Last week, on the 5th of February, SILAB hosted their first event by welcoming a group of senior citizens to Instituto Superior Técnico, not only to visit the Alameda campus but also to test DETU – a platform developed by a group of students in the Industrial Management and Environment course, which aims to help seniors with mobility issues.
Ana Carvalho, the co-founder of SILAB and professor at the Department of Engineering and Management, welcomed the group by briefly introducing SILAB and DETU. Catarina Carvalho, Ariana Fernandes, Pedro Ramos, and Sofia Moraes Sarmento, the DETU team, then took control of the event and explained the process behind the testing – each senior participant would test the platform, and would answer a questionnaire regarding the experience. Throughout the testing, the participants who had concluded were invited to enjoy the coffee break prepared for them.
Once the testing phase had finished, the seniors were divided into two groups and went to visit the Civil Engineering Museum and the Institute for Systems and Robotics (ISR- Lisboa). The event came to an end with a debrief by the DETU team on the platform performance and their future work.
We would like to thank the dynamic senior group who accepted our invitation to be part of this event and also congratulate the DETU team for their outstanding project.
By integrating senior citizens in the community and involving them with students we are promoting an interchange of information and experience that is beneficial for society, and this is what SILAB fuels on!
Check the photos and the video of the event.
