João Paulo de Melo Cardoso, Brazil

Curriculum Vitae

João Paulo de Melo Cardoso is an Electronic Engineering student at the Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná (PUCPR), Curitiba-Paraná, Brazil with graduation scheduled for December 2018. He graduated as Electronics Technician by the National Service of Industrial Learning (SENAI PR) in 2013. From August 2017 to January 2018, he has completed his studies at FH Vorarlberg, University of Applied Sciences, Dornbirn, Austria as an OeAD scholarship holder with an Ernst Mach Grant for studying at an Austrian University of Applied Sciences. As a researcher at PUCPR (Institutional Scientific Initiation Scholarship Program – PIBIC) (2017), João de Melo Cardoso has developed his interest in research, the commitment to carry out proposed activities, and fulfilling established deadlines and goals. In 2015, he was selected and invited to participate in the Brazil Educational Program for iOS Development (BEPID PUCPR). The program is offered by Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná in partnership with Apple and aims to enable the participants to develop applications for the iOS platform. He has also been a Junior Assistant at PUCPR (2015-2016) and participated in university volunteer projects (since 2014).

Reflection

Gratitude, great personal, family-related and professional growth and development, overcoming obstacles and limits, constant learning, exchange of knowledge and experiences and realization of dreams are some of the many words that sum up my stay here in Austria during these last five months.
I thank all the OeAD staff and the entire Austrian nation for trusting me and my potential and for the opportunity you have given me. To receive the scholarship was what made my stay in Austria possible. I can say with certainty that having had the opportunity of an OeAD scholarship has influenced many positive changes in my life. Today I feel like a person/professional/citizen with many experiences and knowledge that makes and will make a big difference in my life.
In Austria, I found a different approach to the "engineering" to which I am accustomed in Brazil. I noticed that in my Brazilian college, there is a greater concern with teaching the theoretical knowledge to be a good engineer. Until then, I had many disciplines, from calculus, physics and other disciplines, that make me able to understand, model and work with various processes and products with a certain ease. Here in Austria, with the disciplines that I have attended, I have learned and developed myself in the aspects that comprise the stage of documentation, planning and execution of real engineering projects. Today I can say with confidence that the process I have learned here is as essential as having a good theoretical knowledge in the everyday life of an engineer. I also had the opportunity to apply the theories we studied in the classroom and to learn from the exchange of knowledge and experiences with the other students (Austrians, as well as from different countries) and professors. One practice I enjoyed doing is to always, at the end of the day, stop, think and reflect how that day was in order to evaluate my performance and compare my characteristics as a person/professional with those of the other students whom I had the pleasure to work with. With this practice, I changed some habits and strengthened some of my characteristics which I consider to be my differential.
I will return to my country with new perspectives, ideas, technical knowledge and plans. I have a notebook with annotations of technologies/objects/habits that I visualized here in Austria and that could be applied in my country. I believe that, if implemented, they can improve our quality of life, make things more accessible for people with special needs and even save lives. I see that the difference of the reality of life here in Austria and my country is very big. Maybe I cannot change the reality of my country - or maybe yes, but one thing I am sure: I will continue to contribute my work so that I can help to change things for the better.