The Engineers Association and some twenty companies and public, private and higher education entities in Portugal – including the University of Minho, represented by the president of the School of Engineering (EEUM), António Vicente – formalised the creation of the Forum for Attracting and Retaining Talent in Engineering on 23 January at the Porto Innovation Hub.

The session was chaired by the Minister of Education, Science and Innovation, Fernando Alexandre, and was attended by figures such as the president of the Engineers Association, Fernando de Almeida Santos; the president of the Engineers Association – Northern Region (OERN), Bento Aires; the president of Infraestruturas de Portugal, Miguel Cruz; the president of Proforum, António Martins da Costa; the administrator of Mota-Engil, Arnaldo Figueiredo; the president of Metro do Porto, Emídio Gomes; the director of CEiiA, Vladimiro Cardoso Feliz; the deputy director of COTEC, Ana Marques da Silva; and the partner of Deloitte, Miguel Fontes, among others.

The Forum aims to establish itself as a platform for institutional cooperation dedicated to attracting young people to engineering, enhancing technical and scientific skills, and creating conditions for their integration into the national economic and social fabric. Measures are planned to be implemented in educational institutions and participating companies to strengthen qualified technical staff and build a more sustainable socio-economic future for the country.