The Mechanical Engineering alumnus Manuel Leite was one of the winners (3rd place) of the Primus Inter Pares Award, created by Expresso newspaper and Santander Totta bank. The award ceremony took place last week, at MNAA – Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga. This award recognises the best Portuguese students in the areas of economics, management, and engineering. Last June, Manuel Leite was one of the 5 young talents competing in the final round.

The 3 first winners have the opportunity to do a fully paid MBA in a national or international business school. The 1st and 2nd winners have, in that order, the right of preference among the available courses at IE Business School, in Madrid, or Católica Lisbon, Nova SBE or ISEG, in Lisbon.

Manuel Leite currently works at Hyperion Renewables, a company that develops and invests on renewable energy projects, and also provides services such as asset management. According to the Técnico alumnus, winning the 3rd place “was an incredible opportunity”, which will allow him to do something he has always aspired to do. “I know that an MBA can be a valuable asset to engineers, once it allows to focus on management skills and leadership, strategic vision, human resources, and finance, which is key to the business ecosystem”, says the young engineer. “An engineer must have the capacity to lead others and understand everyone around, in order to boost everyone’s skills and the existing potential to create added value”.

Catarina Adegas Ferreira, Nova SBE alumna (MSC in Management) and the only female finalist, won 1st place. Álvaro Samagaio, FEUP alumnus (MSc in Bioengineering) won 2nd place.