Técnico celebrated its 108th anniversary this Thursday, May 23rd. Year after year, this solemn ceremony brings together Técnico community. “We are all to be congratulated,” said Gonçalo Azevedo, president of AEIST.
The president of Técnico, professor Arlindo Oliveira, opened the ceremony and highlighted last year’s most remarkable moments: Técnico’ s faculty reinforcement, the awards, the growth of Técnico Partner Network, the exponential growth of some startups that emerged at Técnico and the launching of “Técnico +”. “I don’t deny that we had to overcome important and difficult challenges”, said professor Arlindo Oliveira. Técnico’ s new financial management system, the scientific employment and the limited funding of higher education institutions were some of the difficulties mentioned by the president. “I think that it’s extraordinary that Técnico, like other Portuguese schools, are able to play their part: keep training engineers and other graduates with very limited resources”, he pointed out.
The “IST Distinguished Professor” diploma was awarded to professors Fernando Branco and Mário Figueiredo. “I would like to thank all my colleagues and collaborators, who helped me so much throughout these years”, said professor Fernando Branco. Professor Mário Figueiredo was told that “it would be much harder to receive this distinction than to give a class”. The distinguished professor felt “very proud and satisfied” to receive this diploma. “I am now part of a group of colleagues who I respect and admire very much. I am very pleased to receive this diploma from Técnico, the school that I joined when I was 18 years old and from where I have never left”, he said. According to professor Mário Figueiredo, the most important role of a professor is “to motivate and stimulate curiosity”. “The thing that brings me the most joy is to hear from my students, at the end of a class, that the subject matter was really interesting”, he said.
About 100 professors received the IST Outstanding Teaching diploma regarding the 2017/2018 academic year. The professors Aleksandar Ilic and Nuno Mamede received the IST Outstanding Teaching Award.
Cecília Moreira, coordinator of the Quality and Internal Audit (AQAI) at IST, has been working at Técnico for 33 years. She shared her personal and professional growth, the memories of the first days at Técnico and “the privilege of being part of this family”. “Técnico gives us the extraordinary ability to handle and to face adversity, to overcome challenges and to see opportunity inside every obstacle”, said Cecília Moreira, who also highlighted that “Técnico was one of the first Portuguese institutions to have a quality assurance system accredited by the A3E”.
Engineer José Bento dos Santos, Chemical and Industrial Engineering former student and winemaker, shared his passion for cooking and the challenges he faced as an engineer. “Wisdom is the combination of knowledge and experience”, he pointed out.
Professor Eduardo Pereira, Vice-rector of Universidade de Lisboa (ULisboa), closed the ceremony. “Over the last years, Técnico has demonstrated an intense preoccupation with teaching quality. The biggest challenge is to do the same, or even to do a lot more, with the same resources”. “The secret for this success is the human resources that you have here, at Técnico, not only the faculty and staff, but above all the students”, he highlighted. “I am sure that most of us will be here again next year, and I hope that we can celebrate Técnico’ s success and achievements”, added the Vice-rector of ULisboa.
The event Keep In Touch took place after the solemn ceremony.
