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Ricardo Rei, Luís Lima and Joana Ferreira

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"(...) all, without exception, say that this was an incredibly positive step. The group is also growing in numbers and will soon have a dimension that we would have hardly imagined if it were not for INESC Porto.", António Paulo Moreira

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"In this Unit, we can always hear, simultaneously, conversations in a pretty strange dialect that sounds like Russian! Expressions like “Dobro jutro” and “Kako si” are regularly heard", Bernardo Silva

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Know how you can get project contracts, even when you’re kicked out of the meeting. That’s what happened to one of our researchers...

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In this section, the reader may find reference to public announcements made by INESC Porto offering grants, contracts and other opportunities of the same kind.

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UGEI researcher leads the first IBM Centre for Advanced Studies in Portugal

UGEI researcher leads the first IBM Centre for Advanced Studies in Portugal

João Falcão e Cunha, researcher at the Industrial Engineering and Management Unit (UGEI) and professor at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP), is coordinating the research teams for the first IBM Centre for Advanced Studies (CAS) in Portugal.

Established in May and located at the campus of FEUP, this CAS has partners that include INESC Porto, Institute of Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Management (INEGI) and the Institute of Mechanical Engineering (IDMEC).

João Falcão e Cunha played a key role in the protocol signed in December between IBM and the University of Porto, which led to the implementation of the first CAS in Portugal. Focusing on applied research in Service Science, Management and Engineering (SSME), a scientific area that has been supported by IBM, this centre promotes the combination of several scientific currents, with the areas of services, engineering and management as foundations. According to the professor, “these are areas where, on one hand, there are the competences and the experience of FEUP’s researchers and, on the other hand, they will have a severe impact on people’s lives ".

The IBM centre aims to develop solutions that will allow a large community of scientists and professionals working on information technologies to develop state-of-the-art solutions with a practical and commercial application, in collaboration with the IBM network, promoting, at the same time, the collaboration between universities, research centres, the industry and the government.

This structure is open to research projects in the health, mobility and education areas, “aiming to make the world a smarter and more friendly place", João Falcão e Cunha adds. And with this perspective in mind, one of the most valued concepts in the development of projects in this CAS is the concept of “smart cities”, where the intention is to achieve higher energy efficiency and mobility, as well as more efficient health services for an improved quality of life.

Questioned on what it means to lead the research teams that will be integrating this group, the professor assures that it is "a great responsibility a wonderful opportunity to access the most advanced technology and knowledge that IBM provides at an international level".

It is important to remember that this researcher received the Faculty Award from IBM last November for his pioneer contribution in the Service Science area, which promotes the combination of several scientific lines. This award consists of a 10 thousand dollar prize that is given to universities involved in innovative research projects.

This CAS is the ninth IBM research centre in Europe and the twentieth in the world.