From April 28 to May 2, several secondary school students visited laboratories within both towers at Técnico – Alameda campus. The “DBE Open Laboratories” initiative brought hundreds of young people to Técnico for interactive experiments and lectures on topics such as marine biotechnology, pathogenic yeasts, and medical imaging.
The event was organised by the Department of Bioengineering (DBE), along with Biological Engineering (NEBIST) and Biomedical Engineering (NEBM) students’ organisations. Fábio Fernandes, a Técnico professor involved in organising the initiative, explains that “the idea of the ‘Open Laboratories’ is to increase DBE’s visibility among young people and, in essence, to publicise the undergraduate programmes offered by this department” – the Undergraduate Programmes in Biological Engineering, Biomedical Engineering and Environmental Engineering.
Alexandre, a sixth-grade student from Lisbon, is on the sixth floor of the South Tower, where he has just taken a skin sample. This experiment involves identifying the species of commensal bacteria (which are not harmful to human health) that reside on his skin. Later, the Técnico students will send the results via email to the secondary school students who provided samples. Having previously attended a materials engineering event last year where he witnessed a rubber shatter like glass after being dipped in liquid nitrogen, Alexandre is eager to learn the outcomes of his sample.
After attending a lecture on the medical potential of stem cells, Matilde, another 11th grader from Lisbon, is waiting for her turn to enter one of the laboratories at Instituto de Telecomunicações (IT), a research centre affiliated with Técnico that was also part of the “DBE Open Laboratories.” “I really enjoy biology and chemistry, and I hope to work in this field in the future”, she says also stressing that she finds this type of initiative “enriching.” “In addition to having fun with the activities, we often catch up on the subjects we’re going to cover, which reinforces what we’ve already learnt in class”, she adds.
On the fourth floor of the North Tower, Mónica Ribeiro, a teacher from Barreiro, analyses her heart rate by placing her index finger on a lit LED “bulb.” In this activity, she and her students programmed an Arduino circuit capable of detecting cardiac activity through the pulse in the finger. “I enjoy this dynamic approach,” says the 12th-grade Biology teacher at a school in Barreiro. “It’s important to involve all the students so they can gain a broad perspective. They have the opportunity to engage in a variety of activities that are part of the Biology curriculum, which we can’t yet implement as practical work in schools.”
