Margarida Cavaleiro, a second-year student of the Master’s in Energy Engineering and Management (MEGE) and winner of the “Women in Energy MSc” scholarship, promoted by TagEnergy, shared a bit of her journey in the ElectroStars section of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Although her academic goal initially started with medicine, Margarida enrolled in the Bachelor's degree in Renewable Energies at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon, and her interest in the field grew. She later applied for the Master's in Energy Engineering and Management at Técnico.

I realized that I liked the idea of making an impact on someone's life more than medicine itself.

Margarida Cavaleiro, student from MEGE

The economic aspect of the master’s program was the main reason for the student to apply to Técnico. Knowing the level of demand at the school, she decided to take a risk and step out of her comfort zone, entering the second cycle of studies as a working student. Balancing work and studies without compromising her academic performance proved to be a challenge in her life, and she believes this may have been one of the factors that led to her selection by TagEnergy, along with the fact that she had an internship in the field, through Hyperion, a renewable energy company. During her time at the company, she realized that students are truly valued when they transition to professional life: "I saw that they were looking for a lot of people from Técnico," she says.

Upon entering the MEGE program, the student mentions that she had the opportunity not only to gain a comprehensive view of renewable energies (hydropower, geothermal, wind, and solar) but also the ability to approach projects as investments, which she considers essential in the job market. In this regard, she highlights the courses in Economics and Energy Markets, and Renewable Energies and Decentralized Production, taught by Rui Castro, emphasizing the relevance of the lecturer's experience and his knowledge of projects and challenges in the Portuguese market.

[Professor Rui Castro's classes] help people in my field to gain not only an understanding of the subject but also an insight into how everything is integrated into real life, which is something that many people sometimes find difficult to understand.

Margarida Cavaleiro, student from MEGE

Throughout her university journey and internship, Margarida highlights the contact with issues related to the energy transition, something that gave her confidence for the interview with TagEnergy, as part of her application. She emphasizes that the scholarship plays an important role in recognizing female students based on their merit, regardless of their financial situation. She stresses that this factor is very positive and contributes to her academic performance, as, by not having to balance a job with her studies, she has more time to conduct research and organize possible ideas for her dissertation.

On the other hand, she believes that the scholarship supports the integration of women in engineering, a sector with a male predominance: "It’s good to know that we’re not alone," she says. The student points out that, sometimes, there is still some prejudice, and that women’s ideas are not always initially valued, regardless of their abilities.

It’s quite intimidating to be in an environment where you know you’re truly a minority and that you have to stand out and make people take you seriously. It’s difficult, you have to take a deep breath. I have to remind myself that I am competent and capable of proving that I deserve to be here.

Margarida Cavaleiro, student from MEGE

When asked about what it means to be a student at Técnico, Margarida highlights the capacity for resilience and the willingness to find ways to overcome challenges, emphasizing that students learn that all problems have solutions, varying only in the time required to resolve them: "For me, being a student at Técnico is having a different view of the world. (...) The best thing you can take from here is what you become as a person."

Currently, the student would like her master's thesis to focus on a hybrid model that combines different renewable energy sources to supply energy to the national electrical grid, making it more sustainable. The idea also includes energy storage through batteries*.

Professionally, Margarida would like to work on a project that sells energy to the national electrical grid, as she already has experience in this area. However, she is also interested in energy management in companies or buildings that are focused on energy transition, through self-sustaining management – for example, a company with its own building powered solely by solar panels, not dependent on the national grid. She believes that one of the main challenges in using renewable energy at the private level is the cost of batteries, something she would like to address by creating a solution that involves reusing batteries from electric vehicles after their useful life has ended.

*Batteries are used to store energy that can be used at times when it is not possible to rely on the aforementioned resources. For example, storing energy obtained through solar panels for use during the nighttime.