On July 8th, in the presence of several members of the academic community, the new direction of the Department of Polymer Engineering was sworn in, with Professor Júlio Viana as director and Professor Carla Martins as deputy director, for the 2026/2027 biennium.

The Department of Polymer Engineering (DEP) was created in 1978 to support the national plastics industry through the creation of a degree and a body of experts in Polymer Engineering.

DEP’s mission is to offer specialized teaching projects of high quality recognized nationally and internationally, with a strong connection to scientific and technological development, industrial application and integration into society. It offers higher education at the levels of Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctorates.

Scientific Research takes place mainly at the Institute of Polymers and Composites (IPC) – Associate Laboratory of the Foundation for Science and Technology, classified as exceptional, maintaining close collaboration with several national and international Research Centres. The IPC develops research mainly based on external funding and has the involvement of professors, PhD researchers and scholarship holders.

DEP actively collaborates with the national and international industrial fabric directly, through R&D projects, and the provision of services. Its faculty and researchers also collaborate in industrial projects through the interface structure of the Polymer Engineering Innovation Hub (PIEP).

The Presidency of the School of Engineering of UMinho thanks the commitment and spirit of service to the outgoing board, Professor Ana Vera Machado and Professor Sacha Trevelyan Mould, and wishes the new board many successes during this mandate!