‘Three at once’ – said Rogério Colaço, president of Instituto Superior Técnico, at the beginning of his speech during the ceremony where José Tribolet, João Pavão Martins and José Alves Marques were honoured with the title of Emeritus Professor of Universidade de Lisboa. The three professors from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering received the distinction in the late afternoon of 29 October, in the Great Hall, at Alameda campus.
‘Any one of them is an inescapable figure at Instituto Superior Técnico and in Portuguese academia,’ continued Rogério Colaço, addressing a room packed with colleagues and friends of the professors. ‘Together, they were founding members of departments and research centres, created companies, and were visionaries in areas of research that are now cutting-edge. Over the decades they have done remarkable things together – it’s no coincidence that today we are in the Great Hall honouring three people at once’, he added also comparing the trio’s collaboration to Alexandre Dumas’ “The Three Musketeers”.
Arlindo Oliveira, also a professor at Técnico, thanked the three professors for their contribution to Técnico and society, listing some biographical notes on José Tribolet, João Pavão Martins and José Alves Marques, particularly their involvement with the Department of Computer Engineering and Engineering, of which they were founding members.
During their speeches, the three professors spoke as if ‘with one voice’ about the need to instill critical thinking in students and society to prepare it for the challenges posed by artificial intelligence.
José Tribolet emphasised the importance of ‘engineering to enable humanity to deal with the virtual world and make positive use of it’. He argued that at the end of the first quarter of the 21st century, ‘it’s essential that Técnico can reinvent and rebuild itself’.
João Pavão Martins analysed ‘the future of programming’, starting from the (current) ability to create programmes without writing code, using artificial intelligence. The professor believes that, soon, teaching will change, ‘both on the side of the students and the side of the professors’ – however, even if the skills expected from students change, the knowledge of the fundamentals will remain essential. ‘Students are going to use AI in their professional lives’ and “teaching has to change to deal with it”, he concluded.
According to José Alves Marques, this was a ‘very important ceremony from an emotional point of view’. ‘Técnico is a space of freedom that allows people to do what pleases them,’ he said. He recalled the challenges when the Department of Computer Science and Engineering was created in 1998 and the ‘strong organisational culture that was very important and allowed this growth.
The ceremony included a speech by Cecília Rodrigues, vice-rector of Universidade de Lisboa, who highlighted the ‘vision, pioneering spirit, boldness and inspiration’ of the three Técnico professors and their ‘countless contributions to research and technological development’ that boost ‘national competitiveness’. ‘These prolonged ovations we’ve heard here today inspire Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, and our country,’ she concluded.
An exhibition that intertwines the careers of José Tribolet, João Pavão Martins and José Alves Marques with the history of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering will be open until 5 November, in the Main Building’s Atrium.
