Martifer wants to expand the board of directors. Susana Sargento is one of the new names – Industry

Susana Sargento could be one of the new names on Martifer’s board in the next three years. The company will propose, at the general shareholders’ meeting on May 23, an expansion of the board of directors to include three new female names, the group said in a statement sent to the Securities Market Commission (CMVM).

Among them, the scientific researcher in the area of ​​networks and the internet of the future stands out, winner of the first “Innovative Women of the European Union” prize in 2016, for transforming vehicles into Wi-Fi access points and creating mobile networks on the scale of cities.

Susana Sargento is from Mira, in Coimbra, and is a full professor at the Department of Electronics, Telecommunications and IT at the University of Aveiro. She is also one of the co-founders of the Portuguese startup Veniam, a company that began its journey in 2012 and helped launch the concept of “internet of mobile things”, and which in 2022 was sold to the Israeli Nexar. She is one of those responsible for implementing free Wi-Fi on STCP buses, in the city of Porto.

According to the statement, Sargento does not hold shares in the company where he may be a member, nor does he “hold any role in the corporate bodies of companies”.

Also accompanying the proposal for a new board are the names of Mariana Martins and Carla Norte, both to serve as members.

The metal construction company, which closed the 2023 financial year with sales of 220 million euros, justifies the chosen figures by considering that they “have the profile, knowledge, CV and experience appropriate to the roles to be performed”.

If the proposal continues with the green light, the body will therefore have 11 members, including the current president Carlos Martinsvice-presidents Arnaldo Figueiredo and Jorge Martins, and the remaining eight members, now with three new names.

On May 23, Martifer shareholders will also vote on the company’s accounts and the proposal for the application of results. The proposal in question envisages the transfer of the positive net result of more than 19 million euros to retained earnings, “also proposing to allocate to the administration and employees, as a share in the year’s profits, an amount of up to one million euros”, explains the statement.

* Text edited by Leonor Mateus Ferreira