Nuno Filipe, aerospace engineer at NASA and Técnico alumnus, travelled from Los Angeles to Lisbon to show Técnico students that it is possible to reach the outer space. In his lecture, held on March 15, he said to the crowded audience that “everything is possible if we work hard”.
Engineer Nuno Filipe is living abroad for eleven years but he doesn’t forget where it all started: “Técnico was very important to me”, he noted. “I lived incredible moments here and I met amazing people. It was the beginning of my journey”. He didn’t forget the professors who were important to him and he advised the audience:“learn everything you can because it will help you in the future, even the classes at 8 a.m.”, he said jokingly.
During the lecture, the engineer talked about his several internships and the projects in which he was involved, as well as the difficulties and challenges he had to face.
He went to the United States of America seeking for further education and training opportunities. “I decided to pursue a PhD because during my internship at ESA I felt that I needed to learn more”, said Nuno Filipe.
“The biggest US companies come to universities for recruiting and compete with each other for recruiting top talent”, he explained. It only took him two interviews until NASA representatives realised his potential.
He took the opportunity to show a set of videos demonstrating his different projects: “I work with the best people in the world at what they do and there is no better feeling than this”, ensured the Guidance and Control Engineer at NASA.
“Now that you have achieved the dream of many of us, what’s coming next?” asked one of the many students who attended the lecture. The answer was: “I am just starting my career. I want to do many things. There are great ongoing space missions. I feel that I still have a lot to learn. My dream is to contribute to space exploration”.
Nuno Filipe also recalled that “there are many other people from Técnico working at NASA. We are everywhere”. And there might be some more because “you can reach everything you want”, he repeated several times.
