Carla Boura
Fundadora e Coordenadora

With a degree in Clinical Psychology from ISPA, Coach and Master of Neurolinguistic Programming from INPNL, Carla Boura has received training in psychological and crisis intervention from the Order of Psychologists. She has been working at Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), Universidade de Lisboa since 1994 and she was responsible, between 1995 and 2000, for students with disabilities at Técnico Lisboa. She completed a two-year volunteer program in adapted sailing in Cascais, and also completed her academic internship at CERCICA S. João do Estoril. Carla completed an internship at the Miguel Bombarda Psychology Service and another one at the psychological support  office of the S. Bartolomeu de Gusmão School.
At Técnico Lisboa, Carla has implemented several student support programs, including impactful mentoring (1997) and social responsibility programs. She coordinated the Student Support Office in Taguspark from 2010 to 2024, providing psycho-pedagogical support to all students, especially those who seek help for their difficulties in academic integration, while implementing several inclusion projects. Carla is an active member of the Network for Students with Special Educational Needs (rede NEE, http://redenee.ulisboa.pt/) of Universidade de Lisboa. She is also a member of the Portuguese Mentoring Network, SILAB, Técnico Sustentável, UNITE!University, and IDEM – Inclusion, Diversity, Equity in Mobility. She is also involved in several MSc and PhD thesis projects in the area of virtual agents for student support services.

Ana Moura Santos
Co-fundadora

Ana Moura Santos received her degree in Physics-Mathematics from Moscow University and her PhD in Applied Mathematics from Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon. She has been teaching Maths in the Department of Mathematics of IST since 1997. She has developed research and published in the area of Theory of Operators and Functional Analysis with applications, and in the last 10 years she has been very involved in e-learning projects, producing online content and exercises in the area of Maths. In particular, she is the author and co-author of three MOOCs on mathematical topics with technological applications, in particular an online course on Machine Learning, which also brings a Gender Balance perspective plus a discussion to the ethical aspects of algorithms. Ana has been involved in international projects with relevant pedagogical and social impact, she was the Portuguese coordinator of the FostWom project, Fostering Women to STEM MOOCs (2019-2022) and plays the same role in the MathICs project, Strengthening Mathematics Education by the use of ICTs in Morocco (2021-2023).

Carolina Ferreira coordinates IST Student Support Unit since 2018. Holds a Master´s degree in Clinical and Health Psychology from Faculty of Psychology of University of Lisbon since 2009. Concluded advanced studies in Educational Psychology of the Doctoral Programme Inter-university Lisbon-Coimbra in 2013. Moreover, is attending regular professional training, currently in psychological crisis intervention and post-graduation for Psychotherapy specialisation at APTCCI. Member of Order of Portuguese Psychologists, has general specialties – Clinical and Health Psychology, Educational Psychology, and advanced specialty in Special Educational Needs, also being a certified pedagogical trainer. Participates in several collaborative task forces for diversity and inclusion (e.g. Rede NEE-ULisboa, GENEE), playing representative and leadership role at public or non profitable organisations of the field of work with social relevance, belonging to the management board of professional Associations RESAPES and APIST.

Hugo is an Assistant Professor in the Computer Science and Engineering Department (DEI) of Instituto Superior Técnico, the University of Lisbon in Portugal. He’s also an integrated researcher at the Interactive Technologies Institute / LARSyS. His research interests include human-computer interaction, accessibility, focusing on the design, development, and evaluation of novel inclusive computing technologies. Hugo’s goals comprise creating meaningful technologies that empower people with disabilities to address high-impact problems in areas such as education, health, and social exclusion. His research methods extend mostly from the discipline of human-computer interaction and are informed by perspectives in design justice, psychology, sociology, and disability studies.

Ana Marques works at Student Support Unit (NAPE) since 2019. Since 2008 holds a Master´s degree in Systemic Clinical Psychology from Faculty of Psychology of University of Lisbon and is an effective member of Portuguese Psychological Association (“Ordem dos Psicólogos Portugueses” – OPP). Since 2010 has worked at University of Lisbon, namely at  Instituto de Orientação Profissional (IOP) and Faculty of Psychology – Service to Community. Given the experience in Career Psychology field, and NAPE’s mission centred on student support, reception and integration, is part of GENEE and taskforce for employability of students with additional support needs.

Alexandre Oliveira was born on January 17, 1984 in Setúbal, Portugal.
He always liked more extreme sports and even competed in two cycling disciplines, which were the BMX Race and Donwhill where they won some national titles.
He completed his training in Escola Superior de Tecnologia de Setúbal, where he graduated in Automation, Control and Instrumentation Engineering in 2011. He then started working as a robotics engineer, passing through some countries, such as Romania, Germany, Spain and Mexico, where he remained until August 2017.
In 2017 he returned to Setúbal due to an accident that left him quadriplegic and in 2020 he left the company where he had been since 2011 and in the same year he enrolled in the Master’s Degree in Bioengineering and Nanossystems at Instituto Superior Técnico in Lisbon, which ended in 2022. He currently works at ThyssenKrupp Portugal as a robotics engineer.

Lidia Silva has been working in the Graduation Office since July 2018, as part of the team responsible for students’ academic affairs. Her duties include managing the status of students with special educational needs (Alameda)

Patrícia Simões

Patrícia Simões has been working, since 2018, at the Academic Development Office (NDA), at Instituto Superior Técnico. She completed, in 2015, her Master’s Degree in Applied Psychology, at University of Minho, and she’s also a certified trainer by IEFP. Works with professors and students, on a daily basis, seeking to contribute to the improvement of their academic experiences. To do so, she develops training actions in the areas of pedagogy and soft skills and also conducts personalized monitoring in order to develop strategies that are appropriate to people’s needs.

Rita Wahl

Rui Costa

Susana Relvas is an Associate Professor at the Department of Engineering and Management (DEG) of Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), University of Lisbon (UL), Portugal. She obtained her Ph.D. in 2008, Industrial Engineering and Management from IST. She is currently IST Deputy Director for Funding and Competitiveness, Vice-President of DEG, Executive Board Member of IST TagusPark Campus, Coordinator of the Lifelong Learning Programme on Engineering and Management @ Técnico+, and Deputy Director of RENE @ KIC InnoENergy. Her research interests are in Logistics, Operations Management, and Supply Chain Management applied to topics such as Retail Industry, Agri-Food Supply Chains, Manufacturing, and Energy Supply Chains, linking to Human-Centered Approaches, Sustainability, and Resilience. She is currently settling Logistics Lab at IST TagusPark, which will focus on research and teaching and promoting interdisciplinary collaboration between students and researchers.  She is currently supervising 5 Ph.D. students and 10 MSc students.