Students present IC projects at the National Observatory

Three IMPA Tech students participated in the Jornada de Iniciação Científica do Observatório Nacional (JICON)The event was dedicated to presenting the research carried out as part of the National Observatory’s (NO) Scientific Initiation Program. The projects were evaluated by experts in the fields of Astronomy and Geophysics, in a congress experience that establishes scientific dialog and contributes to the training of undergraduates.

This year’s JICON took place on December 1st and 2nd, in the Auditorium of the Hourly Service Division (DISHO). The judging panel was made up of Dr. Arianna Cortesi (IF-UFRJ), Dr. Wagner Marcolino (OV-UFRJ) and Dr. Rodrigo Bijani (UFF). The scientific initiation programs aim to awaken scientific and technological vocation and encourage new talents among students.

Student Letícia Aleixo presented the project “Physics-Informed Machine Learning for Estimating Velocity Models from Seismic Data”, supervised by National Observatory researcher Bruno dos Santos Silva. The study seeks to understand structures below the Earth’s surface by analyzing seismic data, contributing to areas such as the exploration of mineral resources, like gas and oil, for example. “I think this experience will help me better understand what I want to work on in the future,” he said.

Eliani Beloni, also supervised by Silva, presented the project “Approximation of the Hessian with Neural Networks in the Inversion of the Acoustic Wave Field”. For her, the project represents an opportunity to apply undergraduate content in an innovative area: geophysics. “I use a lot of programming, machine learning and mathematical theory. The project is extremely connected to what I see in my degree. I’m refining what I learn into something applicable to real problems, since FWI (Full Waveform Inversion) is an essential technique for determining subsoil velocity models,” she explained.

Student Guilherme Willemen presented the project “Characterization of a LoRa Transmission System for Geomagnetic Data”, supervised by ON researcher José Alejandro. The research investigates the communication limits of LoRa (Long Range) technology for use in geomagnetic data collection. “It’s a multidisciplinary front, combining programming, physics and a lot of mathematics. We’re looking for a quantitative characterization that will allow us to decide on the technical feasibility of installing these prototypes in different regions of the country, expanding data collection in real time and at low cost,” he said.

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