New project recognises INESC TEC’s international positioning
Roadmap of Innovation and International Partnerships
At INESC TEC, the collaboration with international entities is always a very important step for the growth strategy of the institution, driven by the support of scientific and technological advancements as well as the innovation of technological base. A good example is the recent renewal of the partnership with the University of Texas, at Austin (UT Austin), in an exchange relationship that has been and will continue to be beneficial to both sides.
The UT Austin | Portugal project addresses a number of areas where scientists and enterprises can work with the University and other institutions in Texas regarding a joint multidisciplinary research and subsequent technology exchange. Its purpose consists in developing and stimulating scientific innovation in enterprises and in society as well as to help Portugal face future challenges.
International Commitment in the USA
On 15 February, regarding the designated “Roadmap of Innovation”, the partnership between UT Austin and the Portuguese Government was renewed for another decade, in a ceremony that took place within CEIIA – Centre of Engineering and Product Development – facilities. Following the footsteps of 10 years of work, the new signature allows for a strategic commitment that consists in the collaboration in emerging technologies and in the strengthening of technological entrepreneurial networks with UTEN (University Technology Enterprise Network). UTEN consists of a network that allows the transfer and the marketing of technology alongside the professionalization of representatives of science and technology at universities.
The collaborative investigation will focus on four main themes: the integrated approach of the areas of the Atlantic International Research (AIR) Center, which are Space, Climate, Earth and Oceans, advanced computing, nanotechnology and medical physics. The goal of this partnership is to keep promoting the commitment on the impact of transformation of science in internationally valuable technologies.
The reinforcement in advanced computing, which is a part of the UT Austin Portugal project, aims to give to Portugal, since the beginning, all the necessary resources for the digital modelling and data science, in such a way to promote space research and Earth observation and therefore explore the most valuable assets of the country, namely the areas of the new AIR Center.
On medical physics, the focus is the collaboration with the MD Anderson Cancer Center for the qualification and training in nuclear technology of high-energy protons regarding cancer treatments. When it comes to nanotechnology, a new research and innovation policy is established that aims an integrated approach for the development of innovative and complex materials for new markets.
The UT Austin Portugal project
Accommodated within INESC TEC’S headquartes, the management of the UT Austin Portugal project will have the support and the collaboration of several enterprises, namely Abyssal, Deimos, Edisoft, Graphenest, IBM Portugal, Omnidea, Petsys, Tekever and Wavecom. José Manuel Mendonça and Rui Oliveira, president and member of the board of INESC TEC respectively, will be in charge of the administration of the project, while in the USA, John Ekerdt, Associate Dean in Engineering and Marco Bravo, director at the IC2 Institute, both from the University of Texas in Austin, will be the ones responsible.
Being active for 10 years, the international partnership UT Austin Portugal has already received over 300 postgraduate students, over 100 researchers of approximately 50 different universities and institutes and 13 affiliated companies. The PhD programmes established in Digital Media, Advanced Computing and Applied Mathematics have already produced 50 new doctorates in Portugal. The UTEN initiative has created a direct economical impact of over 318 millions of euros, of which 72 in venture capital drawn by national enterprises in the USA and 133 in exported technology.
Building the future by going international
On 16 February, at UPTEC - University of Porto Science and Technology Park, the workshop «Building the future» took place. An activity occurred due to the signing of the new collaboration between the Portuguese government and international partners. Its focus was on the presentation and discussion of opportunities and challenges in the respective fields of action in the third phase of the UT Austin project that will last until 2030. Marco Bravo and Rui Oliveira hosted and moderated this initiative.
The workshop had two sessions. The first had the subject “Harnessing Advanced Computing in Science and Business” and the second was about “Space and Earth Observation Research”. Between sessions, the participants had the opportunity to attend a presentation about nanotechnology and the marketing of these new materials. John Ekerdt from UT Austin was in charge of the closure.
Roadmap of Innovation
Under the motto “More and better jobs”, the Roadmap of Innovation is organized by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and by the Portuguese National Innovation Agency (ANI). Its aim is to strengthen the confidence in public and private agents and to expose relevant cases of innovation and with potential statement in different sectors – agricultural and food (fruits, vegetables, vines, etc), the Forest, the Sea, the Textile or even in public administration and society in general.
The signing of the protocols of the international partnerships took place in the launch of Roadmap of Innovation, with the presentation of new collaboration deals between Portugal and: Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin), Fraunhofer Societt (FhG), Global Space Ventures (GSV), La Caixa Foundation, AgaKhan Development Network, Rector’s Conference of Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences (ARENE), DEMOLA, Frysian Design School from Netherlands and COPEL.
The focus on the qualification of human resources to the best international standards lead to the development of new research and economical growth platforms alongside advanced and multidisciplinary training courses that, by incorporating innovative and entrepreneurship components, render these partnerships a model of international collaboration.
The roadmap is structured around multiple sessions that include visits, events and meeting with various types of public and private agents that are fundamental in their field of work.
The researchers mentioned in this news piece are associated with UP-FEUP and UMinho.
