The 8th Conference on Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering took place on 9th and 10th March, in virtual format. Every year, NAEN concentrates efforts to select speakers from diverse backgrounds, which allows to increase knowledge and to better understand the different professional opportunities for Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering students.
Carolina Mangas, president of NAEN, says “we were skeptical of the virtual conference format, but as soon as we started to work on the conference programme we realised that the virtual format would let us address a wider audience, and so it was”.
The Técnico alumnus Tiago Duarte (Mechanical Engineering) and currently Head of Floating Wind at Ocean Winds (OW), shared his career path, made a brief presentation of OW and gave a lecture titled ‘WindFloat Atlantic Project’, sharing the different phases of the innovative project, which is the first floating wind farm in Portugal.
The speaker highlighted one of the advantages of floating offshore wind turbines – they can be mounted on a floating structure in various parts of the world. The WindFloat Atlantic, which has total installed capacity of 25 MW, will generate enough energy to supply the equivalent of 60,000 users per year, saving almost 1.1 million tons of CO2.
“At the end of each lecture, there was an evident interaction between the speaker and the audience, which is enough to conclude that we have made the right choices”, says the president of NAEN. According to the Técnico student, “the first day of the event went really well”. “We were pleasantly surprised, as there were much more participants at the conference than we had expected. We feel really happy to see that students are increasingly interested in events such as the 8th Conference on Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering”, says the student.
According to Carolina Mangas, the topics addressed were also relevant for “other professionals in this area, who attended the lectures”. “Therefore, although the virtual format has its limitations, it allows us to break many barriers and, above all, to make plans for next editions”, highlights the student.
The second day of the event included the NAEN TABLES, an activity aimed at Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering students, which brings together company representatives and a group of students. It is an opportunity for students to learn more about the work dynamics and the projects of each company.
The closing panel discussion “Moving the Naval Industry for a Greener Future” brings together Mads Friis Jensen (CCO of Blue World Technologies), Jérémie Lagarrigue (CEO of EODev) and Pedro Rodrigues (Head of Hydrogen Propulsion at Técnico Solar Boat) and is moderated by João Domingues, member of NAEN and Técnico Solar Boat team. “I think it will be an incredible opportunity to hear, in the same discussion space, the opinions of both sides: highly experienced professionals and a very knowledgeable student on this topic”, highlights Carolina Mangas.
