The 9th edition of the Contigo+ Programme took place on 24 February, at Técnico Innovation Center powered by Fidelidade. This year’s edition, under the motto ‘Capstone projects: learning between academia and society’, brought together in a round table students, company representatives (KPMG and Jerónimo Martins) and professors involved in two pilot projects developed in the 2023/24 academic year before a large audience made up of members of the school community. The session focused on this new type of assessment centred on solving concrete problems within business activity.
Capstone projects are an innovative component of Técnico’s Teaching Model and Pedagogical Practices. They differ from the Integrative Project as they address real and complex problems requiring teams of three to five students with diverse backgrounds, often from various fields of study. These projects can be business-inspired, proposed by end users (such as public institutions, non-governmental organisations or research units) or stem from entrepreneurial initiatives by students themselves or by those affiliated with Técnico, such as Students’ Organisations.
Bernardo Albano and Diogo Nunes were two students who had the opportunity to participate in Capstone pilot projects during the 2023/24 academic year. Bernardo Albano, an Aerospace Engineering master’s student, collaborated with KPMG to build a drone (currently in the testing phase) and recommended this type of assessment to his fellow students who are ‘looking for a more comprehensive’ and ‘more functional’ challenge.
Diogo Nunes, an Industrial Engineering and Management master’s student, was part of a team that developed a tool that provides information on the flow of products and supports decision-making at a Jerónimo Martins distribution centre in Algoz, Algarve. According to the student, it ‘makes perfect sense’ that colleagues ‘challenge themselves and be involved in a Capstone project because it will be very enriching’. ‘I think that when I enter the business world, I’ll be much better prepared than if I’d done a more academic thesis’, he commented.
The two projects were respectively supervised by the Técnico professors Fernando Lau and Susana Relvas who presented the work carried out by the teams.
How important are Capstone projects? ‘As an institution, it’s very important to us that the teaching and research we do is close to the real problems of society,’ explained Miguel Cacho Teixeira, professor at Técnico and president of the Pedagogical Council at the opening session. These problems can be identified by the business sector, for example, which is why the round table included company representatives. Filipe Cunha, Senior Manager at KPMG, and Joana Loureiro, Head of Talent Acquisition at Jerónimo Martins, shared that these projects are beneficial for the students and companies involved, and also for society, which will benefit from the impact resulting from the Capstone projects.
