The field of signal processing has evolved so rapidly that it has been integrated into the undergraduate and graduate programs of most universities. The revolution in microelectronics technology has had a profound impact on modern life, making various electronic devices accessible, such as cell phones, iPads, and computers, all equipped with tools for video and audio processing at a reasonable cost. This progress occurred alongside advances in transmission, processing, recording, playback, and general signal handling technology, both in analog and digital electronics and in other areas such as acoustics, mechanics, and optics

The Signals, Multimedia, and Telecommunications (SMT) group was formally established in 2012 and consists of five full-time faculty members, including four Full Professors and one Associate Professor. Its origins date back to 1995 with the inauguration of the Signal Processing Laboratory, developed from the circuit theory group started at COPPE in the early seventies. Until 1993, the multimedia, signals, and telecommunications team had only three professors.

The SMT's activities encompass a wide range of areas, including significant contributions to the teaching of electrical engineering, especially in training personnel and disseminating modern signal processing techniques such as audio, speech, video, telecommunications, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, with applications both in Brazil and abroad.

There is a notable balance between undergraduate and graduate teaching. SMT members have taught several undergraduate courses, including: Signal Processing, Electronics, Analog Communications, Digital Communications, Image Processing, Linear Systems, Statistical Signal Processing, Probabilistic Models, Electromagnetism, Linear Algebra, Speech Processing, Audio Processing, and Digital TV.

At the graduate level, recently offered courses include Digital Filters, Stochastic Processes, Adaptive Filtering, Image Processing, Spectral Estimation, Wavelets and Filter Banks, Signal Compression, Detection and Estimation, Optimization, Information Theory, Speech Processing, Audio and Video Processing, Wireless Communications, Machine Learning, and Artificial Intelligence.

Among the most important research topics at SMT are adaptive systems, image and video processing, digital signal processing and its applications, voice processing, audio processing, wireless communications, distributed processing, data-driven learning, and artificial intelligence.

SMT members have supervised over 200 final projects, more than 140 master's dissertations (M.Sc.), and over 100 doctoral theses (D.Sc. and Ph.D.). They have also held important positions, such as the presidency of the Electrical Engineering Program, the headship of the Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, and the coordination of undergraduate courses.

Additionally, they are very active in scientific policy at the national level. They have participated in accreditation visiting teams and serve on advisory committees of various research funding agencies. Two members have been appointed to Brazil's most prestigious academies, such as the Brazilian Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering.

Currently, SMT develops a range of consulting activities with national and international companies, including CEPEL, Petrobras, IPqM, small Brazilian industries, NOKIA, INdT, GE, HP, Statoil/Equinor, Halliburton, EMC-DELL, Anatel, Samsung, Siemens, Microsoft, Licks Attorneys, and several projects supported by the European Commission.

SMT occupies an area of 310 square meters and has a wide range of equipment, including computers, spectrum analyzers, digital oscilloscopes, signal generators, a real-time video storage system, a wireless communications test set PXT, various DSP development systems, software-defined radios, and a high-processing server cluster, among others.