The 34th edition of JEQ – Chemical Engineering seminar series – took place from 15th to 19th March. This event is part of Técnico Career Weeks and included lectures, workshops, networking, which allowed the participants to share experiences and open new horizons.
Alumni panel discussions, a pitch and a networking session were also part of this year’s edition. “We tried to choose appealing topics and organise practical workshops which, in our opinion, are lacking in our academic training”, highlights João Fortunato, general coordinator of JEQ. A few hours before the event ends, the overall outcome “is very positive”. “We have managed to maintain a constant number of participants, which means that we are capturing people’s attention”, says João Fortunato.
More than 16 speakers participated in this year’s edition, covering a wide range of topics such as decarbonisation, energy, Industry 4.0, etc. “Our main goal was to show future prospects for chemical engineering careers, without restrict ourselves only to areas directly linked to this engineering field”, stresses João Rodrigues, also general coordinator of JEQ. “Our possibilities are endless and we are trying to show it”, adds the student.
Training sessions and workshops were planned in order to enrich students’ participation. “We have had more technical workshops, focused on the development of skills that will help students succeed during their academic life and after graduation” says João Fortunato. “We also had a pitch – and a training session held in the day before -, which allowed students to test and deepen their communication skills, as well as receive professional feedback and make business contacts”, highlights the student. This initiative involved more than 20 companies, such as Air Liquide, Bondalti, EY, P&G, Pfizer Portugal, REN, IBEROL and Philip Morris.
A company fair was held virtually through Easy Virtual Fair.
Michael Stanley Whittingham, Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2019 and professor at the University of Binghamton, gave a lecture on lithium batteries, demonstrating how these batteries are by far the most popular battery storage option.
The speaker went back to 1972, when the idea for lithium batteries came up, describing what materials were analyzed at the time, and highlighting their relevance even today. He also stressed that new manufacturing technologies are needed, “all the material used in cars, laptops, etc., have to be recycled so that we can have a more sustainable society”.
The president of the Department of Chemical Engineering (DEQ), professor Teresa Duarte, and the coordinator of the Integrated MSc in Cheminal Engineer, professor Henrique Matos, closed the ceremony. The two professors praised the students’ ability to overcome the pandemic challenges. According to the president of DEQ, “the challenge was overcome with great success, as demonstrated by this high quality event. The JEQ team managed to make the event more engaging for the audience. This event is very important for DEQ because it shows the quality and the potential of our students”.
Today, March 19, is the last day of JEQ, and it will focus on workshops and networking sessions.
JEQ team was composed of 25 chemical engineering students (3rd and 4th year). “This year’s edition was definitely very challenging but we were able to maintain the level of quality”, says João Rodrigues.
