Offside
Limelight

"Working at INESC Porto is challenging in a sense that we have to innovate constantly", Rui Diogo Rebelo

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Limelight

Limelight

Every month, this section will honour a collaborator for an exceptional contribution in his/her area of activity. BIP’s Editors will have the final choice. However, the cooperation of every Unit Coordinator is precious since they will be the ones suggesting which collaborator should be distinguished...


Rui Diogo Rebelo

1. How does it feel to be the first INESC Porto collaborator to be chosen to the “Limelight” section?

It’s odd. I still don’t know what happens to those who get this award. Then again, the result is what makes history. I’m the first one.

2. How long have you been working at INESC Porto?

I’ve been working at INESC Porto since 1995, the time when we parked our cars at the Praça da República, when we worked at José Falcão.

3. How did the opportunity to work at INESC Porto arise?

I got to know INESC Porto through Paulo Moreira. By the end of my degree, he proposed that I should do a traineeship at 3xI in Brest and afterwards submit an application to work at INESC Porto.

rdiogo4

4. Do you remember the first project you worked on at INESC Porto? Tell us a little bit more about your first professional experience at the institution.

I remember perfectly. INESC Porto was performing the first installation of an internal logistics system for the seam sections of a company in Vizela. The project experienced several advances and setbacks. That was a new area and we were still learning about it, but in the end we got some interesting results. That was the starting point of the work that I’ve been developing at INESC Porto ever since.

5. Who is your greatest influence/role model (personal or professional) within the INESC Porto universe?

I would have to say José Carlos Caldeira, without a doubt. We have been working together for many years. He is a leader, a dynamic person with an adventurous spirit. Every time we reach a new goal he immediately comes up with an even greater challenge. His path is always well defined and he’s not afraid to lead the way. I acknowledge the effort that he has put in his work, both at a national and international level, to promote our competences in the area of manufacturing systems engineering. Also, he tells great jokes (the idea in ONESTEP is his).

6. You were chosen as the November “Limelight” collaborator in the context of your participation in the CEC-Made-Shoe project, specifically the “ONE STEP” process. Can you tell us how important this project is for UESP and INESC Porto in general?

This is a very important project, not only because of its results, but also due to the impact and projection that this process had at a national and international level. This project had some of the best results within the CEC-Made-Shoe, a European project that aims at the development of radical innovations that will constitute important instruments to increase the competitiveness in European SMEs within the footwear sector over the next years. The CEC-Made-Shoe gathered 63 partners. The “ONE STEP”, on the other hand, consolidated the international position of competences within UESP/INESC Porto in a work that started with EUROSHOE.

rui rebelo

7. What are you most proud of with this project?

As it is easy to understand, a project like this requires the effort of several people and I am very proud to be part of the UESP team.

8. What was your greatest challenge with this project?

There were several great challenges. However, setting the technical problems aside, the greatest challenge was trying to convince the client that we had an excellent idea. Today, the same client still asks us if we have some more ideas to invest in.

9. You are at INESC Porto for over ten years now. What are the greatest advantages that the work at INESC Porto brought to your career? What motivates you to keep working at this institution?

Working at INESC Porto is challenging in a sense that we have to innovate constantly. We have to anticipate the future carrying out research and transferring technology to the industry. Thus, it is possible for us to improve our competences and the competitiveness in the industry. There is still a long way to run!

rdiogo3

10. What is the added value that INESC Porto provides to the companies with which you have been working?

INESC Porto has 23 years of experience and innovation and thus it can provide companies with research carried out in a wide range of scientific areas. Together with technology-based companies, INESC Porto carries out projects with the aim of designing and developing innovative products that companies will afterwards put on the market. At the same time, INESC Porto not only develops projects to demonstrate advanced technologies, but also provides consulting activities and advanced training directly to the industry.

11. In conclusion, we would like to ask you to comment this quote by Luís Carneiro, coordinator of UESP.

“Rui Rebelo is a dedicated and hard working professional who reaches the expected results, always keeping a low profile. The “ONE STEP” project is only the most recent outcome of a fully successful career”.
I completely disagree… just joking. I don’t like commenting other people’s statements. Ok, still joking. Yes, I think that’s me.