The inauguration of Professor Katia Lucchesi Cavalca Dedini as director of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering (FEM) for the four-year period 2026–2030, this Wednesday (April 29), marks a new era for the teaching unit. Amidst the greatest generational renewal at the institute that welcomed her in 1986 for her Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering, the professor is the first woman to assume the position. Referring to the incoming faculty, she revealed one of her missions: “Young professors need to maintain the sparkle in their eyes. Without that, we lose the meaning of what we do.”
Alongside associate director, Professor Carla Kazue Nakao Cavaliero – who attended the ceremony virtually from the United States, as she is in a postdoctoral program – Dedini assumes the directorship in a context that expands not only diversity in leadership, but also expectations about the future of FEM. The new administration signals a change that goes beyond representation: it inscribes the unit in a broader movement of institutional transformation, still underway, especially in traditionally male-dominated areas.
The new director had already experienced this exceptional position: while still a student, she was the only woman in a group of 11 engineers during an internship at the Department of Aerospace Science and Technology (CTA). Her trajectory at FEM is intertwined with her personal life: it was there that she met her husband, Franco Dedini, also a professor at the unit, and watched her only daughter grow up. Today, she is a grandmother of two grandchildren, six-month-old twins, who attended the ceremony. Dedini joined Unicamp as a professor in 1996, after completing his master's degree at the institution itself in 1988 and his doctorate abroad at the Polytechnic University of Milan.
More than a mere formality, her inauguration brought together different generations. Former FEM directors, veteran and newly arrived faculty members, staff, and a large group of students from the "Women in Engineering" project welcomed her with attention and affection. "I wouldn't be who I am today without the people who built this journey with me, inside and outside the faculty. My training here wasn't just technical, it was also ethical, human, and collective," she stated.
Dedini recounts that she initially took on administrative roles without much enthusiasm. “I’ve always been very connected to the lab, to classes, to my advisees,” she said. Over the years, however, she accumulated experience as head of department, coordinator of postgraduate programs, and general coordinator, until assuming, for the last four years, the associate directorship of FEM. It was during this period that she began to see management as a distinct form of contribution. “Today I see that I can act by creating conditions for the community to do its best work.”
The rector of Unicamp, Paulo Cesar Montagner, who presided over the ceremony, highlighted that the institution is undergoing one of the most intense transitions in its history. “We are facing a very strong generational shift, perhaps the greatest in the University's recent history,” he stated. This renewal, he emphasized, is not only numerical but also qualitative. “We are receiving a new generation that arrives with energy, with a desire to transform. The challenge is to ensure that this renewal dialogues with the legacy built, so that we can advance even further.”
Looking at FEM, the rector highlighted its trajectory as a fundamental part of Unicamp's history. Created in the early years of the University, the unit has established itself as one of the leading engineering schools in the country, with national and international recognition. “FEM is not defined solely by its buildings, its laboratories, or its indicators of excellence. It is built, above all, by the work of the people who give life to this institution,” he stated. “Professor Katia's trajectory is added to that of so many others who helped build this history. I hope that the administration that is beginning will be marked by wisdom, firmness of purpose, and the ability to inspire the community.”
The general coordinator of Unicamp, Fernando Coelho, pointed to the coexistence between generations as one of the keys to understanding the current moment. “We have a solid foundation, built over decades, coexisting with a new energy that arrives to revitalize the institution,” he said. For Coelho, this coexistence creates a unique opportunity: to transmit legacies while experimenting with new possibilities. The presence of more experienced professors, alongside new entrants, ensures that accumulated knowledge is not lost, while also opening space for revisions of courses, practices, and perspectives. “It is in this encounter between experience and impetus that the future is built.”
Upon concluding his term as director, Professor Arnaldo Cesar da Silva Walter gave a frank assessment. He highlighted the dialogue with the community as the main commitment fulfilled, but acknowledged remaining challenges, such as the review of undergraduate courses and the unit's infrastructure conditions. Among the advances, he emphasized the restructuring of the faculty. At the end of his term, 25% of the teachers have less than five years of service, which demonstrates the scale of the ongoing transition. "It's a great challenge, but also an opportunity for a fresh start."
It is in this context that Dedini begins her tenure. Her challenge will be to maintain this balance: preserving the legacy and embracing the new. At the end of her speech, the new director summarized this horizon in a few words: "respect for the past, commitment to the present, and responsibility for the future that we will shape together."
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