Campus and Community

“Técnico, today, is a school as I have never seen in 25 years”

The director of external relations of Embraer, João Taborda, is a former student of Técnico and makes a point of keeping a close relationship with the school.

He has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and a master’s degree in technology management and engineering policies from Técnico. Today, engineer João Taborda is the director of external relations at Embraer, one of the largest builders of aircraft in the world. “I did engineering work for eight months, but early on I began to realize that what I liked to do was to go to companies, creating links between companies and universities”, he explains. “Early on, I started doing more outward-looking activities, like manager or technology promoter, to try to see what is done in universities that can help companies.”

“At Embraer we started to have a relationship with Técnico by way of R&D projects, and then we ended up formalizing an agreement with the school”, he says, noting that the priorities have to be set on activities that combine “the role, motivation and function” of the two institutions.

“The role of Técnico is to prepare people, and this is something that Técnico does in a way that very few universities do. In addition, there is great interest in developing activities in their research groups that resemble the reality in the industry. We are interested in having prepared people who already know our company.” Furthermore, the company fosters collaborations at the R&D and public policy level through various joint projects and applications for European Community programs.

For professor Manuel Freitas who teaches in the mechanical engineering department, which for a few years now has been a part of this collaboration, the relationship between Técnico and Embraer is natural: “Embraer is the world’s largest aircraft manufacturer after Boeing and Airbus. Instituto Superior Técnico offers the best mechanical engineering degree, and the best, and virtually only, aerospace engineering degree in the country. The benefits for both sides are immense.”

Since the company won the privatization of OGMA in 2005 and set up two factories in Évora, it “gained some visibility” in Portugal, explains João Taborda. Today these plants in the Alentejo are considered “centres of excellence” within Embraer: “We bring unique technology together at the group in Évora, and so we have to maintain a generation of local knowledge, in which Técnico is absolutely essential”, he says.

It’s not only, however, the partnerships in R&D projects and graduate recruitment that Embraer offers to the university community. As João Taborda says, “Embraer’s doors are open for students to visit, look around and have lots of contact with the company to feel what future employment may be like.”

This means, for example, that Embraer may offer internships to Técnico students or collaborate on master’s theses. “Master’s theses have a big advantage,” João Taborda says, “since they help create experts.” “When a student writes a master’s thesis, the student has delved into a theme and taken sufficient steps to be an expert, and that interests us a lot.”

“A master’s thesis on a technology that we, in principle, can identify as relevant, can place the person on the path to begin to be an expert and, of course, to come to work with us on that technology”, he says. As for internships, they “are considered on a case by case basis”, explains João Taborda. “We love to have the person completing an internship stay with us. The advice I would give to someone who wishes to do an internship at Embraer is to show not only that they want to do the internship, but that they are trying to stay on as a permanent employee.”

As for recruitment, João Taborda considers that “the importance that the name Técnico has today helps at the time of choosing new people.” There are good references, those coming from Técnico meet expectations and add value to the company, and when things work well there is little reason for change”, he adds, noting, however, that “it is not a choice, it comes naturally.”

For the future, the director of external relations of this multinational states that the larger goals include ongoing collaboration on R&D projects, especially now, at a time when Embraer is going to install an “engineering centre” in Évora. This is a view shared by professor Manuel Freitas, who believes that “the existence of more research projects would be ideal.” João Taborda confirms that “as the centre grows, we’ll want to develop more projects and Técnico will emerge naturally”, and adds that they’ll continue to rely on Técnico “for their recruitment needs”.

“Técnico is now a school structured as I have never seen in 25 years, wanting to approach the companies, wanting to help in its connection with the business world and to fulfil ever better its role of preparing students. Everyone wins with this, especially the students who are the ones that count the most here.”