On November 3rd, the new direction of the Department of Civil Engineering took office, with professors Miguel Azenha as Director, and Ricardo Mateus as Deputy Director.
The ceremony took place in auditorium 2.0.24, on the Azurém campus, as part of a program that began at 3:00 pm with a Lecture on “Artificial Intelligence in Teaching-Learning: the case of the UM School of Medicine” with Dr. Nuno Osório, which was followed by a round table integrating some elements of the Department of Civil Engineering.
The swearing-in ceremony began at 4:00 pm, in the presence of dozens of members of the department, from technical, administrative and management staff, teachers, researchers, students, student group, and the team of the Presidency of the School of Engineering.
After taking office, there were two symbolic moments: the first was the handing over of the key to the Department from the previous director, Professor Rui Ramos – to whom sincere thanks were addressed for the 6 years of dedication to the department, – to the new director, Professor Miguel Azenha. Then, the President of the School of Engineering handed over to the outgoing director and the new department director, a copy of the book “Fifty years, Eleven presidents, A future”, the commemorative book of the fiftieth anniversary of the School of Engineering, in which the history of this institution is reported by its School presidents, including contributions of high importance from members of the Department of Civil Engineering to the EEUM, such as those of Júlio Barreiros Martins (1980-1983) and Paulo Pereira (2010-2013).
After the swearing-in ceremony, all those present were invited to gather in the hall of the Civil Engineering department where a Green of Honor was waiting for them, allowing informal socializing between the entire team and other guests.
In the words of Miguel Azenha, “it is with great pleasure that I assume, with my colleague Ricardo Mateus, the direction of the Department of Civil Engineering. We have received a department with direction, and our role now is to give it continuity and prepare it for the coming years. At the inauguration, we shared with colleagues three work fronts: people, teaching and our home. In people, we want to move forward with the rejuvenation of the teaching staff, bringing new colleagues who can learn from those who are here and ensure the continuity of knowledge. We also want to reorganize the allocation of technical, administrative and management staff, taking into account recent mobilities, so that each person is where they are most needed and see their work recognized.
In teaching, we want to look carefully at topics such as artificial intelligence, modular construction and robotization, and above all at the way we train our engineers, in a profession that is changing rapidly. In our house, there are also day-to-day issues that we intend to address: clear criteria known to all in the management of spaces, more organized and accessible internal information, and communication that better shows how much is done in the department. We would like to do all this together, with teachers, researchers, technical staff and students, because the department belongs to everyone. And we want to do it hand in hand with the School of Engineering and the Rectory, also contributing to the common goals of the University.”
The Presidency of the School of Engineering wishes the new direction of the Department of Civil Engineering a mandate full of successes and achievements, and reaffirms that it will do everything in its power to support the pursuit of the department’s objectives.
