Tuesday, 2/27/2018
The symposium took place
on the 16th February, at the Campus of Azurém, in Guimarães, and counted on the
presence of the president of the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT),
the director of the MIT Programme and the former vice-dean of NASA.
Manuel Heitor, Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education,
attended the University of Minho (UMinho), in Guimarães, on the 16th February,
to participate in the symposium entitled “MIT and Portugal in the challenges
for the planet and the society”. This initiative took place following the
signing of the agreement between FCT and the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT), which marks the beginning of the MIT Portugal Programme’s third phase.
The
symposium took place at the School of Engineering of the University of Minho
(EEUM) and counted on the intervention of António Cunha, a member of the
Programme Governing Committee of the MIT Portugal Programme and Full Professor
of the EEUM, who took stock of the last 10 years of this partnership
programme. This intervention was followed by the round table “Space,
Sea, Climate & Data Science: Contribution to Atlantic International
Research Centre”, launched by Dava Newman, former vice-dean of NASA and
professor of Aero/Astronautics and Engineering Systems at MIT. Stefanie
Mueller, one of the 30 most influential young scientists in the world
(according to Forbes magazine), addressed the theme “Interacting with Personal
Fabrication Machines”.
The afternoon was marked by the intervention of the MIT researcher, John
Fernandez, on sustainable cities and also by the speeches of the director of
the MIT Portugal programme and EEUM’s Full Professor, Pedro Arezes, the
UMinho's Rector, Rui Vieira de Castro, the Minister Manuel Heitor, and the
President of the FCT, Paulo Ferrão. The programme also counted with speakers
from the universities of Lisbon, Nova of Lisboa, Coimbra and Oporto, the
Polytechnic Institute of Oporto, Lisbon Municipal Council, as well as Bosch Car
Multimedia, Efacec, Tekever, Edisoft and DSTelecom.
This programme results from a partnership between several higher
education institutions, the Council of Rectors of Portuguese Universities, MIT,
FCT and several companies. Created in 2006 with the aim of strengthening the
country's knowledge base, scientific entrepreneurship and international
competitiveness, this programme counts on 1100 students in national academies. More
than 20 companies were created by professors and students of the programme and
numerous projects with connection to the industry and focus on sustainable
development were financed.
+
info: www.mitportugal.org/events/event/416-2018-goportugal-mit-portugal-symposium
