In this Inside DEI, we will get to know our colleague José Luís a little better.

• Tell us a bit about yourself and your journey at IST

I’m José Luís, and I began my journey at IST in 1990 in the Mechanical Engineering Department, specifically in the metalworking workshop. My duties were to keep the workshop clean, help the senior staff, and learn. It was the beginning of this journey at IST—which still hasn’t ended—and where I started to internalize what it means to work as a team and to see every challenge as an opportunity to grow. I really enjoyed working at DEM, not only because of the spirit of mutual help and the lessons taught by the more experienced colleagues, but also because of the culture of friendship that existed there. At that time, every Friday we had lunch together in the workshop and socialized.

Then I moved to the Undergraduate Office, where my role was to record grades. At that time, all grades were manually entered at the office. Before the start of each semester, the grade sheets were printed (on a dot matrix printer) and given to the professors responsible for each course, who then returned them filled in at the end of the evaluation period so we could record the grades.

Still in the office, I had another mission together with a colleague: to test a printer that could finally solve the years-long delay in producing and delivering course diplomas (which had an unusual size and thickness). Fortunately, we managed to find a solution (a Xerox laser printer), and the delay in issuing diplomas was resolved.

After that, I moved to the Informatics Center (CIIST), now known as the Information Services (SI). My role was to work with the development team (still in the COBOL era) on academic matters. Later, when it became the Information Services Directorate (DSI) and following an organizational restructuring at IST, several areas and units were created, and I became responsible for the User Support Unit (NSU). Once again, I had the privilege of working with amazing people, and together we built an effective support unit that became widely recognized across the IST community.

At DSI, we implemented an effective information-sharing philosophy that allowed us to structure information in a way that enabled users to overcome most of their difficulties (software installations, system access, process workflows, etc.) on their own. We also implemented a single point of entry for technical support requests and, using a ticket management tool, handled all requests from registration to resolution.

Then I returned to the Undergraduate Office, now called the Undergraduate Area, where I became its coordinator. At that time, I was part of an incredible multidisciplinary team whose mission was to transition all 1st and 2nd cycle curricula (and the integrated Master’s in Architecture) to the new teaching model. This team became known by the fitting acronym TPC (“Transição de Planos Curriculares”). And what a TPC it was… ;-)

Finally, on December 1st, 2021, I joined the Department of Computer Science and Engineering (DEI), where I continue to work proudly. At DEI, I am part of the digitalization, communication, and infrastructure team. One of the first projects I worked on after arriving at DEI was designing and implementing the department websites, together with the SI.

• Tell us a bit about what you do now at DEI

I am currently part of the digitalization, communication, and infrastructure team. My days at DEI are always very dynamic, as I participate in several transversal projects and processes. In particular, my activities involve managing projects developed by DEI’s research fellows, producing content (images and video) for the department’s communication, participating in the hiring processes that support teaching, producing dashboards with KPIs of interest to DEI, and constantly analyzing processes with the goal of simplifying and automating them.

In summary, my days at DEI are a constant process of learning and sharing knowledge. In my daily work, besides interacting with my colleagues, I’m also regularly in contact with research fellows and professors (especially the executive committee and project coordinators). All these interactions and involvement in different projects are highly motivating. Every day we learn something new, and every day we raise the bar for ourselves—not only as professionals but above all as people.

• What do you enjoy most in your daily life at DEI?

What I enjoy the most in my daily life at DEI is the friendly—almost family-like—environment in the department, not only among staff but also with the research fellows (students) and professors. Another aspect I really appreciate is the constant motivation to discover new things; in other words, the DEI DNA “forces” us to always be learning, innovating, sharing.

I also love it when we are given challenges, such as organizing an event. All the hustle and bustle that arises, with everyone giving their best to make sure everything goes well, is a great motivation to come back the next day.

But since daily life at DEI is connected to our daily life outside DEI, one of the moments I enjoy, and it happens almost every day, is when my office friend and “brother-in-arms” says: “This conversation is very pleasant, but…”. It’s the sign that we’ve completed another day of work and that it’s time to return to our other family and friends.

• Who is José Luís outside Técnico?

For those who don’t know me, I’m a reserved person who tries to go as unnoticed as possible. Those who know me know that I’m playful and always willing to help (and be helped). I really like music, of all genres. One of my favorite hobbies is discovering new bands and new sounds. I also enjoy cinema a lot (I think we discover parts of our own lives in many films…).

Another interest of mine—though I’m saving it for retirement—is retrogaming. I collect old game consoles and everything related to that magical world. As my dear wife says, “You’re a hoarder.” I agree with her! But it’s hoarding with the goal of having something to keep me busy during retirement. LoL