The INESC-ID and Técnico alumna is an Assistant Professor and Researcher at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology and she is passionate about robotics.

Iolanda Leite has always been interested in Tamagotchis and Furby robots, and how they worked. Nowadays, she is still fascinated by them and that is reflected in a successful career abroad, at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology, where she is an Assistant Professor and Researcher.

Iolanda Leite entered Técnico – Taguspark campus in 2002. “There was a very familiar environment among students, teachers and non-teaching staff. Those times were quite intense”, she says when looking back on those days. “I have very good memories, especially every time we were about to finish a project. I made friends for life in those times”, she recalls.

The passion for robotics arises when she was still a Técnico student attending Artificial Intelligence or Intelligent Agents course units. “The projects were very interesting and the professors inspired me a lot”, she shares. During her MSc degree, she chose to major in Intelligent Systems, “it was probably at that point that I have seriously considered a research career in this area”, she shares.

For further reading: https://tecnico.ulisboa.pt/en/news/campus-community/iolanda-leite-the-scientist-who-seeks-to-build-socially-competent-robots/

*Técnico news credits