The event “40 years of Science and Knowledge: empowering companies to face new challenges”, which took place on July 6, marked the celebration of INESC’s 40th anniversary, also associated with 35 years of INESC in Porto. The event gave voice to the representatives of both institutions, as well as of the European Commission, the Portuguese Government and the industry sector. The auditorium of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP) was the main stage of this hybrid event, with a reduced number of guests present, and hundreds of participants attending the event online.
More than 800 people participated in the session at FEUP’s main auditorium, in order to learn more about how INESC addressed the challenges from 40 years ago, and to understand how the Institute empowers today’s companies.
“It was a fragile country, the one we had in 1980”, said José Manuel Mendonça, Chairman of the Board and CEO of INESC TEC, opening this first conference within the scope of INESC’s 40th anniversary.
Elisa Ferreira, European Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms, was in charge of the keynote speech. She outlined the challenges for the recovery of Europe and Portugal, and emphasised that keeping our eyes set on the future is the only way to achieve this, stating: “We need proficient actors like INESC”.
Conquering the Adamastor: a metaphor to reach several generations
40 years ago, José Tribolet and Lourenço Fernandes “shook the foundations” of the university system, by creating a non-profit private institute, whose associates were companies and universities. “They called it INESC and launched the powerful motto ‘Defeating the Adamastor’”, recalled José Manuel Mendonça, who also mentioned that, at that time, he felt that there was a “choice to be made” in Portugal.
The FEUP auditorium also welcomed a panel of top representatives of the Portuguese industry: António Amorim, President & CEO of Corticeira Amorim; Isabel Furtado, CEO of TMG Automotive and president of COTEC; Manuel Carlos, President of APICCAPS and Paulo Azevedo, Chairman of the Board of Directors of SONAE.
The discussion, moderated by Manuel Carvalho, Director of the Público newspaper (official media partner of the event), focused on the question “Is the Adamastor, representing the gap between companies and the academic world, ‘tamed?’”. “Integration is becoming increasingly greater, and if there is more to be done, that can only a positive aspect”, said António Amorim, closing the debate.
The importance of the “INESC System”
INESC arrived in Porto in 1985 and, a year later, in Coimbra, Aveiro and Braga.
“After all these years, I asked myself when preparing for this intervention: what does the ‘INESC System’ really represent in the national context?”, said José Tribolet, founder and President of INESC and professor at the Instituto Superior Técnico ( IST), thus opening the final speech of the event – with nothing left unsaid, as one could expect. The production of “knowledge with significant potential, “complying with the rules and conditions of the competitive market” emerged as the answer to the initial challenge, thus characterising the nature of the INESC System.
A ousadia de quem fez acontecer
Before the end of the session, Manuel Heitor said that “the courage of those who made it happen” took Portugal out of the Aldeia dos Macacos, thus quoting José Mariano Gago. The country of paper and pencil science, stopped imitating, took a change and began creating.
The Minister clarified and listed some clear demonstrations of courage by the founders: creating an independent and autonomous institute; introducing experimental sciences; acknowledging the importance of diversifying the economic base; promoting the idea of transforming sectors and scaling-up Portugal.
Nowadays, Manuel Heitor believes that the Institute is highly innovative, contributing to job creation and the diversification of economy: “INESC TEC appears when necessary, as one should expect from an Associated Laboratory”.
The recording of the event is available here.
After Porto, the celebrations of the “40 years of Science and Knowledge” will continue in Lisbon, on October 8, and in Coimbra, on October 23.
The INESC TEC researcher mentioned in this news piece is associated with UP-FEUP.
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