For the 7th time, Celfocus awarded a work carried out by Técnico students in the Software Engineering curricular unit, for the 2023/2024 academic year of the Undergraduate Programme in Computer Science and Engineering. Carlos Felgueiras and Daniel Carvalho were the winners of the award, worth 2,500 euros, delivered on 26 June, in the Main Building’s Meeting Room, at Alameda campus.
In response to the challenge of approaching in different ways the “humanaEthica” project, a volunteer management platform, the winning duo highlighted the importance of volunteer centres being able to add topics and activities to the platform. The other group competing for the award, made up of Eduardo Nazário and Beatriz Gavilan, presented some proposals that could help motivate volunteers, such as a ranking table that would recognise the volunteers who worked more hours, the possibility of searching by the availability of the interested party and a forum that brings together only volunteers, making it easier for new participants to join.
At the opening session, the President of Técnico, Rogério Colaço, shared his pride in these initiatives: “We established these awards seven or eight years ago. We now have dozens of students honoured every year. These awards are very important, not only because of their value, but also because they put students’ performance in this curricular unit at a demanding level”. Pedro Amaral, Vice-President of Técnico for Corporate Interface, Innovation and Entrepreneurship added: “You are the ambassadors for this cause, and one of your roles is to spread the word to future students about the importance of these initiatives.”
Nuno Santos, Director of Software Engineering at Celfocus and Técnico alumnus (Computer Science and Engineering), showed how proud he is of returning to his alma mater. “I was a student at Técnico for five years. Everything you learn during this period is very important”, he said.
The Software Engineering curricular unit stands out for its “code first, test later” approach, enabling students to learn a new way of approaching problems, encouraging groups to help each other and allowing members of other groups to review the code and make suggestions. As a joke, and in keeping with the collaborative spirit, the groups agreed beforehand that whoever won would pay for dinner.
João Ferreira, a member of the jury and one of the professors responsible for the UC together with António Rito Silva, praised the talented and committed students. “We have around 390 students, so we’re looking at the top 1%,” he emphasised.
Cláudia Antunes, a professor at Técnico, thanked the Head of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering (DEI) for the seven uninterrupted editions of awards supported by Celfocus. “Supporting a curricular unit of an undergraduate programme is very important to motivate students and make them more competitive at this stage”.
In addition to honouring students, this award also includes a donation of 1670 euros to the Department, to improve the quality of teaching of the curricular unit.
