On September 10, the Presidency of the School of Engineering met with the members of the new Advisory Board of EEUM, an advisory body for strategic definition issues, at the Azurém campus.

The meeting aimed to present the organizational structure of the institution, its human and physical resources, as well as the main strategic vectors of EEUM development for the period 2019-2022.

The discussion then centered on the need to streamline the communication channels between the School of Engineering and companies / institutions in order for the School to be able to show, more effectively, what are their competencies, what is investigated, what are the training profiles, as well as other aspects that companies are not always familiar with.

One of the aspects highlighted by several members of the Advisory Board was the need for the School of Engineering to have a dynamic posture in the various aspects of its activity, since the context in which it works is also increasingly dynamic. At the level of training, it was evident in the discussion that the School’s bet on the training of its students has guaranteed its success, namely by seeking to make a complete training, i.e., that includes not only the technical aspects related to engineering but also provides a training that provides students with transversal skills.

The Advisory Board is made up of the current team of the Presidency of the School of Engineering, the President of the School Board, representatives of the interface units associated with the School, namely the Center for Computer Graphics (CCG), the Innovation in Polymer Engineering Center (PIEP), TecMinho and the Centre for Waste Valorisation (CVR).

Ten external personalities are also invited, namely António Rodrigues, CEO of Grupo Casais; Carlos Mineiro Aires, President of the Order of Engineers; Carlos Ribas, Technical Director of Bosch Car Multimedia Portugal S.A. Domingos Bragança, Mayor of Guimarães; Ricardo Rio, Mayor of Braga (absent from the meeting due to impediment to the agenda); José Gonçalves, President & Country Managing Director of Accenture Portugal; Lars Montelius, General Director of INL – International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory; Morten Kroger, CEO of Innovayt A/S; Paulo Coelho Lima, Director of Lameirinho – Indústria Têxtil S.A. and Teresa Martins, CEO of NEADVANCE – Machine Vision S.A.

By 2022 the members of the new Advisory Board of the School of Engineering of UMinho will reflect and share with the institution potential EEUM actions in its connection to companies/industry, the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem, regional management and development, as well as in its connection to other institutions.