MPU delegates visited DG Interpreting to explore innovative cooperation in interpreting education in the age of artificial intelligence

The Director-General of DG Interpreting, Genoveva Ruiz Calavera, warmly welcomed the MPU delegation

A delegation from Macao Polytechnic University (MPU), led by its Vice-Rector, Vivian Lei, visited the European Commission Directorate-General for Interpretation (DG Interpreting), where the delegates were warmly welcomed by the Director-General, Genoveva Ruiz Calavera. The visit aimed to strengthen cooperation and academic exchange in higher education and the bonds between MPU and the international interpreting world, promote cooperation in terms of academic resources, and support the training of interpreting talents in Macao. MPU is the only university in Macao with which DG Interpreting cooperates. In this context, the two parties reviewed the fruitful results of this cooperation achieved over the years, engaged in in-depth discussions, and reached consensus in a pleasant atmosphere on the new opportunities for the development of the translation education sector in the age of artificial intelligence.

During the meeting, Vivian Lei said that MPU attached great importance to a deeper cooperation with the European Union and had maintained close cooperation with many renowned European universities and institutions. The Vice-Rector mentioned as an example the visit to MPU by the former President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, who is also an honorary professor at MPU, and looked back over the fruits of MPU-DG Interpreting cooperation over the past decade. She expressed her gratitude to DG Interpreting for its support to the Faculty of Languages and Translation at MPU (FLT-MPU) in terms of professional interpreting teaching, and translation and interpreting training at master’s level, among other aspects. She looked forward to advancing cooperation between the two parties into a new stage in the era of technology.

Calavera warmly welcomed the MPU delegation and stated that the development of technologies such as artificial intelligence and large language models provided new opportunities for the interpreting sector, and more assistance and support for interpreting work. DG Interpreting would enhance its investment in fields including online interpreting education and was currently developing a new platform. She hoped to collaborate with MPU in this new area to train more high-quality interpreters to meet the growing demand for interpreters, and to promote the development and progress of the interpreting sector.

MPU is the only higher education institution with which DG Interpreting cooperates in Macao. MPU has signed a cooperation agreement with DG Interpreting and, with the support of DG Interpreting, has organized various training courses and trained a large number of high-quality Chinese-Portuguese interpreters. Moreover, DG Interpreting has provided pedagogical support for the Master of Chinese-Portuguese Translation and Interpreting Program of FLT-MPU, thus guaranteeing the professionalism of the program.The meeting was also attended by Manuela Brovarone, Director of the Talent Development Department of the DG Interpreting; Anabela Frade, Deputy Director of the Department and DG Interpreting’s coordinator for the Macao region; Zhang Yunfeng, Acting Dean of FLT-MPU; and Joaquim Carvalho, Coordinator of the PhD in Portuguese Program at FLT-MPU.