Abstract
There is a strong need to motivate students to learn science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects. This is a problem not only at lower educational levels, but also at college institutions. With this idea in mind, the School of Engineering of the Porto Polytechnic (ISEP) Electrical Engineering Department decided, in 2021, to launch a robotics competition in order to foster students' interest in the areas of robotics and automation. This event, named Robotics@ISEP Open, aims to raise awareness of the area of electronics, computing, and robotics among students, involving them in the use of techniques and tools in this area, and encompasses three distinct robotics competitions covering both manipulator arms and mobile robots. It is based on two main points of interest: (i) robotic competitions and (ii) outside class training in robotics, aimed at students who want support to participate in competitions. Since its first edition, the event has grown and internationalized and has already become a milestone in the academic life of ISEP. This paper presents the motivations that led to the creation of this event, its main organizational aspects, and the competitions that are part of it, as well as some results gathered from the experience accumulated in organizing it.

Abstract
The European Project Semester (EPS) at Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto (ISEP) is a capstone engineering design program where students, organised in multidisciplinary and multicultural teams, create a solution for a proposed problem, bearing in mind ethical, sustainability and market concerns. The project proposals are usually aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). New sustainable food production methods are essential to cope with the continuous population growth and aligned with SDG2 and SDG12. In this context, this paper describes the research and work done by a team of Erasmus students enrolled in EPS@ISEP during the spring of 2022. Since sustainable algae farming can be a suitable source of food, the team's goal was the design and develop a proof-of-concept prototype, named GREEN center dot flow, of a symbiotic aquaponic system to farm algae and fish. The smart GREEN center dot flow concept comprises a modular structure and an app for control and supervision. The proposed design was driven by state-of-the-art research, targeted to a specific market niche based on a market analysis, and considering sustainability and ethics concerns, all of which are described in this manuscript. A proof-of-concept prototype was built and tested to verify that it worked as intended.

Abstract
The integration of robot manipulators into additive manufacturing processes, particularly in fused filament fabrication, presents opportunities to overcome limitations of traditional three-axis systems. By leveraging the additional degrees of freedom, more versatile and efficient manufacturing solutions can be developed. However, this increased complexity introduces new challenges, including the need for trajectory planning that accounts for reachability, singularities, collision avoidance, and material deposition in various build orientations. This study focuses on the development and evaluation of trajectory generation approaches for robotic FFF using an ABB CRB 15000 manipulator. All approaches began with the same G-code input, and tests were conducted both in simulation and on the real robot. The results were analyzed in terms of trajectory accuracy, joint speed and acceleration profiles, parameters influence, and the quality of the printed parts.

Abstract
The paper presents an application of the new control paradigm, which is based on process moments, to a model of a DC motor. The basis of the new control paradigm is that it eliminates the process transfer function within the closed loop, as it estimates the final steady-state value of the process output and compares it with the reference signal. As a result, the closed loop response is much more stable and generally without overshoots. This property makes it suitable for application to motor-driven processes where overshoots is undesirable. It was shown that the control method provides very stable closed-loop responses even when the actual motor and the model parameters differ. It was also shown that the proposed method can be applied to constrained systems as the anti-windup protection is implicitly embedded in the control solution. © 2025 IEEE.

Abstract
The aging of the Portuguese population is a multifaceted challenge that requires a coordinated and comprehensive response from society. In this context, social service institutions play a fundamental role in providing aid and support to the elderly, ensuring that they can enjoy a dignified and fulfilling life even in the face of the challenges of aging. This research proposes a Balanced Multiple Traveling Salesman Problem based on the Ant Colony Optimization algorithm (ACO-BmTSP) to solve a distribution of meals problem in the municipality of Mogadouro, Portugal. The Multiple Traveling Salesman Problem (mTSP) is an NP-complete problem where m salesmen perform a shortest tour between different cities, visiting each only once. The primary purpose is to minimize the sum of all distance traveled by all salesmen keeping the tours balanced. This paper shows the results of computing obtained for three, four, and five agents with this new approach and their comparison with other approaches like the standard Particle Swarm Optimization and Ant Colony Optimization algorithms. As can be seen, the ACO-BmTSP, in addition to obtaining much more equitable paths, also achieves better results in lower total costs. In conclusion, some benchmark problems were used to evaluate the efficiency of ACO-BmTSP, and the results clearly indicate that this algorithm represents a strong alternative to be considered when the problem size involves fewer than one hundred locations.

Abstract
Information Systems (IS) projects are critical for organizational development, both in the private and public sectors. The relevance and complexity inherent in this type of project require management to be fully aware of the factors that influence success. This study contributes to the literature on public-sector IS project management by providing a comprehensive set of Success Factors (SFs) for different levels of the administration. The research method comprised a literature review, six case studies of central government, local government, and other types of administration, and a questionnaire-based survey of public sector IS experts. Forty-four SFs were identified, described, and organized in nine categories: organization and environment; strategy; project; scope; project manager and project team; stakeholders; vendors; clients and users; and monitoring and control. Our results add a new perspective to the theoretical body of knowledge on the SFs for IS projects in the public sector.