FUNDACIÓN VÍCTIMAS DEL TERRORISMO 94 - ENGLISH

37 ASSOCIATIONS AND FOUNDATIONS cooperation and shared pride that this Collective Award recognises. José Félix Huerta, president of the Condueños Society, accepted the award and said that the tribute was a recogni- tion of an institution (the university), a person (Cisneros) and a city (Alcalá de Henares). TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION AWARD AND HONORARY MENTIONS The Technological InnovationAwardwas presented to Bidane Jiménez Martínez, from the Carlos III University of Madrid, for hisMaster’s thesis entitled ‘Designand development of a sensorised forearm for motion detection’, supervised by Professor Dorin Sabin Copaci. Put simply, Bidane Jiménez’s winning project consists of a kind of exoskeleton that helps peoplewho have to lift heavy weights (such as airport baggage handlers) to do their work more easily, requiring less physical effort and, consequently, reducing the risk of injury. The joint honourable mentions went to Juan Manuel Camarero Angulo, from the Higher Technical School of Industri- al Engineering at the Polytechnic Uni- versity of Madrid, for his Master’s thesis entitled ‘Automatic separation systemby Sex – Low-Cost Embedded Solution Using YOLOV8 and RASPBERRY PI , super- vised by Matheu Smith and Andrés Se- bastián, and to Aníbal Rozada Suárez of the UNED, for his Master’s thesis en- titled Instrumented Safety Systems (SIS): Development and Management Environ- ment in accordance with IEC 61511 , carried out under the supervision of Professor Elio San Cristobal Ruiz. SPEECH BY THE PRESIDENT Ana Hidalgo, President of the Rodolfo Benito Samaniego Foundation, brought the event to a close with a few words of congratulations to the award winners and a thank you to those present. In her speech, the president stated that the Foundation’s work is now more neces- sary than ever, as we live in an increas- ingly complex world in which democratic systems are beginning to be called into question and in which, regrettably, vio- lence continues to be a feature of everyday life. “The defence of democratic values is beginning to be called into question and, regrettably, violence continues to be part of our daily lives,” she explained. She also emphasised that “the defence of democrat- ic values is not solely the responsibility of politicians; civil society, through associ- ations and foundations such as Rodolfo Benito’s, is called upon to play an essential role in defending those values”. WITH GUITARIST ENRIQUE BERMÚDEZ As with every edition of the Annual Awards ceremony, the event featured elegant musical accompaniment pro- vided by guitarist Enrique Bermúdez, an experienced artist who has collab- orated with Indio Gitano, Dieguito “El Cigala”, Niña Pastori and Nati Mistral, amongst others, and who is currently a member of the Spanish National Ballet’s ensemble of musicians. Ber- múdez gave a masterful performance of the pieces Soleá, Asturias and Bulería . As a side note from the day’s events, two of the recipients of the Values of Coexistence awards had to leave the ceremony before it had finished.Miguel Delibes had to rush back to Seville as his wife had suffered a domestic accident, and José Félix Huerta had to attend an event organised by the Sociedad de Con- dueños, which partially overlapped with the Annual Awards ceremony. Once again, these awards stand as a constructive tribute to the victims of terrorism and delve into the memory of Rodolfo to look towards the future with a positive spirit, promoting the values of coexistence, tolerance and respect, whilst inviting us all to reflect deeply on the world in which we live.