On July 17th, the faculty and staff of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (DEEC) celebrated DEEC Day at the Pavilhão de Portugal.

The event began with the opening ceremony, featuring speeches by Cecília Rodrigues, Vice-Rector of the University of Lisbon, and Nuno Horta, Chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Professor Horta then presented a retrospective of the past academic year, highlighting the current structure and leadership of DEEC, topics such as academic offerings, new hires, departmental initiatives like ElectroDay and high school visits—where thanks were extended to all involved, especially acknowledging the contributions of Professors João Fernandes and Pedro Tomás, as well as Bárbara Teixeira, who were particularly active in these activities—and future outlooks.

During the session, José Santos-Victor’s distinction as a Distinguished Professor of Técnico, awarded during the Técnico Day celebrations on May 23rd, was also remembered.

The morning also included a tribute to retired faculty and staff, with remarks from Carlos Fernandes, Luís Silveira, and José Santos-Victor, who each shared words about Carlos Brito, Horácio Neto, Rui Rocha, and Jorge Salvador Marques, respectively.

In the afternoon, two discussion panels were held featuring DEEC faculty and alumni. The first session, "Entrepreneurship and Funding – Impact on DEEC's Evaluation," included Hugo Morais, DEEC professor and INESC-ID researcher, Diogo Caetano, researcher at Flash Diagnostics and INESC-MN, and Maria Vilar, founder and CEO of Immersiv Studios. The conversation was moderated by Sérgio Pequito, Vice President for Research, Development, and External Relations, who posed questions about the greatest challenges in the field, mistakes made along the way, and what led them to pursue entrepreneurship. Attending faculty also had the opportunity to ask questions.

The second session, "ECE powered by AI", featured Catarina Barata, researcher at the Institute for Systems and Robotics (ISR), Ricardo Martins and Emmanuel Cruzeiro, both researchers at the Institute of Telecommunications (IT), and Guilherme Paim, researcher at INESC-ID. The panel, moderated by Mário Figueiredo, IT researcher, included a brief overview of the speakers’ work and a reflection on the benefits and risks of using AI and machine learning, as well as the optimization of resources. As in the previous session, faculty actively participated by asking questions.

👉See the full event photo gallery by clicking the green button after following this link.