AEIST, in partnership with Técnico, organised the event Citizenship Day, this Wednesday, April 10th, at Taguspark campus. The event brought together the academic community and several voluntary organisations.

“We use to say that Técnico trains engineers. I would rather say that our goal is to train people with technical and scientific knowledge and, above all, people capable of using this knowledge for the benefit of society”, said professor Fernando Mira da Silva, Management Board member of Taguspark campus. “I hope this event will make you develop your social awareness”, said the professor.

CERCI, Centro Sagrada Família, Serve the City and AIESEC were some organisations that participated in the event and disseminated their work.

UniRaid was one of the projects that draw students’ attention. The project combines adventure travel and charity. Students are challenged to prepare a car to cross the Atlas mountains and the Moroccan Desert, in order to distribute goods to the inhabitants of remote and underdeveloped villages. Henrique Nunes, Electronics Engineering student, took the challenge and crossed the desert in a Renault 4L. “When we started working on this project everyone said it was impossible”, said the Técnico student. “After having this experience we think differently, because we see unbelievable things, like kids coming out of holes that they call home”, he added. Recalling several episodes that marked him and contributed to his “growth as a human being”, Henrique Nunes challenged his colleagues to “have fun while helping others and making a difference”.