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“AAUM is an essential part of my "Career-Future” as an engineer, a professional and a citizen” Back

Monday, 1/29/2018   
Nuno Reis
ENGINews interviews Nuno Reis, student from the Integrated Master Programme in Industrial Management and Engineering and current President of the Student’s Union of the University of Minho.
Nuno Reis, student of the Integrated Master Programme in Industrial Management and Engineering, began his career at the Students' Union (AAUM) in 2015, as director for Guimarães for the Recreation Department. He is an elected representative of the students in the General Council of the University of Minho. Associateship has always been part of his academic path. At the age of 22, he takes on the role of President of AAUM and, in an interview, tells us about the greatest challenges that this new position represents.

What motivations made you run for the Presidency of AAUM?
The experience and knowledge acquired during my journey on the Student’s Union and the role it should play in the academic community were one of the main reasons. In addition, the sense of responsibility towards the cause of student association and AAUM, particularly, as well as the enormous pleasure with which I have always accomplished my duties, completely underpinned my decision to lead the project in List A and to preside over the institution.

What were the biggest challenges you had to face during the campaign and currently as President of AAUM?
On a personal note, I would say that the greatest challenge is certainly the willingness to honour all the commitments as a candidate and President, never distancing ourselves from what is the daily reality of the academic community. As far as the institution and the University itself are concerned, the problems of mobility between campi and the absence of answers regarding the new headquarter of the AAUM will be some of the main problems we will have to face. Nevertheless, there are also many difficulties in Higher Education in Portugal that are reflected in students' daily lives, such as constant underfunding in this sector, complicating the management of the institutions themselves. There is also the clearly insufficient framework of the investment in social support services, not adequate to the real needs of the student community, which is a suffocating situation for students and their families.

What advantages will this experience add to an engineer, regarding soft skills?
In the genesis of an engineer, the ability to solve the most diverse problems should always be considered. In addition to the technical-scientific knowledge, which we gain from the academic component, it is also important to acquire the most transversal competences, which will allow us to have a better vision of the work to be done, about how organisations work and, above all, about Humans and Society. Skills such as the ability to coordinate and decide, to be both a leader and a subordinate, to work as a team, to manage costs and budgets, to master language (s) and forms of writing, all of these add much to our "professional self". It makes us better humans and, therefore, better professionals and better engineers.

Is this another step towards your "Career-Future"?
A "Career-Future" is built on a day-to-day basis, based on the decisions we make and the way we face the challenges that come our way. Of course, this experience will add a lot to my professional future, not only through the contact network we built or the number of lines it will add to the CV, but above all, because of the great challenge it represents. The happiness of, at 22, being allowed to manage the destinies of an institution with a millionaire budget and an history of more than four decades of existence, with the high number and broadness of AAUM’s activities, should be an essential part of my "Career-Future" as an engineer, a professional and a citizen.

+ info: www.aaum.pt
Nuno Reis
Nuno Reis