Resulting from a multi-disciplinary research project, this web site reflects the “art of the engineer” as a creator, entrepreneur and innovator in the context of the historical development of engineering in Portugal, in order to better understand the “moments of technological innovation” which occurred during the last one hundred years of the country’s history.

The continuing challenges faced by Portuguese society, regarding the application of science and technology, are presented in the context of a growing centrality of the issues involving scientific activity. This analysis confirms the need to promote the pleasure of discovering, and a culture of innovation, while it requires the broadening of the base for learning and the promotion of the scientific foundations on which development must be sustained, in order to face the times of rapid technological change in which we live.

This web site includes a virtual exhibition based on a historical matrix, containing 21 thematic zones and 6 contextual zones. The former correspond to the areas in which engineering took on greater importance and played a more innovative role in Portugal and, therefore, the 21 units are sorted in chronological order according to the main “technological innovation moments”. The latter show the development of the historical framework in which engineering occurs and evolves during the 20th century in Portugal. They comprise the chronological treatment of the political setting, economic policy, the economic and social context, and the teaching of engineering and research.