On 15 January, the Técnico Innovation Center powered by Fidelidade hosted a showcase of initiatives developed in collaboration with the Santander Foundation throughout 2024.
27 projects were awarded at the 10th edition of the CA2ECTécnico – a competition aimed at supporting the extracurricular activities of Técnico students’ organisations – supported by the Santander Foundation. The event included two panel discussions and the symbolic presentation of prizes to the winners.
Scholarships were also given to students with socioeconomic needs, wishing to study abroad, sabbatical periods for early career professors and researchers and general support for students’ organisations.
The President of Instituto Superior Técnico, Rogério Colaço, emphasised the importance of the partnership with Santander: ‘This relationship is more than a partnership; it is an alliance that has had a profound impact on our community. We will continue to work to consolidate this relationship’.
Isabel Dias, the Vice-President of Técnico for Financial Management, emphasised the growing impact of the collaboration with the Santander Foundation. ‘In recent years, we have seen an increase in the number of students’ organisations and ideas. This year we had around 60 applications to CA2ECTécnico, which reflects an increasingly consolidated and impactful partnership in our community.’
Inês Oom de Sousa, President of the Santander Foundation, highlighted the importance of this decade-long relationship. ‘We are very proud of supporting education, entrepreneurship and innovation at Técnico, where the finest talent in the country is being developed.’
João Encarnação, representing the Técnico Students’ Union (AEIST), thanked the students and the School, praising the diversity of the projects awarded and the fact that Técnico is the higher education institution with the most extracurricular activities in Portugal.
Panel discussions analyse support provided to students, professors and students’ organisations
The first panel, focused on supporting students and professors, was moderated by the Técnico professors Teresa Peña and Pedro Brogueira. Inês Oom de Sousa emphasised the importance of the various scholarships offered by Santander. Testimonials from scholarship recipients such as Francisco Paiva (Técnico-Santander Mobility scholarship), Bruna Mota (PAX-IAX Santander scholarship) and Ana Alfaiate (Técnico-Santander Education scholarship), illustrated how these scholarships have positively impacted their academic and professional experiences.
The second panel, moderated by Pedro Amaral, the Vice-President of Técnico for Corporate Interface, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, featured Inês Gouveia, a Santander representative. This panel focused on the support provided to students’ organisations. Representatives from various students’ organisations explained how Santander’s funding is essential for organising events, developing prototypes and conducting other initiatives that link Técnico to society.
The 27 projects awarded were:
- AeroTéc – ATLAS – Systems & Aeronautics
- BEST Lisboa – BIV – BEST Inside View
- CTIST – Deuce Reuse
- Fórum Mecânica – FC Tour & “Carrinho Rasteirinho”
- FST Lisboa – Inverters
- Game Dev Técnico – GameDev Técnico Game Jams
- GTIST – Drama course (CED) 2024/2025
- HackerSchool – HackLab
- IEEE IST Student Branch – EmpowHER
- .JUNITEC – TecStorm ’25
- .NEBM – Biomind – Make it in 24h
- . NEECIST – JEEC 25
- NEIIST – E-Sports Tournament
- . NEEGI – Lisbon Case Study Competition (LCSC)
- NEMat – Materials Science Marathon
- NMath – Time2Talk – Mathematics and Data Science Seminar Series
- NFIST – Astronomy Summer School 2025
- PSEM – GP25 construction
- TFC – TFC 0.2 – Build a sustainable city vehicle
- TFIST – TFIST’s 30th anniversary sho
- TLMoto – TLM05e Battery Pack
- TSB – SM02.1 development
- TUIST – XXIV TUIST – “Cidade de Lisboa” Festival
- GEST – Board Game Café
- CCIST – IST‘s craft beer festival
- Diferencial – Quarterly print editions of the Diferencial newspaper
