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.
Carlos Tavares, MOG Technologies, Software Engineer
- Year when you began working at INESC TEC and when you left: 2007-2011
- Centre(s) at INESC TEC where you worked: CSIG*, CPES**
After I left, I joined a company that is well known to INESC TEC – MOG, one of INESC TEC’s most successful spin-offs. MOG was born inside a CTM*** group with the same name and it develops tools for the professional video market. The goal is to help clients make the transition from video tapes to file systems and digital archives.
Since then, I have been fundamentally developing software.
My experience at INESC TEC was very diversified and rich. I had the opportunity to do many different things, from developing software, to publishing papers, participating in exhibitions, and dealing directly with clients and end users. I’ve also had the opportunity to work with people from other countries and other realities. That has allowed me to grow, both professionally and personally. I believe that this learning is an important legacy for my professional life.
More specifically, I believe it is an opportunity to work with extremely talented people and to solve really complex problems, and that’s not easy to find. I don’t believe that INESC TEC has changed a lot because it hasn’t been that much time. As far as I know, INESC TEC has grown.
*Centre for Information Systems and Computer Graphics, former Information and Computer Graphics Systems Unit (USIG)
**Centre for Power and Energy Systems, former Power Systems Unit (USE)
***Centre for Telecommunications and Multimedia, former Telecommunications and Multimedia Unit (UTM)
Pedro Rocha Almeida, Tractebel Engineering (GDF SUEZ), Power Systems Engineer
- Year when you began working at INESC TEC and when you left: 2007-2012
- Centre(s) at INESC TEC where you worked: CPES
The GDF SUEZ group works in three key branches of electricity generation and distribution, natural gas and energy services. The group is currently the largest independent producer in the world (dominating Europe’s natural gas transportation and distribution network) and the largest provider of energy and environment services in the world. Tractebel Engineering, located in Brussels, works in the energy services branch and it is a global engineering consulting company with over 100 years of experience in energy and infrastructure projects.
I work in the power systems consulting unit, which provides consulting and training services in electric systems operation and planning, from generation to distribution. This unit also has a very strong R&D component and so it’s very similar to the structure of USE*.
Working at INESC TEC, and USE in particular, has given me a vast experience, not only in R&D but also in consulting projects for industry clients. This synergy is made possible only by institutions of excellence such as INESC TEC, which has unquestionably prepared me to the challenges I face today.
I would say INESC TEC is on the same path as it was when I left two years ago. I left in a complicated economic period, but I believe INESC TEC has resisted adversity and has managed to achieve its goals with everyone’s help.
On a more informal and pleasant note, I must mention a remarkable change that occurred at USE with regard to birth rates. A good portion of my former colleagues and friends have fathered at least one child... Maybe the place should be called Power Systems Kindergarden! Congratulations to all!
*now called Centre for Power and Energy Systems (CPES)
José Pedro Fernandes, Bullet Solutions – Sistemas de Informação, S.A., Manager / R&D
- Year when you began working at INESC TEC and when you left: 2003-2005
- Centre(s) at INESC TEC where you worked: CESE (former UESP)*
I left INESC Porto in September 2005 after I created Bullet Solutions (www.bulletsolutions.com), where I’m a founding shareholder, manager and in charge of the Research and Development Department. Bullet Solutions – Sistemas de Informação, S.A. is an innovative technology-based company located in Porto, specialising in research and development on optimisation IT systems. The company also provides consulting, develops custom solutions and commercialises the products resulting from research.
The company’s most iconic product is an automatic and optimised generator of timetables for Higher Education schools, the Bullet TimeTabler Education. Launched in June 2006, the product is currently implemented in over half of the higher education institutions in the country, including the top ten universities.
Even though I worked at INESC Porto a little over a year (it was, in fact, my only professional experience prior to creating Bullet Solutions), I can say that it was an intense learning experience.
I was lucky to be involved in the implementation of an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) at the DURIT Group, and I also had the opportunity to participate in high level strategic meetings. The freedom (and the responsibility) that António Correia Alves gave me also forced me to grow faster. I have great memories. A big hug to Correia Alves. I would also like to thank my mentor, the person who showed me that Operational Research was the area I wanted to work in for the rest of my life, the great MASTER Professor Soeiro!
I have been following INESC TEC at a distance and I occasionally visit the institution just to say ‘hi’. Some of the people I met are still at INESC TEC, and I like to believe they are now wiser after all these years, and that they are strong enough to face all challenges ahead. :)
*Centre for Enterprise Systems Engineering (CESE), former Manufacturing Systems Engineering Unit (UESP)
