Researchers from CITIC at UDC, Paula Castro and Adriana Dapena, recently conducted a workshop titled “Signals and Sensors” at the ADCOR Foundation in A Coruña, as part of the tuTIC project: Technology, Inclusion, and Creativity. This Service-Learning (ApS) initiative aims to build bridges between university education and the third sector by developing technology projects linked to the subjects of the Computer Engineering degree at Universidade da Coruña.

Third-year students specializing in Computer Engineering delved into sound processing and the design of accessible interfaces, with the goal of creating inclusive solutions. As a result, several musical games and an interactive piano based on ultrasonic sensors were developed and shared with the users of the ADCOR Foundation.

Teaching innovation award

The collaboration between the university and social entities also received institutional recognition. Recently, researcher Adriana Dapena was awarded second prize in the category of Reducing Inequalities at the 4th UDC Service-Learning Teaching Innovation Awards. This accolade highlighted her work as a supervisor of a final degree project, which developed an application aimed at people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) to work on routines, emotions, and irony. This project was also recognized by the NTT Data Chair at the XoveTIC Congress.

These activities demonstrate the commitment of the researchers at the ICT Research Center (CITIC) to the Service-Learning model as a tool to bring technology closer to people, especially to groups with functional diversity. Some of these projects were also presented at the exhibition celebrating the 10th anniversary of Service-Learning at UDC, recently held in Ferrol.