The APBA and the Technological Campus Foundation awarded her work on the design of a Machine Learning (ML) tool for the planning of human resources and goods handling equipment in a container terminal.
Sara Robledo Blasco, student of the School of Industrial Engineering of the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV), received the III Algeciras Brainport Port Innovation Award for the Best Master’s Thesis in a ceremony held on Thursday 30th of March in the R+D+i Building of the Algeciras Technology Campus.
This international competition, sponsored by the Port Authority Bay of Algeciras (APBA) and the Algeciras Technological Campus Foundation (FCTA), aims to promote and encourage applied research and innovation related to the logistics-port and maritime activity that takes place around the Port Bay of Algeciras and continue recognizing the talent of university students and young researchers.
The award ceremony, held in person and broadcast by streaming, was attended by the sub-delegate of the Government of Andalusia in Campo de Gibraltar, Francisco Javier Rodríguez, the president of the APBA, Gerardo Landaluce, the mayor of Algeciras, José Ignacio Landaluce, the president of the Association of Municipalities, Juan Lozano and the head of the APBA Technological Development Area, Jesús Medina, as well as the director of the FCTA, Rosa Rodríguez, who presented the ceremony.
The President of the APBA recalled precisely the three revolutions announced last week by the President of the Andalusian Government in which Andalusia is immersed: energy, green and innovation, the latter being the horizontal axis that vertebrates the work of the Port Authority. Landaluce reviewed the different milestones achieved in this respect by the institution in recent months, such as the creation of the Innovation Committee or the commitment to training with qualifications such as the University Expert in Digital Transformation, advances that ultimately aim to create “A Digital District”.
All these initiatives, as advanced by the head of Technological Development of the APBA, Jesús Medina, are included in the recently created Algeciras Port Digital Academy, a programme of activities which, among its initiatives, includes the recent collaboration started with the IES Saladillo (which teaches in Algeciras the Formative Cycle of Medium Grade Microcomputer Systems and Networks, and the Higher Level Training Cycle Multiplatform Applications Development), the companies Maersk, TTIA, APM Terminals and NextPort, which aims to bring local talent closer to port companies, training students and increasing their employability. Medina also announced that the Port of Algeciras will be the 5G Training Centre in the province of Cadiz through a training programme launched by Vodafone and the Ministry of Employment, Enterprise and Self-Employment of the Andalusian Regional Government.
Prior to the presentation of the awards, the two finalist projects, presented by the same candidates and focusing on some of the focuses and objectives of port innovation, were announced. In addition to Sara Robledo, the other finalist in the competition was Consuelo Albarrán Gómez, from the Master’s Degree in Systems and Computer Engineering Research at the University of Cadiz (UCA).
The works were evaluated by a jury made up of members of the port-logistics innovation field, representatives of the academic world and experts in the evaluation of entrepreneurial initiatives. The assessment was based on criteria such as the technical and technological feasibility of the projects, the degree of impact or maturity, and their innovative nature and strategic fit.
The prize consists of a six-month paid scholarship at the APBA, where the winner will also be given the opportunity to further develop their project, as well as a €1,200 grant from the Technological Campus Foundation and thanks to funding from the Department of Economic Transformation, Industry, Knowledge and Universities of the Regional Government of Andalusia.
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