Joel Marques Alves, a PhD student in Industrial Engineering and Management at the University of Beira Interior (UBI), received the Best Paper Award at the 14th International Conference on Mechanics and Industrial Engineering (ICMIE 2025), held in Paris. The award-winning paper, entitled “Ergonomic Strategies for an Ageing Workforce: Towards a Human-Centric Industry 5.0,” is based on a study conducted at a metalworking company and focuses on work-related musculoskeletal disorders in industrial settings.

Among other ideas, the paper emphasises “the importance of adapting production systems to improve operators’ well-being and productivity, while respecting workforce diversity and promoting a healthier and more efficient working environment within the evolving context of Industry 5.0,” according to the abstract of the award-winning paper.

The study is part of Joel Alves’s PhD research plan, developed within UBI’s Department of Electromechanical Engineering under the supervision of faculty members Tânia M. Lima and Pedro D. Gaspar, who are also co-authors of the paper. All three researchers are affiliated with C-MAST, the Centre for Mechanical and Aerospace Science and Technologies.

Of all the papers presented at ICMIE 2025, which took place in August, only three received the Best Paper Award.