“A great honour and a huge responsibility”, said Joaquim Jorge, a professor at Instituto Superior Técnico and a researcher at INESC-ID, in reaction to his appointment as President-Elect of the IEEE Computer Society (CS) for the 2026 term.
Joaquim Jorge was elected from among more than 50,000 members from 168 countries and will assume the presidency in 2027, in “recognition of the work carried out over decades in areas such as human-computer interaction, computer graphics, and virtual reality”, he emphasises.
As for his priorities, he highlights three lines of action: “strengthening diversity, equity, and inclusion in our community”, supporting “students and young professionals, with a special focus on reproducibility”, and promoting “innovation in emerging areas such as artificial intelligence, extended reality, and cyber-physical systems”.
Joaquim Jorge affirms that Portugal has “talent, quality research, and capacity for innovation” and that its presence in “top international organisations raises the profile of the country and its institutions, creates opportunities for students and researchers, and reinforces the internationalisation of national higher education.”
In this context, he also recognises Técnico’s decisive role in preparing him for this challenge. “Técnico has been my academic and scientific home, where I have spent most of my career”, he recalls. “The experience of leading research groups, supervising doctoral students, and collaborating on international projects has helped me to develop the skills I need to face the challenges of leading a global organisation”.
In his view, this appointment is not just an individual distinction, but rather a “collective achievement” that reflects the work of colleagues, students, and collaborators over the years. Joaquim Jorge adds that he hopes this step will “open new doors for more Portuguese men and women to take on leadership roles in science and technology at the international level”.
IEEE is an international association that serves as a benchmark for technological excellence in engineering and computing, bringing together members who conduct research and promote projects with applications in different scientific and industrial fields.
