A Formula 1 car speeds down the track, and crashes into the barrier. It overturns in the opposite direction. The driver gets out unscathed and rises laughing from his seat. It was the first experience of Renato Orellana, a master’s student in Data Science and Engineering from Ecuador, in a simulator. ‘I loved it’, he says as he leaves. He says that he goes to the Técnico Innovation Center powered by Fidelidade to study and that’s how he found out about the 32nd edition of the Tech Conference at Instituto Superior Técnico (SINFO), Portugal’s biggest free tech event.
The afternoon talks on the second day are dedicated to animation. Ere Santos, animation supervisor at Walt Disney Animation Studios, is the first one to speak. He shared sources of inspiration – sometimes from everyday life – and emphasised the importance of ‘having and maintaining an opinion’ during any professional experience. Sondra Verlander, who works at DreamWorks, specialises in visual effects. She presented images—typically only available to those involved in film development—showing the before-and-after results of applying various filters and rendering techniques. She emphasized the importance of ‘maintaining the financial viability of film production’.
According to Lucas Pinto, a member of SINFO organisation, ‘the talks are the attraction of the event, what brings people in’, he explains also stressing that ‘the ones featuring international speakers’, such as those by Ere Santos and Sondra Verlander that ‘usually fill up’. Games, the search for a first job or summer internships also attracts visitors. ‘SINFO is an IT week, but it’s also a job fair,’ he concludes.
Margarida Pereira, a second-year Physics Engineering student, is attending SINFO for the second day. She is interested in exploring “what exists beyond physics” to help her decide on a path after her studies at Técnico. Since “companies change every day,” and she found the previous day “quite interesting,” she wants to see what happens throughout the week.
SINFO is a non-profit organisation made up entirely of university students. The event, which included workshops, tech talks by national and international speakers and presentations by IT companies, took place from 17 to 21 February, at Técnico Innovation Center powered by Fidelidade, in Lisbon.
