A song by Seu Jorge echoes through the corridors of the Mechanical Engineering Building II at Técnico – Alameda campus. Two rooms are filled with 3rd cycle students, who are largely responsible for the excitement there. The challenge they are currently engaged in is organised by TL Moto and invites them to paint their own colour patterns on fairings—the external structure vital for the aerodynamics of vehicles such as motorbikes.
From July 7 to 11, TLMoto and nine other students’ organisations at Técnico hosted two hundred 3rd cycle students (having welcomed secondary school students the previous week) as part of the “Verão na ULisboa” summer school programme.
A highlight of the week was the participation of Tuna Feminina do Instituto Superior Técnico (TFIST), which encouraged attendees to play various instruments during their performance. At the end of the week, they organised a showcase for the participants’ guardians, featuring lyrics composed entirely by the youngsters.
During a game that took his group around the Alameda campus, guided by cryptic clues, Afonso shared that even though he was about to start his economics degree in 10th grade, he made a point of taking Physical Chemistry. Perhaps this is why he enjoyed the previous day’s Civil Engineering activity so much (coordinated by Fórum Civil), where he was challenged to build a tower using spaghetti. He believes that this experience reflects what he considers to be “the best engineering school in the country”, based on the impressions he has gathered from family and friends who have studied at Técnico.
Luísa chose the same activity as her favourite. While working on the construction of a hydraulic claw—an activity organised by Fórum Mecânica—the 7th-grade student expressed that she is “loving” the week’s programme. Initially, she was concerned that the “Verão na ULisboa” might involve a lot of studying, but that worry quickly faded. “Within each area they presented to us, they showed the various projects they work on throughout the year”, which she found to be “super cool”. Luísa is considering engineering for her future, driven by her passion for chemistry, physics and mathematics.
At the Oeiras campus, the second week of “Verão na ULisboa” also had engaging activities. Over these five days, participants built robots programmed to navigate mazes, assembled electronic circuits using Arduinos, developed digital games, and created augmented reality filters similar to those used on social media.
The robotics activity, promoted by IEEE-IST (a branch of the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers at Técnico), was once again a favourite among participants. Carolina, one of the attendees, recalls with enthusiasm the experience of assembling a robot that her team named “Roberto.” Despite facing challenges, she described it as one of the most fun activities. “I really enjoyed robotics and assembling the robot. He never made it around the course, but it was fun!” she shared. “Even if I had to wake up at 8 a.m., I’d do this for a month!”, she added, laughing.
