Where are you now?

Every month INESC TEC sends highly qualified individuals into the market. These individuals often then go on to occupy important positions in some of the best national and international companies or they opt to form spin-offs. As the best way to perform technology transfer is through individuals, this section is dedicated to collaborators that trained at INESC TEC and now star in other companies and institutions.

Marcos Domingues, University of São Paulo, Post-Doc Researcher

• Year when you began working at INESC TEC and when you left: 2010-2012
• Unit(s) at INESC TEC where you worked: UTM

After eight years living in Portugal, I decided to go back home to Brazil. These were eight years of intense learning and conquests, two of which at INESC Porto. There, I made friendships for life. In Brazil, I am working as a post-doc researcher at the University of São Paulo (USP), one of the best in Latin America, where I conduct research on Data Mining, Machine Learning and Recommender Systems. I still maintain collaborations with some INESC TEC researchers.

While at INESC TEC, I was able to become familiarised with research applied to industry. These experiences changed the way I conduct my research. Today, I have a broader vision of what research is and this is very appreciated in my current workplace, as well as the thoroughness and dedication that I learned at INESC TEC.

I left INESC TEC less than a year ago and so I think that not much has changed during this period. INESC Porto is still a solid institution, with a well-defined strategy and great human potential. An interesting fact is the institution’s growing internationalisation, not only through international projects, but also through the creation of INESC R&D Brazil.

Saulo Queiroz, UTFPR, Lecturer

• Year when you began working at INESC TEC and when you left: : 2009 - 2010
• Unit(s) at INESC TEC where you worked: UTM

After I left INESC TEC, I had the opportunity to participate in projects at the University of Coimbra and at the Lusófona de Lisboa University. In particular, I participated in the Google Summer of Code 2010 with the project “Implementation Of A Bounded Incremental Shortest Path Algorithm For Olsrd”. After that period in Portugal, I participated in a call to integrate the teaching staff at the Technological Federal University of Paraná (UTFPR). The UTFPR and INESC TEC have a lot in common, especially in the field of manufacturing systems, power systems, telecommunications, informations, robotics, embedded computing and similar areas.

I believe that INESC TEC has took an important step towards internationalisation, particularly in Latin America, by establishing strategic partnerships in Brazil in several areas of expertise. I believe that this represents one of the most outstanding changes because when I was there INESC R&D Brazil was simply a project. Congratulations to INESC TEC for the initiative.

Miguel Rocha. M. G. Rocha – Engenharia e Construções, Sociedade Unipessoal, Lda., Managing Partner

• Year when you began working at INESC TEC and when you left: 2000 – 2001
• Unit(s) at INESC TEC where you worked: UESP

I left because I wanted total change. At the time, I was specialised in informatics and I started working in construction. It was a very risky and radical decision. In 2001, I started a family company and I took a responsibility that I wasn’t expecting. Meanwhile, I graduated in Civil Engineering.

It’s almost impossible to relate such a conservative area such as construction to my journey at INESC TEC, a place where innovation and technological development are constant. I would say that the best was the professional experience and the work environment, which I miss.

The experience that you get from a real work context is always very important. When I started I was still very young, and I think that working in a real project in a business context taught me a lot.