Hi! I’m Sebastião, a 20-year-old Portuguese engineer on a mission to build things that move and move the world forward. In my case, that means legged robots that walk up steep, burned mountains to replant them. 

I grew up exploring the forests, hills, and coastlines of Portugal, and each summer I watched too many of those forests turn from green to gray as the wildfires got worse. That’s why we started Trovador, the world’s first autonomous all-terrain robot for replanting land that tractors and planting crews can’t reach. 

The robot is only half of it. I’ve also built a satellite tool that reads a burn scar from above to help decide where each seedling should go. 

That view from above is where a lot of my curiosity started. I’ve helped build and launch a sounding rocket in the Arctic and floated in zero gravity on a parabolic flight with ESA astronauts. 

Our work is backed by the UN Environment Programme and WWF. My co-founder Marta Bernardino and I became the youngest Portuguese honourees on Forbes 30 Under 30, and the youngest ever to receive the EU Robotics award for Leadership in Robotics for Sustainability. 

Alongside Trovador, I study Computer Science and Engineering at TU Delft and run STEM programs for youth in Lisbon. This November, I get to bring some of that to the Youth Climate Summit in Bermuda 🙂