The announcement had already been made – starting in September, the Técnico Congress Centre, at the Civil Engineering building, would host a MasterTalk once a month, with the aim of presenting the research projects and initiatives developed by the different Técnico departments at master’s level. And so it happened, the first MasterTalk took place on September 28, and was given by Paulo Ferrão, Técnico professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering (DEM), who spoke about the role of this area of engineering in the future and in sustainability.
Most of the people waiting outside the Congress Centre are students in the final year of their undergraduate programme. Bernardo Chagas, a 3rd-year Mechanical Engineering student, says “I hope to find out more about Técnico master’s programmes”. In fact, like him, many other students want to find out what the future holds for them, which is the case of Caetana Costa, also a 3rd-year student. “I’ve been thinking a lot about what should I consider for a master’s programme”, she says. “I thought I’d get to my third year knowing exactly what I wanted to do next, but it’s hard to figure out what might be useful. Now that there’s this opportunity [to learn more from the MasterTalks], I wanted to take advantage of it,” she says.
On the other hand, there are also those who are doing ‘more long-term’ research. Carolina Antunes, a 2nd-year Engineering Physics student says she wants to understand which free options might be more related to the master’s programme she will choose. That’s why she decided to attend this session, which discussed the role of Mechanical Engineering in achieving a more sustainable future.
“It is not possible to reduce pollution without understanding how materials enter and circulate in our society”, said Paulo Ferrão. A few minutes later, when the session was over and he was leaving the auditorium, the Técnico professor said “it was a very enriching experience”, not just because of the talk itself, but mainly because of the conversations he had with the students at the end of the session. According to the professor, it is clear that students “are interested in understanding how they can be part of projects and what challenges they can be involved in”. He also adds “from that point of view, [the MasterTalk] is a great initiative, because it allows us to draw attention to the fact that students get involved from the first year in the research we’re doing – and that’s what makes Técnico so unique”.
After the lecture, the students had the opportunity to talk with the professors involved in the six master’s programmes offered by the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Técnico (Mechanical Engineering, Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Materials Engineering, Environmental Engineering and Energy Engineering and Management). Carolina is happy to have had this opportunity. The MasterTalk “has completely changed my idea of the Department [of Mechanical Engineering]” and made her “want to do more research”. Caetana also enjoyed the lecture – as she left the Congress Centre, she said “being able to talk to the professors responsible for the master’s programmes gives us a very clear idea of what awaits us”. “I’m glad I came,” he says happily.
The next MasterTalk, led by Mário Figueiredo, is scheduled for October 19 and will focus on the master’s programmes offered by the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
