Taguspark campus celebrates its 20th anniversary this Friday, 6th November. In order to mark this important milestone, Taguspark campus launched a commemorative video and a writing competition. This competition is open to the entire Técnico community and challenges the participants to write and share stories inspired by their past or current experiences at the campus.
“I hope this pandemic situation ends soon and that life get back to normal, so that we can see our colleagues in-person, namely at this campus”, says professor Helena Galhardas, Vice-president of Técnico for the Management of Taguspark Campus.
“This building had gradually been constructed, then the hall of residence, and finally the garage! Times have not always been easy and some projects could not be set up”, says professor Helena Galhardas. “I want to thank all people who was involved in this project over the last 20 years”, she added.
The creation of a university campus at Taguspark – Science and Technology Park, aimed at aligning engineering education with business. “Técnico has been collaborating with some companies headquartered in Taguspark, namely internships, master’s theses carried out in the business context, joint R&D projects, and alumni startups. I think that we will be able to maintain these collaborations and to build strong and lasting partnerships”, says professor Helena Galhardas.
“We had the idea of organising in-person campus tours for companies headquartered in Taguspark. We want to show these companies our work and our engineering projects, and work together to solve any problems there may be”, says professor Helena Galhardas. However, this idea had to be postponed due to the pandemic, but the Vice-president believes that the campus tours can be done virtually. “After the investment that has been made in the growth of this Science and Technology Park and in Técnico’ s Partner Network, we will certainly be in a position to reinforce the link between Técnico and the Taguspark companies”.
Despite all the constraints imposed by COVID-19, this is a decisive year for Taguspark campus, due to the memorandum of understanding with Oeiras City Hall. “Our relationship with the Oeiras Municipality has always been something natural since the university campus is located there. The Oeiras City Hall has always shown great interest in Science and Technology. I am fully convinced that this Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will allow us to collaborate in the areas of satellite technology, stem cell engineering, game design, social innovation, logistics, among others”, highlights professor Helena Galhardas.
According to professor Helena Galhardas, this MoU will substantially improve the accessibility to Taguspark campus. “After the improvements on Taguspark surroundings we will finally be able to have a university campus in its entirety. I strongly believe that this project brings advantages to both parties: Técnico will have a university campus with an improved surrounding landscape and Oeiras will provide a Science and Technology space to its population”, she declares.
Técnico alumnus recalls his memories and experiences
Tomás Jacob finished his master’s degree at Taguspark last year. Although little time that has passed, he is already missing the campus life: “I remember good experiences more than bad ones. I remember the moments I spent with my colleagues and friends, celebrating good grades, the events and gatherings, rather than many nights and evenings studying and doing my projects”.
“I alwas felt a great spirit of community on campus”, said Tomás Jacob. “Everyone helps each other out, especially those who participate more actively on campus. They contribute to the development of the campus and students”, he stresses.
The “homely atmosphere” of the campus
Helena Nobre Rogério works at Taguspark campus for 18 years: “Working here has helped me to improve myself, on a professional and personal level. My attitude has always been serving the entire community with joy and managing my well being at work”.
According to Helena Nobre Rogério, “the quality of services provided by Taguspark and the effectiveness in helping its users” make this Science and Technology Park unique. “It’s a pleasure working here with all this natural landscape around us”, she adds.
Fellowship and student opportunities
Tiago Fernandes got into Técnico 5 years ago. “Técnico is a prestigious school, with high-quality teaching. I knew that studying here would make me develop a lot of skills that would be very important for my future, such as problem-solving skills. This campus is very quiet, with easy access, where we can easily feel at home”, says the Técnico student.
“One thing that has fascinated me since the beginning is that I never felt helpless, I never felt alone, and when we had problems or doubts, we always felt supported”, he stresses.
“The campus is surrounded by companies and that attracts students. We know that if we work hard, we shall be rewarded”, says Tiago Fernandes.
The student highlights the importance of what he considers to be “the biggest event of Taguspark campus” – the Business and Technology Week (SET) – which he coordinates. “These events are an effective way of improving students’ soft skills, so it is very important that Taguspark campus invest more on this type of activities”.
Wishes for the next 20 years
“I hope that life will soon return to normal, even if we have to wear a face mask for a while. I hope we can see each other in-person constantly”, shares professor Helena Galhardas.”I hope that our collaboration with Oeiras City Hall will be lasting and fruitful for both parties”, she adds.
“We hope to welcome an increased number of students, faculty and researchers, and we also plan to internationalise Taguspark campus, namely by attracting international researchers and students to summer / winter schools and large-scale scientific / technological events”. “We have the willingness, the place, the knowledge and the people; now, we just have to go further in our efforts to make this university campus even better”, adds the Vice-president.
“No matter what happens, I hope that students, staff and faculty can always feel at home here and see this campus as the place to evolve as a person and as a professional rather than see it as a place to take classes or to work”, says Tomás Jacob.
