Fábio Lourenço and Luís Sampaio, students from the Porto Higher Institute of Engineering (ISEP), were selected to share their projects at the world's largest academic networking conference. TNC20 was canceled, but the journey of the Master's in Computer Engineering students is not over.
Students Fábio Lourenço and Luís Sampaio were scheduled to fly to the UK in June. However, like millions of others around the world, their plans were changed and their trip canceled. Their destination was Brighton, with the goal of participating in TNC20. the largest academic networking conference in the world, organized by GÉANT. The event was, however, canceled and postponed to 2021 due to the new coronavirus pandemic.
The opportunity to participate came through the Lightning Talks program, an initiative promoted in Portugal by the National Scientific Computing Unit (FCCN) of the Foundation for Science and Technology, in February.
The challenge launched to all students It's simple: "Share your ideas and study/research projects in the field of technology, particularly IT or computer networks." After submitting applications, a GÉANT panel of judges selected the best entries, offering the winners the opportunity to step onto the TNC stage and present their projects. The selected students also receive specific training from GÉANT through three webinars on "how to write proposals and speak in public."
Even though the trip was canceled, the journey isn't over. The organization of the GÉANT talent program – Future Talent Programme – decided to continue the training and transform the rehearsed presentations into 5-minute videos that will be shared on social media at the end of June. Thus, Fábio and Luís have been participating in these training sessions remotely.
So far, the students say, the experience has been "rewarding." The training, they explain, has been invaluable, detailing concrete techniques for presenting, organizing, and implementing the proposals to be disseminated. "We learned that a presentation isn't just about reporting and talking about slides. It's about conveying a message, captivating the audience, and getting them to identify with the topic being discussed." explain the students, highlighting the importance of telling a story, giving examples and maintaining an informal, accessible and respectful approach.
For this reason, for Fábio and Luís, participating in this program has been beneficial in terms of personal development, learning new resources, and time management, for example. On the other hand, the students emphasize the importance of interacting with participants from other countries, "exchanging impressions, advice, feedback, and stories": "THEhearing other perspectives and presentation techniques enhanced what was learned throughout the workshops.”
The Portuguese students' presentations focused on software engineering and artificial intelligence. The presentation's message Synthetic telepathy for human-machine interaction on decentralized messaging applications can be quite complex. However, students believe that, through the training provided by Michael Koenka, they will be able to establish effective communication. “It isWe are refining the content to be presented, with the aim of making it as accessible as possible for [all] people”, they conclude.
