The Ministry of the Sea, Ana Paulo Vitorino, has chaired the Opening Session of the 14th National Conference of Maritime Engineering and Technology, held at Holiday Inn Lisboa Hotel on 6th and 7th July 2016, a co-organization of the Centre for Marine Technology and Ocean Engineering of IST and the College of Naval Engineers of the National Association of Engineers (Ordem dos Engenheiros).

In the Opening Session there was also the President of IST, the President of the National Association of Engineers, the President of IPMA, the General-Secretary of the Portuguese Association of Naval Industries and the President of ETE Group.

This was an opportunity to discuss the themes of the actuality related to the maritime activity in Portugal and the expectation of the Portuguese government and the sectors represented in this session. It was also debated the evolution of the teaching of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering and the international projection.