The presentation of the Xpand iT scholarships to Computer Science and Engineering undergraduate students took place on 2 December, at Técnico – Alameda campus, in the José Tribolet room (Computer Science Building II).
The ceremony formalised the renewal of four scholarships to Bernardo Sousa, Diogo Pinto, Francisco Heleno and Pedro Sousa.
The ceremony was chaired by the Vice-president of Técnico for Academic Affairs. Francisco Melo, thanked the patron and explained ‘the great impact this support has on the lives of students’ who can now ‘pursue their dreams without constraints’.
The awarded students expressed their gratitude for the support. Bernardo Sousa, who is receiving this scholarship for the third year, said that he feels ‘increasingly grateful’. Diogo Pinto described how the volunteer project, a scholarship requirement, makes him think that he is ‘making a difference in the community’. Francisco Heleno shares ‘it’s an opportunity to give back’. For Pedro Sousa, as well as being a ‘huge help’, this support is a ‘motivation to get good grades’.
As part of their voluntary work, this group of students is developing the integration of a tool, used by Técnico’s Academic Development Unit, to monitor students on the Fenix platform.
Representing the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Daniel Gonçalves recalled his time as a ‘displaced student’ and how ‘it’s good to have this kind of initiative and help to study without having these constraints’.
Xpand iT, a member of the Técnico spin-off community, aims to support students ‘so that they can concentrate on their goals’. Marta Alegria, the company’s representative, said that the company’s ‘strategic focus’ ‘is technological education’, hence the importance of these scholarships and other types of support.
