He studied automations (or electrical engineering and electronics) in France, where he lived with his family, before getting an MBA at INSEAD. Currently, he is CEO of the Portucel Soporcel group, “the largest Portuguese industrial group”, and is keen on maintaining a connection with what he considers “the most prestigious institution” teaching engineering in Portugal.

Did you always want to study engineering?
When I had to choose between engineering and management I hesitated a lot. As my mother and father are chemical engineers from Técnico, it was not easy to tell them I was going into management. But, in the end, that wasn’t what made a difference: a friend of my parents, also an engineer from Técnico, told me, “If you are an engineer, then you can do management. If you do management, then you won’t do engineering”. When I chose engineering, I did it knowing that later I wanted to do management.

And you didn’t go to Técnico because you were in Paris?
Exactly. Both my mother and father graduated from Técnico, my grandfather was a professor at Técnico (he was a very demanding person, very strict – until a few years ago it was hard for me to go to a dinner where there were engineers and not have someone refer to my grandfather). At home, I always heard that there are engineers and then there are the engineers from Técnico. I was very much worked on from an early age. So much so that when it came to my eldest son, I gave him three options: Técnico, Técnico or Técnico.

After you left university, you worked for a few years in the field of engineering before pursuing an MBA at INSEAD…
I didn’t start the MBA right away because I wanted to start working: first I had no chance because I did my military service in France, where I worked as an engineer. Then I went to work in the world of semiconductors, for a Japanese company, in a position with a connection between engineering and management. Only after some time did I go to INSEAD.

And then began a career more connected to management.
Yes. I returned to engineering in some products. Engineering teaches us to think and then work with some products that are more technical… But I was focused on the world of management. R
You had your first experience in Portugal at McKinsey and then after some other things, you came
to Portucel in 2014.
Yes, I did many things in the meantime, but then I was fortunate to be invited to come to Portucel, the largest industrial company in the country, and it is impossible to turn down such a fantastic opportunity.

Even while you were outside of Portugal, you already knew Técnico. When you started having leadership positions and leading the recruitment processes, was the school always a reference?
Yes. I think Técnico, because it manages to attract the best students of secondary education in Portugal, has a fantastic student base. Then there’s the whole quality of the faculty that develop students in a positive way – even if I believe that there is room for improvement. I think it’s a fantastic institution with very good raw material.

And at Portucel, do you recruit among the graduates of Técnico?
Portucel, as the country’s largest industrial company, obviously has to have former students of the most prestigious institution in engineering in Portugal, which is Técnico. We recently launched a business expansion program and a renewal program. This increases exponentially the need to recruit young engineers, and I believe that a significant percentage will come from Técnico. We also introduced a trainee program, for example, which I hope will have success with Técnico students.

On which other areas can the relationship with Técnico focus?
Our needs compel us to have an intense relationship with Técnico, one we did not have in the past, but which will hopefully solidify as a true partnership. We’re still only talking about the students. Then there’s a partnership with the teachers: we have a research institute dedicated, on the one hand, to forestry, and secondly to the technology of pulp and paper; obviously we have to work with the universities. We also want to strengthen the link to Técnico in the research component and therefore with the teaching staff.

What does the school have to offer to the business world? And what does Portucel have to offer to Técnico?
The school offers the most important resources of them all, human resources. It is the best raw material there is. Then there is another aspect, in the teachers themselves: the existing ability to research. The development we want to have in Portucel is only possible with partnerships with universities. In our case, we offer a fundamental feature, which is to give students the chance to have a career in a company that represents one percent of the Portuguese GDP, is present in 127 countries and has an industrial presence on three continents.

How do you see the relationship between Portucel and Técnico ten years from now?
For in ten years from now we should aim to have recruited dozens of Técnico engineers; have conducted more than ten research projects with the university; have people from Portucel in the Técnico management bodies. Técnico is, for me and for Portugal, the institution of reference for the teaching of engineering. Portucel is the industrial reference group. They have to work together.