The UPC closes its 50th anniversary celebrations by claiming its role as Catalonia’s tech future
The UPC’s 50th anniversary celebrations closed in style at an event that brought together the university community and representatives from institutions, organisations and companies in the Fòrum Auditorium in Barcelona on 27 June. The event featured speeches, poetic and musical performances and a presentation of the milestones reached in recent years by the University, which claims its role as Catalonia’s tech future.
Jul 29, 2022
The closing ceremony of the 50th anniversary of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya · BarcelonaTech (UPC) was held in the Fòrum Auditorium at the Barcelona International Convention Centre on 27 June. The event closed the programme of activities that have been held on the campuses over a year and a half to celebrate the University’s anniversary. It has been an emotional journey through the University’s first 50 years, filled with thousands of stories that have contributed to the UPC becoming Catalonia’s tech leader, with a community of 30,000 students, 5,000 teaching and administrative staff and 70,000 alumni.
The Spanish minister of Universities, Joan Subirats, and the president of the Government of Catalonia, Pere Aragonès, delivered the institutional welcome speech. The event was also attended by the minister of Research and Universities of the Government of Catalonia, Gemma Geis; the sixth deputy mayor of Barcelona, Jordi Martí; and the chair of the UPC’s Board of Trustees, Montserrat Guàrdia, who referred to the UPC’s versatility and ability to generate knowledge, and encouraged companies to search for talent at the University. She also stressed “the importance of cultivating ingenuity, at a crucial moment like this.”
Additionally, Carles Margarit gave a poetic-musical performance, No es perd el senyal, recordant Joan Margarit (The signal is not lost, remembering Joan Margarit), in homage to the late architect and professor of Structural Calculus at the Barcelona School of Architecture (ETSAB), who died in 2021. The ceremony also featured performances by the Architecture Choir, the Baix Llobregat Campus Choir, the Terrassa Campus Choir, the Gaudeamus EEBE-Besòs Campus Choir and the UPC Orchestra.
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Support by companies and organisations
The event was organised with the special support of companies and organisations, such as HP Printing and Computing Solutions, Aigües de Barcelona Empresa Metropolitana, NTT Data, GE RenewableEnergy and Santander Universidades, as the main sponsors. La Vanguardia collaborated as the media sponsor for the event.
It also had the support of Sonsetc: Making Sense of Sounds, Siemens Energy SA, Hyperion Materials & Technologies, Cellnex Telecom, the Grupo Construcía Chair (circular economy hub for construction and industry), the UPC-Mercabarna Chair for business, the Batlleiroig Chair (Merging City and Nature), Premium PSU, Filantropía Cortés Solari and Sorigué SA.