Cody Lyon works as an animator at Pixar Animation Studios. With each new popular character in his presentation, the audience of more than a hundred people let out a heartfelt “ah…”, recalling childhood memories. The Tech Conference at Instituto Superior Técnico (SINFO) took place from 15th to 19th April, at Técnico Innovation Center Powered By Fidelidade, and included lectures, company presentations, and workshops related to technology and computer engineering (without neglecting a leisure area with various video game consoles, including arcade machines).
The event was organised by a group of university students – many of them from Técnico – and focused on a specific area each day of the week, including ‘Software Engineering’, ‘Multimedia’, ‘Artificial Intelligence’, ‘Video Games’ and ‘Technological Knowledge’. “Above all, SINFO brings a lot of opportunities”, says Sofia Simas, a Computer Science and Engineering 3rd-year student who is part of the communications team of this year’s edition. “People often feel that it’s very complicated to get a job or an internship, but SINFO makes this process easier and more organic”, she explains, adding, “more than a tech event, it’s a social event”.
SIFO’s social component is evident when we look at dozens of exhibition stands at the entrance atrium of Técnico Innovation Center, each one housing IT company representatives. Philip Aguiar Nankin, for example, is an Electrical and Computer Engineering undergraduate student (1st year), and curiosity brought him to SINFO. He wanted to learn more about summer internships. “I want to gain experience through internships”, he says, also sharing that he wanted to visit Técnico Innovation Center, the space that hosted SINFO for the first time. Even if he doesn’t find that summer internship, he shares “I can make contacts and talk to a few people, which will allow me to understand what it’s like to work in a certain field”.
Benjamin Han, a Principal Scientist at Apple gave a talk on the day dedicated to Artificial Intelligence (AI). Tracing the historical evolution of AI since Alan Turing’s work in the first half of the 20th century, Han’s talk presented the ‘state of the art’ in this branch of computer science. The speaker gave several tips to those who are starting to learn about AI, recommending practising what he calls ‘non-tech’ activities to avoid wear and tear, limiting social media usage, researching topics subjects in depth rather than superficially and being especially careful about the reliability of the sources of information used.
Even though there was a day dedicated to it, the topic of AI spread throughout the week. At the end of Cody Lyon’s presentation, for example, he was asked if he feared AI could threaten his work. In response, he shared a quote from a colleague – “AI is an amazing problem-solving tool; Art is not a problem”.
