Two worlds, one program: how research can interact with companies
Upon completing undergraduate studies, people are often offered two options: an academic career or a career in the job market. These options are considered very different and non-reconcilable worlds and opportunities.
They are typically thought of as antagonistic opportunities: one or the other, when, in fact, they complement each other, and together they can develop solutions that value and maximize the potential of each one.
Researchers experience a routine search for new knowledge; at Poatek, we are always interested in acquiring and transferring new knowledge. Researchers are challenged to go after new technologies, and we want to use the best approaches to carry out projects for our customers.
The university aims to collaborate with the academic community, while Poatek seeks ways to interact with the entire technology ecosystem, including the academic community.
Researchers are designed to analyze, identify cause and effect, solve complex problems, persuade, empathize, interpret, and evaluate data. All these characteristics are also valuable for the day-to-day activities developed at Poatek.
But, according to the traditional choice, these worlds exclude each other; they do not allow coexistence.
What if it were possible to explore the best of both worlds, seeking to give back to society with impactful research carried out by researchers with a high academic level, such as students from the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) in projects that we worked on at Poatek?
Thinking that we can explore the best of both worlds to add the best of each one, our company created the Poatek Experience: a program that aims to integrate the academic community into our day-to-day while valuing talents with the experience of being in a software consulting company, where they will be able to apply their knowledge developed in research in real projects of society.
Integrating the industry with the university is a challenging task. Still, if done, it can deliver an excellent relationship between the production of knowledge and its application in problems that, once solved, will positively impact our society.
Holding the program’s first edition with the best federal university in Brazil (UFRGS) is, without a doubt, an immense source of pride. This may be the beginning of multiple experiences Poatek can provide to the academic community.
It runs in our culture the passion for always knowing more, developing hard and soft skills, and sharing our knowledge.
So, apart from traditional thinking, research not only can interact with Poatek, it must, and will in the coming months, with the first edition of the Poatek Experience.
