10 UM Projects among the FUSION Award Recipients for most promising applied research

10 out of the 19 projects awarded during the FUSION Awards 2025, an event organised by Xjenza Malta earlier this month to celebrate the country’s most promising applied research projects, are from the University of Malta.

All projects are being funded through the TDP LITE Programme, which supports applied research with strong potential for commercialisation and societal impact.

Parliamentary Secretary for Youth, Research and Innovation, Hon. Keith Azzopardi Tanti, called these projects “the building blocks in Malta’s journey towards a knowledge-based economy.”

The National R&I Strategic Plan 2023–2027 in fact, focuses on investing in the scientific community.

The 10 projects hailing from the University of Malta are (in no particular order):

Smart Personalised Manufacturing of Prosthetic Wearables: A Prompt-Driven Generative Design and Process Planning Framework (PRAGMA), led by Prof. Ing. Jonathan C. Borg
Line Running Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor (LRPMSM), led by Prof. Ing. Reiko Raute
Governance and Regulation of Yielding Fairness for Igaming: Normative and development on Quantum random number generators (GRYFFIN-Q), led by Prof. Johann A. Briffa
Meta-Heuristic Energy Management for Sustainable Port Operations (MetaPort), led by Prof. Alexander Micallef
Valorisation of Calcined Waste Glass as Low-Carbon Binders for Road Infrastructure Applications (GLARECEM), led by Prof. Ruben Paul Borg
Malta AI Platform for Point-could Classification and Vector Extraction (MAiPEX), led by Prof. Saviour Formosa
Targeted Aerial Litter Collection (TALC), led by Dr Dylan Seychell
Smart Soil Monitoring via Microwave Dielectric Spectroscopy and Geophysical Benchmarking (SoMoMic), led by Prof. Sebastiano DAmico
Dynamic Interactive Gesture Integration for CustomisabLe Accessible Play & Therapy (DIGICLAP+), led by Prof. Ing. Philip Farrugia
Masonry Recess Cutting Tool for Electrical Socket Outlets (SocketMill), led by Prof. Ing Duncan Camilleri