Rafael Rodrigues, a master’s student in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Técnico received the Celfinet Merit Award in Telecommunications Systems on 23 October, in the meeting room of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (DEEC), at Técnico – Alameda campus.
The award, worth 1800 euros, recognised the student´s academic merit in the Telecommunications Systems curricular unit. ‘It’s a pleasure to receive this award’, said Rafael Rodrigues also emphasising ‘the award recognises not only the work and academic quality we have at Técnico but also shows that what we learn has a real-world impact’.
Pedro Amaral, the Vice-President of Técnico for Corporate Interface, attended the ceremony, and stressed that ‘one of Técnico’s most important missions is to open up to the business community’. He also praised the role of DEEC, which he considers fundamental for the ‘construction and development of telecommunications’. He also mentioned the positive impact of more than 40 merit awards already awarded to Técnico students. Pedro Amaral ended his speech by ‘thanking the student, as a representative of all the students, of all the talent’.
Carlos Caseiro, a Técnico alumnus now Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Celfinet, emphasised his satisfaction with maintaining a close connection to Técnico: ‘It’s always a pleasure to come home. We’re proud to support this award’. He also left a word of appreciation for the professors who made this partnership possible and congratulated the student on his achievement, highlighting that ‘at Celfinet we’ve had the opportunity to work with engineers from other countries, but I’ve never found such great quality as we find in Técnico’s talent’. Inês Alves, HR Manager at Celfinet, also left a few words of appreciation and congratulated the student.
The co-coordinators of the Telecommunications Systems curricular unit António Rodrigues and Paula Queluz attended the ceremony. ‘Celfinet has been more than a partner, our students feel at home at Celfinet’, said António Rodrigues emphasising the importance of the partnership between Celfinet and Técnico.
In addition to the academic merit award that annually honours the best student in the Telecommunications Systems curricular unit, Celfinet donated 1200 euros to DEEC to improve teaching and learning conditions. The Head of DEEC, José Santos-Victor, stressed the importance of academic and business partnerships: ‘The best way for us to collaborate with companies is through human resources transfer by taking our students to the company’.
