This Wednesday, October 18, members of the Student Support Unit at Técnico (NAPE) presented the first session of the project “Engenheiras por um dia” at the secondary school Alfredo Reis da Silveira, located in Seixal, sharing their experiences and enthusiasm for engineering.

About thirty high school female students were invited to participate in the session and at the end they didn’t seem to regret it. “We really enjoyed it”, they repeated. After a brief presentation of Técnico and this project, the young female students were challenged to participate in the activity, which involved building a rocket. The students were grouped into different groups with the purpose of building a rocket using bottles of water, glue, card and tape. “I am sure that this will not work” they said, but as soon as they saw their rockets in the air they were all very thrilled.

Susana Amado, 11th year student at this school, already considered choosing engineering, however she confesses “today I am more convinced than ever before”. We asked her if engineering is not for girls. She looked puzzled and answered, “Engineering is for women as much as it is for men, or so I believe, and I hope we all think that way”, she says. Natacha Sequeira “didn’t know that a female engineer could do so much things”. “I like biology but I had never thought about the possibility of combining my love for biology with engineering”, she confesses.

At the end, and in an informal atmosphere, the students clarified their doubts about the job opportunities, the daily routines and the academic atmosphere at Técnico. When asked about engineering, the students used the words “create” and “innovate”, but they had never imagined that “engineering can help to solve so many problems”.