>> >> ====================================== >> MIT and Portugal to launch major research and education initiative >> ====================================== >> >> For Immediate Release >> WEDNESDAY, OCT. 11, 2006 >> Contact: Kristen Collins, MIT News Office >> Phone: 617-253-2700 (main) >> Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> >> The Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Portuguese >> Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education today >> announced plans to enter into a long-term collaboration to >> significantly expand research and education in engineering and >> management across many of Portugal's top national universities. >> >> The wide-ranging initiative will be the broadest of its kind ever >> undertaken by the government of Portugal and will involve >> professors, researchers and students from a consortia of schools >> of engineering, science and technology, economics and management >> at seven different Portuguese universities, together with a large >> number of research centers, associated laboratories and state >> laboratories. >> >> The long-term collaboration was designed based on an assessment >> study conducted by MIT from February to July 2006 that involved >> several faculties at MIT and concluded that "Šthe excellence of >> the research identified in Portuguese research centers throughout >> the assessment exercise recommends that MIT foster joint ventures >> with Portuguese institutions. >> Also, the commitment of the Portuguese government in strengthening >> science and technology and in promoting international >> collaborations in higher education and in science and technology >> is making Portugal an interesting place for doing research and a >> relevant partner for future joint ventures in the emerging >> knowledge-based, globalized economy." >> >> With participation of more than 40 faculty from all five schools >> at MIT, the MIT-Portugal Program will undertake research and >> education in several focus areas. The educational and research >> initiatives will give MIT an opportunity to gain insight into the >> planning, design and implementation of transportation, energy, >> manufacturing and bioengineering systems in Portugal, all critical >> sectors of the global economy. Faculty will be encouraged to make >> new educational material publicly available through MIT >> OpenCourseWare (ocw.mit.edu). >> >> The MIT-Portugal Program is part of a major initiative undertaken >> by the Portuguese government to strengthen the country's knowledge >> base at an international level through a strategic investment in >> people, knowledge and ideas. The program was announced today at a >> public session headed by Portuguese Prime Minister José Sócrates >> and attended by senior MIT administrators and leaders from >> Portuguese institutions involved in the collaboration. >> >> "The Portuguese government launched a technological plan as a >> political idea to mobilize the state, business and citizens around >> critical drivers of modernization: knowledge, technology and >> innovation. The duty of a responsible government with a look >> towards the future is undoubtedly to foster scientific and >> technological skills and to recognize the essential role of >> research and development activities," said Sócrates. >> >> The leading role of this long-term collaboration has also been >> emphasized by Jose Mariano Gago, the Portuguese minister of >> science, technology and higher education, for whom "the Portugal- >> MIT Program will bring new blood and will provide new challenges >> to the very fast and impressive growth of Portuguese science and >> technology." >> >> Portuguese Secretary of State Manuel Heitor also noted that "the >> MIT-Portugal Program will promote a new research and education >> agenda on engineering systems, involving consortia of Portuguese >> universities and giving emphasis to large-scale systems that not >> only have critical technological components, but also have >> significant enterprise and socio-technical level interactions, in >> a way that will promote new engineering research in Europe." >> >> MIT's Engineering Systems Division (ESD), an interdisciplinary >> unit at MIT with faculty from engineering, management and the >> social sciences, which provides an integrative perspective to >> large-scale complex systems that have a major societal and >> economic impact, will coordinate the engineering aspect of the MIT- >> Portugal Program. The program will be of enormous benefit to ESD >> as it works with Portugal to develop engineering systems as a new >> field of study that will have major social and economic impact in >> the 21st century. >> >> "The creation of the MIT-Portugal Program expands upon successful >> faculty collaborations already in place, and will bring new >> academic and research insights in areas where large-scale complex >> systems are fundamental to every institution involved. This >> relationship is an exciting step in allowing both parties to >> collaborate on scientific and technological discoveries that are >> critical to the future of Portugal, of importance to MIT, and will >> impact Europe to the north and the Mediterranean to the south," >> said Tom Magnanti, Dean of MIT's School of Engineering. >> >> Each of the thematic focus areas in manufacturing, transportation, >> energy and bio-engineering will involve a new companion effort, >> "MIT-Portugal Industrial affiliates," with the goal of fostering >> new research consortia in collaboration with MIT, leading to new >> frontiers of transatlantic collaboration in science and >> technology. Manufacturing will launch the first affiliates program >> with a set of leading companies in the automotive sector, >> including VW AutoEuropa, the largest car assembler in Portugal and >> major auto parts manufacturers. >> >> The MIT-Portugal Program also has an engineering systems component >> that integrates the focus areas and develops fundamental concepts >> of engineering systems. Portugal and MIT ESD will work together to >> broaden engineering education and practice and to create a new >> field of study and research in engineering. A new research area >> will be created within the Portuguese Science and Technology >> Foundation to facilitate achieving these purposes. An important >> focus of this work will be to examine how universities, industry >> and government can work together to utilize the results of the MIT- >> Portugal Program, both in Portugal and at MIT. >> >> The MIT-Portugal Program in the area of engineering systems will >> be led by Professor Daniel Roos, founding director of MIT's >> Engineering Systems Division, and Professor Paulo Manuel Cadete >> Ferrão, director of the Center For Innovation, Technology and >> Policy Research at Instituto Superior Técnico, the Technical >> University of Lisbon. >> >> In an effort to determine the extent of the collaboration and >> program content of the management segment of the MIT-Portugal >> Program, MIT's Sloan School of Management faculty will collaborate >> with faculty from Portuguese universities for a nine-month >> exploration of program development. >> >> Initial discussions will focus on the design of a Global M.B.A. >> Program with leading business schools in Portugal; the development >> of a mid-career program in entrepreneurship, bringing together >> leading business and engineering schools; and the launching of a >> program of seminars in the form of a "Lisbon-Sloan Seminar Series >> in Management Science." It will involve the Portuguese Catholic >> University, the School of Economics and Management at the >> Universidade Nova de Lisboa, the ISCTE Business School, and the >> School of Economics and Management at the Technical University of >> Lisbon. >>
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