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International Conference on Engineering and Education 2007
3 to 7 September 2007
Dear Colleagues and Friends,
It is with great pleasure that I welcome you, as participants in the ICEE 2007 Conference, to the University of Coimbra. Myself being also an engineer, I am particularly happy to realize how successful this Conference has been in attracting so many and good people from all over the world to our City.
The University of Coimbra was created in 1290, and as such is proud to be one of the oldest universities in the world. But, at the very same time, we are also a very dynamic university, and always looking for the better ways to move into the future and address its challenges. We were last year considered by the Times to be the number one university in the Portuguese speaking countries, are one of the top universities in Europe regarding the international mobility of students and lecturers (8th in this regard), and do have students from more than 60 different countries.
For the past decade we have been able to complete entirely new buildings that now host the research and teaching activities in the different fields of engineering, which are a key component in our knowledge creation and diffusion activities. Nothing could be more appropriate than such an environment to discuss and put into perspective the present and future of engineering education. I am sure that we all will benefit from such a discussion, and the University of Coimbra will make proper use of the conclusions reached, in order to further improve its practices of engineering teaching and research.
Given the relevance and strategic importance of this Conference, taking place in our University, we supported it from day one.
I must acknowledge the dedication of all those people that helped to make it a successful reality, namely Prof. Carlos Sá Furtado, who took the lead in making this conference become true, first as an application and then as chair of the local organizing committee.
I sincerely hope that you will make the most of the forthcoming days at the University of Coimbra, in shaping and reshaping the moving frontiers of engineering, as well as experiencing all the things that the University and Coimbra has to offer to such a distinguished group of visitors.
Fernando Seabra Santos
Rector of the University of Coimbra
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