On 7 February, the campus’s main auditorium hosted the Graduation Ceremony, celebrating the graduation of nearly 1,500 EEUM undergraduates, master’s and PhD students from the past academic year, alongside family members, lecturers and programme directors. The occasion marked a milestone in their academic journey, a success that is also a collective achievement.

The ceremony took place in the morning, with speeches by the Rector of UMinho, Pedro Arezes; the President and Vice-President of EEUM, António Vicente and Joana Cunha; and the President of the UMinho Academic Association, Luís Guedes. On stage were three EEUM graduates: Sara Fernandes, coordinator of the Operational Centre for IT Security at the Assembly of the Republic; Alexandre Barros da Cunha, president of Vitrus Ambiente; and Albano Miguel Fernandes, managing director of AMF Safety Shoes and director of Aloft, who shared their academic and professional experiences and offered some advice to the new graduates.

Graduates were also invited to leave a message in the Online Graduation Book, created to mark the EEUM’s 50th anniversary, to preserve this collective memory, which remains accessible to everyone at any time. For the School’s President, “every name recorded here carries a story of perseverance, learning and transformation, converging in this ‘homecoming’ and also in the linking of technical knowledge with ethics, critical thinking and a commitment to a fairer and more innovative society”.

At the end of the ceremony, a reception was held to the sound of the Afonsina and Tun’Obebes student bands in the central nave.

The School of Engineering congratulates all its graduates and wishes them every success as they continue on their journeys, whether academic or professional.