Carlos Guedes Soares, a professor at Instituto Superior Técnico, will chair the European Association of Universities in Marine Technology (WEGEMT), an organisation that brings together 40 universities in 17 European countries to promote marine engineering, for a 3-year period 2024-2026.
This association brings together all the European Universities that offer higher education in the area of Marine Technology and Ocean Engineering from undergraduate to doctorate levels. Carlos Guedes Soares describes WEGEMT as “a very important Association on an academic level” that “can have a very important role in establishing a uniformity/standardisation in processes and curricula, in the collaboration and liaison between universities and in promoting the importance of this sector”.
The Técnico professor has “ambitious objectives” for his mandate. In his opinion, “the university sector in Europe is going through difficult times” which have culminated in a “reduction of funding for university education and scientific research”. In this sense, he will “try to increase the synergies between universities on one hand, and on the other hand between universities and the industrial sector that can have an important contribution in promoting scientific research in the universities”. At the same time, he hopes “to raise awareness of the European programmes, that finance research and development, for the need to promote an increased collaboration of the Universities in the research that is being financed, which is increasingly industry-oriented”.
As the first initiative with the objective of mobilising the WEGEMT members for this activity plan, a WEGEMT Workshop on the theme “Strengthen the University Sector in Cooperation with Industry” will take place at Técnico Lisboa on 17 May 2024, following the MARTECH 2024 Conference which takes place on 14 to 16 May 2024 as part of CENTEC’s 30th anniversary.
According to the association website, the WEGEMT “aims to increase the knowledge base, and update and extend the skills and competence of practicing engineers and postgraduate students working at an advanced level in marine technology and related sciences”, acting as a bridge between the different universities. Técnico has been a member of the WEGEMT for more than 30 years, with ”a very important role and position in Europe”, says Carlos Guedes Soares, who also highlights the first place achieved by Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering at Técnico in Shanghai ranking.
