Fernando Ribeiro, a researcher at the ALGORITMI Centre of the School of Engineering at the University of Minho, was honoured with the Gerhard Kraetzschmar Award at RoboCup 2025, which took place from 15 to 21 July in Salvador da Bahia.

In Brazil, the professor from the Department of Industrial Electronics at the School of Engineering of the University of Minho was recognised for his outstanding contributions, exceptional leadership, service and dedication, which have benefited RoboCup in all of its leagues over the years.

First awarded in 2022, this award aims to honour Gerhard K. Award (who passed away on 24 June 2019), who participated in RoboCup since its inception in 1997, contributing significantly to its development.

This distinction ‘represents not a point of arrival, but an incentive to continue contributing actively and collaboratively,’ says Fernando Ribeiro, adding: ‘I will continue to work hard on RoboCup initiatives, always with the aim of representing our ALGORITMI Centre with integrity and passion.’

The main driving force behind RoboParty, the world’s largest educational robotics initiative, organised at the University of Minho since 2007, the Guimarães native is the fourth personality in the world of robotics to receive this distinction. He succeeds Daniele Nardi (University of Rome, 2022), Amy Eguchi (University of California San Diego, 2023) and Elizabeth Sklar (University of Lincoln – United Kingdom, 2024).

SOURCE: ALGORITMI