Future engineers visited INESC TEC

Between March 28 and 30, INESC TEC welcomed more than 120 high school students from all over the country – who all shared a common desire: get to know the day-to-day life of an engineer.

Within the scope of the initiative “Semana Profissão: Engenheiro”, organised by the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP), the activities promoted by INESC TEC showed the participants some of the work taking place at the research laboratories – namely in the fields of energy, and industrial and maritime robotics.

The Centre for Power and Energy Systems (CPES) addressed the topic “Energy Efficiency and Electric Vehicles”, and the students had the opportunity to learn more about the development of technological solutions to efficiently manage energy, minimising the environmental impact and reducing costs.

The Centre for Robotics in Industry and Intelligent Systems (CRIIS) presented solutions ranging from “Research to Industry and Agroforestry”. Robotics is a multidisciplinary area that connects engineering and science towards the design and programming of robotic systems, which in turn requires the use of different technologies, e.g., electronics, traction systems, location algorithms, navigation, and Artificial Intelligence, among many others. The researchers showed students a series of robotic platforms that explore these challenges, even providing them the opportunity to operate some of them.

Finally, and concerning maritime autonomous robotics, the Centre for Robotics and Autonomous Systems (CRAS) showcased the work developed at INESC TEC towards the promotion of the “Sustainable Position at Sea”. In addition to learning about maritime exploration, students were able to operate an underwater robot, while getting to know the requirements of this type of endeavour.

For three days, INESC TEC welcomed 128 students from 31 different schools, coming from cities like Porto, Braga, Vila Real, Aveiro, Setúbal or Viseu. The “Semana Profissão: Engenheiro” featured more than 60 activities targeting more than 1500 high school students, teachers, and psychologists, bringing together FEUP lecturers, researchers and students – who were able to unveil some aspects about the world of Engineering.