Offside
Limelight

Tânia Leandro and Teresa Raposo Antunes (DIL), Rui Barros (USIC)

Free Nonsense

"My cousin told me that, after a few months, the “short” 45-minute trip would become a daily challenge for me. At the time, it was hard for me to believe that, but today I partly agree with his point of view...", Daniel Delgado

Gallery of the Uncommon

Who knows if we can now start working in the science of the teeth, prostheses and implants? And there are several types of implants...

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"(...) I was positively surprised by what Portugal was doing in terms of research and innovation. I discovered in Porto that it is possible to achieve excellent results in a “stressless” way, in an environment where human relations are fostered.", Jean Akilimali

Jobs 4 the Boys & Girls

In this section, the reader may find reference to public announcements made by INESC Porto offering grants, contracts and other opportunities of the same kind.

Biptoon

More scenes of how life goes merrily on...

 
 

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Have your say

Torino-Porto via Kinshasa

 

By Jean Akilimali*

I graduated in “Sciences Appliquées (option: Electricité)” at the University of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo in 1998, and received both my M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering at the “Politecnico di Torino”, Torino, Italy, in 2004 and 2008, respectively. I was working as a research assistant at the department of Electrical Engineering and I was also involved in other didactic activities as an adjunct professor when I found out that I had been selected to work at INESC Porto.

It was not a difficult choice. The challenge of dealing with real problems was and still is very exciting. Because of that, I decided to postpone my return to Congo and my passion for teaching for some years. I hope that, while working with the prestigious staff of USE, I will increase my competences so that I’m capable of tackling engineering problems and be an asset to my country in the future. Also, I could not neglect the opportunity of learning Portuguese. A new language in my curriculum will for sure be an asset for my career.

I have been at INESC Porto three years ago for two months and half during my Ph.D. studies. In the context of the European Doctorate, and I had to spend a period of time in a university or research centre outside Italy. Portugal was not my first choice but after the short experience I was positively surprised by what Portugal was doing in terms of research and innovation. I discovered in Porto that it is possible to achieve excellent results in a “stressless” way, in an environment where human relations are fostered.

After a non-exciting experience with the Portuguese embassy in Kinshasa and the Italian bureaucracy, I hope that I will not have to spend more time in administrative tasks. The beginning seems encouraging: I have already got my provisional residence permit, less than a month after I applied for it. This is not possible with the Italian system.

I have found a welcoming environment at USE that will certainly favour good work. I am also renting a beautiful apartment. Two months after my arrival in Porto, I could not expect more. We’ll see how it goes...

* Collaborator at the Power Systems Unit (USE)