On 17 February, the Greek Deputy Minister for Development, Zoe Rapti, and the Portuguese Secretary of State for Science and Técnico professor, Ana Paiva, visited several laboratories, school spaces and events organised by Técnico students.
In a first formal meeting, held in the Main Building’s meeting room, at Alameda campus, Zita Martins, the Vice-President of Técnico for International Affairs, presented an overview of the school. She emphasised the institution’s openness to foreign students, highlighting the classes and activities conducted in English (the presence of a single international student is sufficient for this purpose) and various international programmes and partnerships. Zoe Rapti recognised Técnico as ‘one of the most prestigious engineering schools in Europe’ and highlighted ‘the significant role’ of ‘cross-border research’ conducted by the School, noting the shared affinities and similarities between Portugal and Greece.
Later, in the North Tower, while waiting for one of the lifts to take the group to the laboratories of the Institute for Systems and Robotics (ISR) and Instituto de Telecomunicações (IT), both of which are Técnico affiliated research units, a television mounted on the wall displayed the development process of ISTSat-1. Taking this opportunity, Pedro Amaral, the Vice-president of Técnico for Corporate Interface, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, explained that the satellite was entirely built at Técnico and is the first Portuguese university nano-satellite to be launched into space.
Upon arriving at the ISR and IT facilities, the group had the chance to see various projects, including robots designed for household tasks, multimodal drones capable of flying and climbing walls, as well as research on optics and quantum cryptography. In a corner, a 3D printer buzzed with activity, while electronic components were scattered across the benches. Dozens of researchers worked on their computers and exchanged views with each other. The delegation witnessed first-hand how some of the country’s top scientific work in this field is being conducted.
Before the formal meeting, the delegation visited the company fair organised as part of Aerospace Week, in the Main Building’s atrium. Zoe Rapti expressed her surprise at the dynamism of the Técnico students. At the end of the visit, the delegation, this time including the President of Técnico Rogério Colaço, visited the Técnico Innovation Center powered by Fidelidade, where the 32nd edition of SINFO was taking place, as part of the Técnico Career Weeks. At both venues, the delegation interacted with students at their stalls, who shared academic and extracurricular experiences with the visitors.
