners - Workshop’s week

Madalena Pintão

“Open Talk: Stress, Anxiety and Pressure at the Academy”

Clinical Psychologist at the Psychological Support Office of CIÊNCIAS (GAPsi).
Lecturer in curricular units focused on the development of transversal competencies and soft skills.

She is also involved in the dissemination of mental health-related content, having contributed as an author to podcasts such as Chá do Dia and À Toa na ULisboa, as well as to publications addressing a range of topics within the academic context.

Ana Prata bridges the gap between scientific research, business innovation, and public engagement.

Holding a master’s degree in Applied Microbiology, Ana launched their first startup to bring science-driven health and digital solutions to society.

Currently serving as a university professor, their work centers on academic knowledge valorization and fostering innovative university ecosystems.

Beyond teaching and venture creation, Ana actively empowers the next generation of STEM researchers through hands-on science communication workshops and a regular radio show.

Ana Prata

“Soft Skills”

Vasco Silva

“Robotic Surgery - The Role of Biomedical Engineering in the Operating Room”

A specialist in the field of robotic surgery, Vasco joins us from Medtronic.

In this workshop, Vasco Silva will discuss the importance of biomedical engineering in the operating room and the growing need for biomedical engineers in environments once reserved exclusively for healthcare professionals.

Take this opportunity to also learn more about Medtronic and the ongoing projects its employees are working on.

MSc in Biophysics and Biomedical Engineering (FCUL).

PhD student in Biophysics and Biomedical Engineering, focusing on AI applied to Breast Cancer Risk Prediction.

Data Scientist at XpandIT

João Mendes

“Introduction to Machine Learning: an application to breast cancer”

Afonso Simões

“MasterClass "Pitching Biomedical Engineering (and still be listened to on doing that)”

Biomedical Engineering and Biophysics MSc Student @Ciências ULisboa, @LASIGE & @ISR Técnico

Management MSc Student @NOVA SBE

Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Technology Transfer

Professor @Ciências ULisboa

Biomedical Engineering on the palm of your hands