Campus and Community

Worten honours Técnico students for the fourth time

The group of four Técnico students were awarded for their project to find solutions for the layout of a new Worten distribution centre.

The fourth edition of the Worten Merit Award in Warehouse and Materials Management took place on 15 November, at Técnico – Oeiras Campus. The event took place in the new Logistics Laboratory, inaugurated in May this year as a result of the partnership between Técnico and Worten.

The team of students Dino Mujanovic, Francisco Simões, Guillermo Orive and Vincent Häbich were the award winners (1,850 euros). The team’s project was one of the top three. They were invited to a final presentation involving 12 students, some attending the Erasmus programme. The winners thanked Worten, saying “it’s always good to work with ‘real life companies’”. “We’d love to hear Worten’s feedback if they implement our model”, they emphasised.

For about seven weeks, all the student groups competing for the award had access to data, information, as well as an initial briefing. They were tasked with finding solutions for the layout of the new distribution centre that would take non-productive tasks into account and improve the daily journey of the company’s workers. The students were able to address challenges identified by Worten, such as the time and distance spent by workers moving between various areas of the warehouse – for example between the area where they work and the canteen.
Rogério Colaço, president of Técnico, highlighted the internationalisation of the students and thanked for the collaboration that made it possible to build the laboratory. Engineer Hugo Alexandre, Supply Chain Engineering and Analytics Manager at Worten, said ‘the laboratory really reminds us of Worten’, emphasising the proximity between the two organisations.

Leonor Bento, a Técnico alumna (Industrial Engineering and Management) and Worten representative, congratulated the students. ‘I hope you have learnt a lot from this challenge and that it has put you to the test’.
Pedro Amaral, the Vice-President of Técnico for Corporate Interface, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, emphasised the importance of the partnership with Worten and expressed his desire for it to grow in the future.

Professor Susana Relvas, coordinator of the Warehouse and Materials Management curricular unit, praised the students’ commitment and considered the challenge “very positive”. The award also included a donation of 1,250 euros to the Department of Engineering and Management (DEG) to improve the teaching quality of the curricular unit.