The inaugural class of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Minho took place on October 7th, at the Noble Auditorium of the Azurém campus, in Guimarães.
The opening session counted with the interventions of the rector of UMinho, Rui Vieira de Castro, the mayor of Guimarães, Domingos Bragança, the president of the Portuguese Space Agency, Ricardo Conde, the president of the School of Engineering of UMinho, Pedro Arezes, and the director of the study cycles in Aerospace Engineering of UMinho, Gustavo Dias.
This was followed by the lecture “The Space and us: thinking and building the future”, by Manuel Heitor, researcher of IN+ (Centre for Studies in Innovation, Technology and Development Policies) of Instituto Superior Técnico.
With the new offer in Aerospace Engineering, UMinho wants to contribute to an activity sector with high potential, seeking to ensure that the training profile of professionals is adapted to new realities and needs. The recently approved bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Aerospace Engineering at UMinho are based on the path developed in the last decades by research centres and interfaces at UMinho and were designed to go beyond the institution’s borders, through national (CEiiA) and international partnerships (Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica – Brazil, University of Massachusetts Lowell – USA and Universidade de Vigo – Spain), the latter foreseeing joint research and training projects.
The degree in Aerospace Engineering entered directly in the national top 10 (8th course with the best grade in the last place), also occupying the first place in UMinho.
This inaugural lecture marked the beginning of the academic activities for students, representing one more step in the institutional goal of making UMinho a reference in teaching and research in Aerospace Engineering.
The inaugural lecture can be reviewed here at EEUM’s “Shortening the Distance“.