University of Lisbon joins international Unite! project focused on sustainable engineering innovation

The initiative brought together students and academics from the University of Lisbon, the Technical University of Darmstadt (Germany), and the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya – BarcelonaTech (Spain), providing an international learning experience centred on solving a real-world engineering challenge.

Delivered between September 2025 and January 2026 as a 6 ECTS course unit, the project promoted collaboration among multicultural and multidisciplinary teams while giving students hands-on experience in addressing an industrial engineering problem.

Engineering for a more sustainable industry

The project focused on reducing the environmental impact of sheet metal stamping processes, which are widely used in sectors such as the automotive and home appliance industries. During stamping, friction between the metal sheet and the forming tool is significant, making chemical lubricants essential to prevent material damage and surface defects.

The project explored a more sustainable alternative by creating microscopic surface textures on the metal. These tiny features, invisible to the naked eye, act as natural lubricant reservoirs, helping to reduce friction while lowering the amount of lubricant required during the manufacturing process.

To evaluate this approach, the team investigated two different surface texturing techniques, combining computer simulations with experimental testing.

The University of Lisbon's contribution

The University of Lisbon was responsible for the mechanical characterisation of the material and the experimental validation of the proposed solution. The team carried out mechanical tests to determine the behaviour of aluminium sheets under different deformation conditions and conducted stamping trials using textured samples to assess their performance under real manufacturing conditions.

"Deep drawing is a crucial industrial process used to produce sheet metal parts and to control and understand the behavior of the material it's essential to characterize both the mechanical and the formability properties of the material. At the University of Lisbon we perform different tests in this case tensile and Nakajima tests to characterize the material mechanically and the formability of the material and then we carried out deep drying trials to characterize to study the forming process in detail.
Together these experimental activities provide a solid foundation for developing for more efficient and sustainable sheet metal forming processes."

- João Magrinho, ULisboa

The Technical University of Darmstadt developed simulation models to identify the critical friction areas during the stamping process and produced one type of surface texture using a high-precision hammering system.

Meanwhile, the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya – BarcelonaTech applied a second texturing technique based on ultrasonic vibrations combined with a cutting tool and carried out a detailed characterisation of the resulting surfaces.

International collaboration throughout the semester

The project began with an online kick-off session focused on team building and fostering intercultural collaboration among students from the three participating countries. Throughout the semester, activities were carried out in parallel across the three universities, with the continuous exchange of results and physical samples between Lisbon, Darmstadt, and Barcelona.

The programme also included three in-person international workshops: the first took place in November in Darmstadt, the second in December in Lisbon, and the third in January 2026 in Barcelona, where students presented their final results and discussed the project's main conclusions.

The semester concluded with an online final presentation, the production of educational videos showcasing the work carried out, and a poster session held simultaneously at the three institutions, allowing the results to be shared with the wider academic community.

International education and innovation

The Unite! Seed Fund 25/26 demonstrates how collaboration between European universities can provide meaningful international learning experiences while engaging students and researchers in solving real industrial challenges.

By combining expertise in materials engineering, computational simulation, and advanced manufacturing, the project contributed to the development of more sustainable industrial processes while strengthening participants' technical, intercultural, and teamwork skills.

Souce: Unite!

Project videos:

1. Scientific Challenge
2. Work Organization
3. Intercultural Experience
4. Personal Experience