Sílvio Mendes | 110 anos do Técnico

Author Archive

Episode 81: Flexcraft, the flexible aircraft

Friday, February 10th, 2023

It’s all about a wing. This is the basis of Flexcraft, the flexible aircraft, which is an innovative technology devised by Técnico researchers and students at the beginning of this century. It was designed to be operated remotely, almost like an air taxi that can grab various types of cabins with various applications, from transporting goods to rescuing victims. This flexible aircraft was designed to be 15 metres from one wing tip to the other, and to transport a load of 1000 kg (or 8/9 passengers) for about 500 kilometres. As an object, it exists only as a model with 10 per cent of the idealised size, and there is also a full-size cabin, which was presented at Técnico in 2020.

Acknowledgements:
Fernando Lau

Episode only available in Portuguese in: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Anchor.fm

Further reading and additional audio in the Portuguese version of this webpage.

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Episode 80: The history of Balua

Friday, February 3rd, 2023

In 2009, a group of Técnico students was inspired by a challenge set by the ESA – European Space Station to build a high-altitude balloon. The name “Balua” suggested “the balloon that goes to the moon”. It didn’t reach the Moon, or even Space, but it flew over the stratosphere at 35 kilometres above Earth’s surface. The project involved Técnico students and researchers: this idea gave rise to knowledge with potential impact in areas such as fire detection and prevention, surveillance of the maritime coast, environmental studies or professional aerial photography, which are still explored today by research projects carried out at Técnico.

Acknowledgements:
Alexandra Moutinho
Diogo Henriques

Episode only available in Portuguese in: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Anchor.fm

Further reading and additional audio in the Portuguese version of this webpage.

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Episode 79: The medals honouring Duarte Pacheco

Friday, January 27th, 2023

Four metal medals that are nearly a century old are now carefully stored at Técnico and bear witness to the importance and impact of Duarte Pacheco’s leadership in the school from 1927 to 1932, and from 1936 to 1937. He was largely responsible for the construction of Técnico – Alameda campus facilities, in Lisbon. He died at the age of 43, in a car accident, without seeing his achievements stamped on a medal, but he left his mark as Minister of Public Works and Communications from 1932 to 1936, and from 1938 to 1943, having completely transformed the country’s landscape.

Acknowledgements:
Mário Gouveia
Sandra Vaz Costa

Episode only available in Portuguese in: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Anchor.fm

Further reading and additional audio in the Portuguese version of this webpage.

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Episode 78: Álvaro Machado’s Office

Friday, January 20th, 2023

It is an entire room of a house at Avenida da República No.50, in Lisbon, that has been moved in its entirety to Técnico – Alameda campus (Civil Engineering Museum). The office of Álvaro Machado (1874-1944) was less than a kilometre away from the campus, but the process of moving took more than 65 years. The office is practically intact and its exhibition is a tribute to Técnico’s first architecture professor who taught Drawing from 1910 to 1934.

Acknowledgements:
Nuno Magalhães
João Vieira Caldas
Museu de Civil do Técnico

Episode only available in Portuguese in: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Anchor.fm

Further reading and additional audio in the Portuguese version of this webpage.

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Episode 77: The Cambridge polarograph model

Friday, January 13th, 2023

The history of electrochemistry cannot be written without a major reference to the polarograph invented by Jaroslav Heyrovsky in 1922, which earned him the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, in 1959. In 1948, the polarograph manufactured by the Cambridge Instrument Company, Ltd. arrived at Técnico and was crucial for advances in electrochemistry. The instrument was essential for determining the quantity and quality of certain chemical substances, particularly metals. It was used in medicine, biology, metallurgy, and also for the analysis of organic and inorganic compounds, the study of electrochemical discharges, and the food industry.

Acknowledgements:
Alda Simões
César Sequeira

Episode only available in Portuguese in: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Anchor.fm

Further reading and additional audio in the Portuguese version of this webpage.

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Episode 76: The electric generator

Friday, January 6th, 2023

It arrived at Técnico in the late 1920s with the capacity to produce and distribute the required electric power to the electrical machines laboratory. It is an example of mechanical power transformed into electric power, and a symbol of Técnico’s leadership in the country’s technological progress, specifically on balanced three-phase voltage production (which currently comes from substations), at the time capable of generating around 36 kilowatts (kW).

Acknowledgements:
Paulo Branco

Episode only available in Portuguese in: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Anchor.fm

Further reading and additional audio in the Portuguese version of this webpage.

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Episode 75: HP (“the oldie”)

Friday, December 30th, 2022

The HP2116C “minicomputer”, known as “the oldie” arrived at Técnico in 1971 and revolutionised the way students related to computer programming. It had the size of a minibar and 16 kilobytes of memory. Until that date, computer programming at Técnico was done through punched cards, without direct contact with the machine. The computer would become known as “the oldie” ten years later, with the arrival of new and powerful HP computers.

Acknowledgements:
Fernando Mira da Silva
Isabel Trancoso
Luís Borges de Almeida

Episode only available in Portuguese in: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Anchor.fm

Further reading and additional audio in the Portuguese version of this webpage.

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Episode 74: The Técnico mural

Friday, December 23rd, 2022

The mural was initially meant to promote an event organised by students, but it has been on display at Técnico-Taguspark campus (Oeiras), for over 7 years. The mural is a painting on canvas, dated 2015, created by the artist Fidel Évora Tavares, with almost 10 metres high. Inspired by references to “artificial intelligence”, but also by texts on poetry and mathematics, it has become a symbol of the relationship between art, engineering and technology on campus.

Acknowledgements:
Carla Costa
Fidel Évora Tavares

Episode only available in Portuguese in: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Anchor.fm

Further reading and additional audio in the Portuguese version of this webpage.

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Episode 73: Técnico’s 1st patent

Friday, December 16th, 2022

In 1985, Técnico registered its first patent – a biotechnological method to be applied to sparkling wine production. To replace the centuries-old method of champagne production, which involves manually rotating bottles of sparkling wine for three weeks to remove the yeast from the fermentation process, a technique was proposed that eliminated the “removal” stage without altering the characteristics of the final product. The technique, which made the process quicker, was never applied, but gave rise to the first patent of the triad composed of Técnico, Instituto Superior de Agronomia and Caves Raposeira. Since then, Técnico has registered much more patents. In December 2021, 286 active inventions were already registered, including patents and utility models. And this number hasn’t stopped growing year after year.

Acknowledgements:
Isabel Sá Correia
Joaquim Sampaio Cabral
José Pinto Gaspar
Vergílio Loureiro
Patricia Lima (Núcleo de Propriedade Intelectual da Área de Transferência de Tecnologia do Instituto Superior Técnico)
Aldina Carvalho (Área para a Qualidade e Auditoria Interna do Instituto Superior Técnico)

Episode only available in Portuguese in: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Anchor.fm

Further reading and additional audio in the Portuguese version of this webpage.

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Episode 72: The launch rod

Friday, December 9th, 2022

Hundreds of Técnico students looked for Mr. Carvalhosa (or Professor Carvalhosa, or even Engineer Carvalhosa, depending on the versions) to celebrate their graduation with a rocket launching, among friends and family. António Carvalhosa, a Técnico employee from 1965 to 2003, launched a rocket for each year attended and his kindness has remained in the memory of countless generations of former students. He became, almost accidentally, responsible for giving continuity (sometimes even after retirement) to a tradition that was much older than him, witnessed here by the launch rod of a rocket launched in 1978, at the request of the then-recently graduated Isabel Ribeiro.

The story of the rockets launched by Mr. Carvalhosa is also a story of friendship between Técnico staff, students and professors.

Acknowledgements:
António Alves Carvalhosa
Isabel Ribeiro
José Antelo
Rui Louro
Teresa Vazão

Episode only available in Portuguese in: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Anchor.fm

Further reading and additional audio in the Portuguese version of this webpage.

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