Unicorn Factory and Engineers’ Association launch Engineers Hub

 In Associations, News, Start-Up, Tech hubs, Unicorn Factory Lisboa

Portugal’s Association of Engineers – South Region – and Unicorn Factory Lisbon presented engineershub on Wednesday, a pioneering initiative in Portugal dedicated to boosting the development of innovation in the country.

The hub’s facilities will be on Avenida Fontes Pereira de Melo, next to the headquarters of the Engineers Association, and will be in the Saldanha Innovation District.

The engineershub provides a physical space and support for engineering students and engineers, (members of the South Region), who are developing startups or want to launch a business idea.

The innovation centre will combine the support of Unicorn Factory Lisboa with mentoring in innovation, such as in the development of pilots and raising capital, as well as joint activities with the other innovation hubs.

This space aims to create a dynamic and inspiring environment where entrepreneurial engineers, mentors, startups, companies, and talent can collaborate, share knowledge, and develop joint projects. The new hub will feature several collaborative work areas, meeting rooms and co-working spaces. There is also an area for workshops, seminars, and networking events, as well as technical support from the Association of Engineers in the various branches of engineering.

The President of the Southern Region of the Association of Engineers, Engineer António Carias de Sousa, says that “the engineershub will play a crucial role in the development of the innovation ecosystem in Portugal, focused on engineers where through the exchange and sharing of knowledge, pioneering projects can be developed in the most diverse branches of engineering, also involving companies and academies”.

Fernando de Almeida Santos, President of the Association of Engineers says, “there is no quality of life without innovation for economic and social development. And there is no innovation without engineering. This initiative is an excellent example of how Portuguese engineers can be valued and trained to add value to the country and how conditions and incentives can be created for engineers, especially younger ones, to be motivated to stay in Portugal, thus ensuring the return on the educational investment that the country makes in them.”

Gil Azevedo, Executive Director of Unicorn Factory Lisbon, “Engineering is essential in innovation, where six of the seven unicorns created in Portugal had engineering founders. Therefore, this initiative, in partnership with the Association of Engineers (Região Sul), has a very significant potential for the growth of innovation in Portugal by supporting engineers and engineering students in our country to develop their ideas into disruptive and scalable business models.”