The Center for Computer Graphics (CCG) celebrated its 25th anniversary on November 23rd, the ceremony was attended by the Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education, Manuel Heitor. The session was also marked by the announcement of the investment of 3.5 million euros by the CCG over the next three years.

Located at the University of Minho campus in Azurém, CCG is dedicated to research and development in the areas of computer graphics, ICT and electronics. Throughout its 25 years of existence, the centre has received several prizes and awards, of which the Descartes II Prize (Europe) and Laval Virtual (France). In its first years of activity, the CCG was responsible for creating websites for the Expo 98, as well as for the Jornal de Noticias, the first newspaper in Portugal to have a website!

To commemorate this special event, there were several individuals who attended the anniversary, such as the Minister Manuel Heitor, the President of the Municipality of Guimarães, Domingos Bragança, and the Rector of UMinho, Rui Vieira de Castro.

In his speech, Manuel Heitor highlighted the “pioneering” role that this centre had in the national panorama, as well as the “excellence of its work”.

Excellence seems to have its continuity assured, as evidenced by the words of Professor Luís Amaral, Chairman of the Board of Directors of CCG. According to him, 3.5 million euros will be invested over the next three years, which will lead to the development of various research projects, as well as to increase its staff (from 65 to 86).

During the ceremony the “Innovation Awards 2018” where handed and the demonstration “musical at a distance” was exhibited. In this demonstration, the movements of the conductor were captured by a series of cameras, creating an avatar that led a group of musicians that was in another room of the building.