Today, the front of Técnico’s Main Building is empty of parked cars, replaced instead by two large inflatables celebrating the first edition of Técnico Family Day. It’s Saturday morning, 31 May, and the school is filled with fun and scientific activities for Técnico employees and their families, with a special focus on the youngest and most curious members.
Laughter echoes from inside the Main Building, where Beatriz, a third-year student, stands on a chair. With one hand resting on a Van de Graaff generator, she playfully surprises her family by using her other hand to touch their arms, giving them mild electric shocks from the charge. As soon as she gets close to them, a crackling noise fills the air as both her brother and father jump at the small electric current that passes through them.
Beatriz’s brother, Tomás, an eighth grader, is captivated by this and many other experiments prepared by students from the Physics Group (NFIST) for Family Day. He had previously attended scientific activities during last year’s summer school, ‘Verão na ULisboa,’ but shares that he hadn’t experienced many of the demonstrations he saw this morning. “I found it very interesting”, he says, expressing his passion for science. “I want to study technology and computer science because I like comp—” “He already has a computer at school!” interrupts Beatriz, who has just stepped down from her chair and is now interested in the bacterial cultures displayed at the stand of the Department of Bioengineering, where they are arranged in the shapes of letters and cartoon characters.
Nearby, a football match is underway. Rafael, a third grader, exchanges a few passes with Darwin, a small humanoid robot showcased by the Institute for Systems and Robotics (ISR-Lisboa). In a series of controlled movements, the robot kicks a red ball toward him. Interested in robotics, Rafael dreams of developing “a cuddly robot that can do everything, help people when they need it, and socialise…”
Sandra Borges, from the Human Resources Division (DRH), is helping to organise Family Day. ‘The event has been very dynamic, and everyone is participating in the activities’, she shared, also highlighting the importance of engaging young people in scientific activities from an early age – ‘it’s very important to take this approach early on.’
Ana Lucas, coordinator of the Well-being and People Development Unit, explains that ‘Family Day was a challenge thrown down to DRH by Professor Rogério Colaço’, president of the school, and that the event was organised ‘with the aim of bringing together Técnico employees and their families, reinforcing the sense of belonging to the institution’.
Additionally, Ana Lucas outlines other initiatives by the Well-being and People Development Unit – “after Women’s Month celebrated in March, the launch of the Workplace Options Platform and Family Day, we’ll hold Health Week, with posture re-education and injury prevention classes, screenings and talks; in October we’ll host the second edition of the ‘Well Training Plan’ training; in November our activities will focus on Técnico employees, with ‘Movember’; and in December we’ll present the fourth edition of ‘Bem-vind@ ao Técnico’, a programme to welcome new employees.
