On the latest episode of the Público Podcast “Mais Lento do Que a Luz” (“Slower than Light”), hosts Carlos Fiolhais and David Marçal welcomed Moisés Piedade, INESC-ID emeritus researcher, and full professor at Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa.

The conversation starts with Moisés Piedade’s origins, a small village, Marquinho, in the municipality of Ansiães, where there was no electricity and higher education was rare. From Pombal, to where it took him one hour to reach the school, to Leiria and, finally, Lisbon, the hosts follow the researcher’s journey through his education, supported by his parents’ efforts and by Calouste Gulbenkian scholarships.

In addition to a successful career in electrical engineering and as a full professor, he pursued his long-standing fascination with radios and historical instruments of science and technology, assembling a vast collection. This, in turn, was one the origins of the Faraday Museum, located on the premises of Técnico, which had the support of fellow INESC-ID researchers Arlindo Oliveira, then president of Técnico, and Isabel Trancoso.

“When an object is thrown away, I see that the energy invested in it will never be recovered […] and many times those objects can be mended.” explains Moisés Piedade regarding the beginning of his collection.

Watch the full episode (in Portuguese) here

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