On Thursday, October 7th, the CMU Portugal Program held the 2021 Fall Welcome Back Lunch on campus at Carnegie Mellon University. Dual Degree students attended from five different departments including Computer Science, Language Technologies Institute, Software Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering and Engineering and Public Policy.
The CMU Portugal Program currently has 18 students on CMU’s campus this semester, one of the largest numbers ever. From this group, 15 attended the Welcome Back Lunch including many students who are at CMU for the first time. First year students Luis Gomes, Margarida de Almeida, and Pedro Mendes are spending their first academic year studying at CMU. Nuno Sabino, Afonso Tinoco, Manuel Fancisco Reis Carneiro, Pedro Malveiro Valdeira, Afonso Amaral, Patrick Fernandes, and Daniel Ramos are all in their second year of the Program and are now spending their first year at CMU. Neil Mehta and Diogo Mendes Cardoso were able to share even further experiences, it being their third year in the Program; and Jihoon Shin and Artur Balanuta are finishing their Dual Degree Ph.D. Programs at CMU.
At the Welcome Back Lunch, first year through final year students were able to meet and introduce themselves to their colleagues in the Program in an informal setting while enjoying lunch. While getting to know each other, they bonded over the neighborhood of Pittsburgh they are living in and the nuances of the local grocery stores and products in America and Portugal. Other topics of conversation included the courses offered at CMU and in Portugal, the differences between our various Dual Degree Ph.D. Programs, and their experiences settling in at CMU and Pittsburgh. During this networking event, the students also shared their experiences at CMU and their Portuguese Institutions such as Universidade Nova de Lisboa (FCT- UNL), Universidade de Coimbra (FCTUC), Universidade do Porto (FEUP and FCUP) and Instituto Superior Técnico. Many students expressed their appreciation for the gathering and are looking forward to the next on- campus event.