The Centre of Biological Engineering (CEB) and the Department of Biological Engineering (DEB) of the School of Engineering of the University of Minho (EEUM) organised the Expobiotec biotechnology fair. More than 100 participants were present at the event integrated in the commemorations of the 30 years of Biological Engineering programme at the EEUM.
After the opening session, Expobiotec counted with seminars, presentations and workshops, attended by several speakers from the Biological Engineering and Biotechnology areas, such as entrepreneurs, industry partners, academics, and associations promoting employment and entrepreneurship. These activities aimed at allowing a closer contact between students and entities, as Lígia Rodrigues, coordinator of the initiative and professor at the DEB of the EEUM explains: “The main goal of this Fair is to promote the interaction between the employer and the student, in order not only to strengthen the student’s knowledge about the business partners, but also present our graduates to these entities”.
Among the various activities carried out, the event also highlighted presentations with business associations, speed meetings with companies and a roundtable with spin-offs from the CEB of the EEUM. Through these initiatives, students had the opportunity to discuss topics of interest with the participating companies, enabling a knowledge exchange that could be an added value when entering the labour market. “It is very challenging because we are confronted directly with the person in charge of the company. It is a unique challenge, as it allows a closer contact with the employer”, Sara Cerqueira, student of Biological Engineering highlights.
Expobiotec counted with more than two dozen companies of several biotechnologies’ sectors, such as UNICER, Braval, Primor, StemMatters, CENTI, Frulact, Lactimercados, Vanibru, Bioinvitro, Luságua, Decorgel, Fruut, Ecovisão IFT GelCampo, ALS ControlVet, Sust4Amb, SilicoLife, Letra, Biomode, Vinália and BCT. Gustavo Abreu, Marketing and Sales Manager at Fruut, highlighted the importance of these events for the academic community: “These kind of events – beyond creating brand awareness – are important as they bring us to the students. Understanding how everything works in the University allows us to be closer to our audience and adapt to their needs”. In addition to these companies, business associations, clusters and professional orders such as P-Bio, Portugal Foods, Health Cluster, Board of Engineers and BLC3 participated in Expobiotec. Institutions for the promotion of entrepreneurship, such as StartUp Braga, BicMinho, TecMinho and LiftOff also joined the event.
The DEB and the CEB are subunits of the EEUM that promote education and research in the areas of biological engineering and biotechnology, respectively.
