What began as a work to “fix locks”, led Jorge Couto to manage INESC’s national infrastructures. He currently leads INESC TEC’s Infrastructures Maintenance Service, and coordinates a group that, behind the scenes, ensures that the “machine” operates smoothly. He’s been here for more than 20 years; he met hundreds of people and learned “from everyone”: “I will not leave INESC without saying thank you”.
Jorge Couto remembers when “the concern to do things well” began to influence him. It happened at the age of 16, when he got his first job in a first-aid company: a kid in the middle of “important people”, who started as an assistant to an “old school” trucker: eyes on the road and few words. But sometimes, among the “admonitions” he got for neglecting the truck or for being late cleaning the forks in the workshop, he also heard words that echoed inside him: “You must do your work even when the boss is not watching; you do what you have to do, you don’t need to show it to everyone” – i.e., if the forks in the workshop were clean, it is because someone cleaned them, and the “recognition” would arrive in time. With Jorge Couto, things have always been like this. 50 years after those times, he is part of a group of people who, at INESC TEC, work “behind the scenes” to ensure that the “machine” is operating adequately and ready for any inconvenience.
And it is easier to care when there aren’t many “secrets”. Jorge Couto – who started to work at INESC in 1987, to “take care of some locks”, following a request to CTT – has a 22-year history here. He followed the whole story: he witnessed the expansion of the Institute to the northern region in the 1980s; he became responsible for the infrastructures at national level – the Lisbon, Porto, Aveiro, and Coimbra hubs. Later, he returned to lead INESC TEC Infrastructures Maintenance Service.
At 66, Jorge Couto defines himself as a “non-conformist” and a “happy guy”, always in contact with others. He understands that his life was guided by “passages and lessons” that, like the one he learned 50 years ago, he learned and then applied. “This memories often emerge and end up guiding my actions, even in my daily life at INESC TEC”.
From the locks to the keys to all doors
When he arrived at INESC, in the building in Largo de Mompilher, he started doing odd jobs: cleaning and security; he later took over the management of all buildings, now at the Campus of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP). “I know this building [A] like the back of my hand, but there are some funny “nooks and crannies” here: I was involved in the construction of the building, and this is a real bunker. But I spend little time in the office; I like to be outside, and see what’s going on. It can be said that I am not an ‘office rat'”, he mentioned.
The days on the road are long gone. Jorge Couto recalled the times the invoices arrived showing INESC spending “5000 contos” on communications per month. Infrastructure management throughout the country, between 1997 and 2000, forced him to embark on a life on the road, and divide his time between Porto and Lisbon. So, he got to know the INESC ecosystem like few others. He remembered the periods of austerity, and the need to make use of the ingenuity to overcome difficulties: “At the time, the director of Infrastructures, Figueiredo (who worked at PT), asked me to reduce the budget for Infrastructures by 20%. The doors of INESC had to be kept open, with active communications, electricity, running water, electricity and hygiene products. It got to the point where I had to measure toilet paper in the garage: I used to buy two brands, and then I rolled out the toilet paper rolls, and tried to figure out which one was the best in terms of size/money ratio”.
Now, he takes care of other affairs. Jorge Couto leads and delegates tasks in the service he manages, and all days are different inside his office, in the ground floor of INESC TEC. Days… and also nights: when it rings inside the building, the INESC TEC alarm also rings on his mobile phone. A problem, maybe? Young people trapped in the building past midnight? Jorge Couto is often the first to arrive on the scene. “I remember that one time I had to spend two whole nights here; I arrived at 2 a.m., left at 7 a.m., and only had time to go home for breakfast, before returning”. He already knew it would be like this when he returned to INESC TEC, in 2016 – “tough”.
The “Agostini”
He returned to INESC TEC after 18 years working for CTT, between 2000 and 2018. When INESC knocked on his door, he did not hesitate: “INESC is – and always will be – my second home”. Therefore, when he received a call from Professor Mário Jorge Leitão with a “challenge”, he could not refuse. “He thought I was already retired, and presented me a challenge. I immediately said, “Professor, I’m not retired yet, and I’m up to the challenge”. The “challenge” was to manage the Infrastructures Maintenance Service.
The started working at INESC TEC after the business hours. Those were long days: he worked at CTT from nine to five, and then three hours at the Institute, until 8 p.m. Jorge had a vital ally to keep track of all schedules: a 125cc motorcycle; he was the “Giacomo Agostini” from Vila Nova de Gaia, speeding through the streets of Porto (he used to own a Saches V5 at 16, his first motorcycle). Jorge Couto used to travel a lot for a couple of years. But the maintenance work “got more demanding”. It was time to make a decision.
The work behind the scenes
“In 2018, we started to hear rumours that CTT was going to let go some personnel. I started questioning people at INESC TEC. The answer they gave me was this: ‘Jorge, you already know the answer: you can start ASAP’. “I said goodbye to CTT at age 60; and then I came to INESC TEC”, he stated. “It was a complicated time. But at the same time, it was a beautiful adventure”.
He paused and corrected this sentence: it STILL is a beautiful adventure. He looks back at 2016 as the year he began perceiving buildings “from a different perspective”, focusing on preventive maintenance. Sometimes, he “comes out from backstage” to do things everyone enjoys. Some examples: the “marmitaria”, which “ceased to be a food room”; the backyard of building B, now a space to gather the community; the meeting rooms created in several floors. “This is not MY work; and it is not just the Service’s work – it is INESC TEC’s work”.
However, this is the work of a “non-conformist” and “aware” person, who does not forget that every day there is a joint effort taking place behind the scenes. It is often missed, but it’s a permanent effort: “There is a group of people here who work to make things happen and live up to the needs of the community – which is demanding (thankfully)”.
Jorge kept going: “Our daily motivation is to provide everyone the necessary comfort to do their job throughout the day. We take care of many things, we try this and that, with some ingenuity, and people don’t even have to notice our work. We are aware of many things: from the lighting to the temperature that the INESC TEC employees find when they enter the building in the morning. These are measures that we have taken over time, because we know that changes creates problems, especially when they’re sudden”, he mentioned.
With INESC TEC’s activity growing, the team under Jorge Couto also expanded. He spends less time “on the ground”, and more time delegating. And he resorts to a lesson he learned at 16, which still serves him today: “to learn from all people”. “Learn and apply” is the game he knows best: he has been “playing” it for 50 years, since the first day of work; when he had contact with the members of the Board; at the time he entered the building to “fix locks”; when the people from FundoTech in Largo de Mompilher (INESC Porto building between 1987 and 2000) cracked jokes – “we used to spend a lot of time cracking jokes”, he recalled – and now at INESC TEC.
How many years ahead? Jorge Couto still doesn’t know. He feels that he has been “treading fertile ground” all these years, and that the path led him to INESC. When we no longer find him at the desk – or in the corridors – then one thing’s for sure: he left with an even more immense history. “There were people who were vital to my path; but I feel that I truly learned from all the people I met: from the members of the Board to the grant holders”, he explained. Besides his experience, Jorge will take with him all the “thank you” and “sorry”, as well as “gratitute” and “modesty”. Jorge Couto smiled: “I believe that my life has been quite rewarding, with spectacular moments, and many positive things”. I feel good about what I do; I really like doing what I do, and I like being here. One day, I won’t be here anymore; but I think I deserve to get some rest. I will not leave INESC without saying thank you”.
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