Africa-Press – Angola. Since she was a little girl, Teresa Matoso Manguagua Victor dreamed of being a competent chemical engineer, to honor her father, Neves Manguagua, now deceased. The parent belonged to the defunct English factory Richitt & Colman Angola LDA, which, in the 70s and 80s, produced perfumes, cosmetics and hygiene products.
Even when playing with her friends, the girl already claimed that, one day, she would work in a world-class industry. “They laughed at me and thought I was crazy, since I was the daughter of a simple employee”.
Over the years, Teresa proved to her friends that they were completely wrong, because the fearless girl won a scholarship from the Organization of Angolan Pioneers (OPA). On October 25, 1984, aged just 13, she left for Cuba.
This trip began to better outline the realization of a great dream of the teenager, which was to graduate in Chemical Engineering. In Cuba, she settled in Ilha da Juventude, where she joined the Saidy Vieira Dias Mingas School, as part of the existing bilateral cooperation between Angola and that Caribbean country.
In the first year in Cuba, Teresa was enrolled in the Escola Secundária Básica de Ensino e Campo, having completed this phase of training in 1987.
When the first phase of training ended, she began attending high school as an Educator in the Children’s Circuit, at the “Frank País Garcia” Polytechnic Pedagogical Institute, where she finished, with an average of 95/100, in 1991.
Teresa Victor has always been known for her excellence among so many students, which is why, one year after starting high school, that is, in 1988, she was simultaneously attending the Pre-university course in Physical Sciences, at the Obrera y Campesina Faculty ” Captain Orestes Acosta Herrera”, in Santiago de Cuba.
“And at this pre-university institute, I enrolled only in the subjects of Mathematics, Chemistry, Physics and Biology, with the exception of social subjects, because we had the freedom to make those choices”, clarified the chemical engineer.
Teresa Victor finished her pre-university education with a score of 98.6/100. “My focus there was really just studying. I swore to myself that I would return to Angola with a diploma of merit, to be delivered to my father”, she explained, visibly moved.
Unfortunately, fate betrayed Teresa and the promise to deliver the diploma to the great motivator, who was her father, did not come true. Neves Manguagua died in the early hours of December 3, 1989, aged 46.
“My father was at home, sitting with my brothers, when a flaming bullet, which appeared out of nowhere, nailed him right there.
That moment of mourning was hard for Teresa, for having been away from her family. As she couldn’t bear to live without this hurt, she decided, in 1991, to return to the country and visit the place where her father is buried.
In the country, Teresa Victor stayed until 1994, when she returned to Cuba and entered the Instituto Superior Pedagógico “Enrique José Varona”, to obtain a degree in Pedagogy, specializing in Chemistry.
New challenge in London
While attending higher education, Teresa became pregnant with her first child, she is currently 27 years old. Despite her pregnancy and distance from her family, she continued to study and, in the third year of the course, in 1997, she won another scholarship from the Angolan Government to England.
“When I arrived in England, I couldn’t go to college right away, because I had to learn English”, he clarified, adding that, the following year, he entered the University of Northumbria.
He explained that, after training in English, he entered the second year of the Chemical Engineering course, since, in Cuba, he had already attended the third year of Pedagogy in Chemistry.
In 2001, Teresa Victor realized her long-awaited dream of obtaining a degree in Chemical Engineering. After the University of Northumbria, in England, helped make that wish come true, the woman took a new step in life: getting married.
But, not only had the grace of marriage. Due to his excellent performance at the University, he was given the opportunity to continue with higher education in Chemistry by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), UK and European Research Council.
Masters in Newcastle
After accepting the invitation to continue her studies, the newlywed and mother of two boys, who were still small at the time, attended and completed a Masters in Sustainable Chemical Engineering at the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, between 2003 and 2004.
Already grounded in the academic field, the woman, always with good references, decided to have her third child, this time, a girl was born, in 2004.
“And as I didn’t want to waste the University scholarship or my time, despite the fresh delivery, I started the doctoral course, in a research and development project on the intensification of the production of antibiotics, using micro-porous polymers”, he clarifies. This project , according to Teresa Victor, was multidisciplinary, since it involved, among others, the areas of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology. elastomer with high permeability and ability to adsorb particles and absorb liquids and gases.
Two patents
The material invented by the Angolan chemical engineer resulted in two patents, the first of which is called “Process for preparing a functionalized polyHIPE polymer” and has application in health, in terms of the immobilization of cells and microorganisms.
This patent can be used in Engineering, in the production of antibiotics, proteins and enzymes, respectively, as well as being useful in the environmental area, for the separation of particles, in the event of a crude oil spill and in mitigating its effects. in the environment.
As for the second patent, entitled “Synthetic symbiotic system as soil additives to deliver active”, he explained that it is aimed at the area of agriculture and the qualitative improvement of polluted soils, rivers and lakes , hence the name of a multidisciplinary project.
After several research works, Teresa Victor defended her PhD in Chemical Engineering, on November 25, 2008, at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, in England.
As a result of her brilliant career as a student, Teresa worked for five years at the same University, in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Advanced Materials, as an Associate Researcher, in a project financed by the European Union.
For the same period of time, the Angolan researcher also worked at the multinational Nutriss, Lda, where she held the position of Development Engineer in the Startp Process.
Return and contribution to the country
After almost 20 years away from Angola, Teresa Victor decides to return to the country, in 2019, to contribute to the development of research, mainly in the Health and Environment sectors.
Therefore, as soon as he arrived, he decided to present a project to the Ministry of Health, in order to support the investigation of new strains of Covid-19 and other microorganisms. Three years later, unfortunately, until now, it has not been received by the portfolio holder!
The invitation, due to his brilliant academic and research career, came from the Instituto Superior Politécnico de Tecnologias e Ciências (ISPTEC), where he teaches Reactor Calculation, Process Engineering and Thermodynamics II.
In addition to teaching, Teresa is also the main researcher of the Projects for the Intensification of Agro-Processes, Valorization of Coffee Waste as an Alternative for Soil Fertilization–FUNDCIT.
Distinguished by the Society for Scientific Networks
As a result of the multidisciplinarity of her work, Teresa’s path was taken into account. For this reason, on the 3rd of July, the chemical engineer was awarded the International Prize for Best Researcher in the areas of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, by the International Society for Scientific Networks (ISSN) and by the International Congress for Science and Technology, in a ceremony that took place in Tiruchirappalli tamail Nadur, a city in India.
Teresa intends to continue teaching in the area of Chemistry, to encourage students to investigate more and more. “In fact, what would give me the most pleasure is to use my doctorate to support the Health, Environment and Agriculture sector, mainly in the investigation of the different micro-organisms that cause various diseases and spoil the crop, as well as to produce antibiotics that destroy these micro-organisms”, he concluded.
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