“It seems like only yesterday that Cisco joined Técnico Partner Network”, said Claudia Kittredge, Senior Director of Lisbon CX Center. The truth is that almost after two years the partnership has strengthen and resulted in several projects including the Cisco Merit Award in Networks and Internet Services.
The winner of the 1st edition of the award is Pedro Martins, Electrical and Computer Engineering student, who completed the Networks and Internet Services curricular unit with an outstanding final grade of 19 (in a 0-20 scale) and collected a €1310 cash prize.
The virtual ceremony held this Monday, May 3, brought together Claudia Kittredge the award-winning student, the Técnico president professor Rogério Colaço, the Técnico Vice-president for Operations & Enterprise Relationships professor Pedro Amaral, the Head of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (DEEC), professor José Santos-Victor, and also the coordinator of the curricular unit, professor Paulo Pereira.
The Técnico president thanked Cisco Systems Portugal for this partnership and for this merit award. “Congratulations on your excellent results”, said the Técnico president to the award winning student.
Claudia Kittredge highlighted the evolution of this partnership and stated that what led the company to open a CX center in Portugal was the potential of our country. The Senior Director shared that CISCO has already hired 14 Técnico graduates since the beginning of the partnership, and stressed that the company intends to increase this number. “We have hired about 150 engineers over the past few years. They are mainly consulting and technical engineers, who work in areas such as professional services, technical assistance and costumer success”. “We hope we may continue to strengthen this partnership and hire more Técnico alumni as we continue to grow”.
Pedro Martins expressed a “special gratitude” to Cisco Systems Portugal for this award that motivates students to “give not 100%, but 101% or 102% at work”. “Any Técnico student could win this award because the School has excellent students who work hard and do their best”, he said. The student highlighted the important support of professor Paulo Pereira and of his colleagues at the Military Academy.
This award also includes a donation of €873,33 to DEEC, for the improvement of teaching quality. “Técnico has been developing Network and Internet services over the past few years and we are very thrilled about the work we’re doing with Cisco”, said professor José Santos-Victor. “We hope we may continue to do so for many years and make this partnership stronger every year”, he added.
Professor Pedro Amaral highlighted “Cisco and Técnico are accomplishing great results by working together and challenging students to achieve excellent results”. “This award is something that you will remember for the rest of your life and will open many doors for you”, said professor Pedro Amaral to the award winning student.
