Carnegie Mellon Portugal | Program launches Faculty Exchange Program

Faculty Exchange Program

The Carnegie Mellon | Portugal Program supports faculty exchange programs, in which Portuguese academics can spend at least one term working in research and education at Carnegie Mellon to experience the culture of a top United States university. Carnegie Mellon professors are also given the opportunity to spend time in Portugal to engage in teaching and research activities with local institutions of higher education and research labs.

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The goal of the faculty exchange program is to accelerate the adoption of best practices through cultural immersion giving the opportunity to adopt, adapt, propagate, and consolidate the best practices of top universities.
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This is unique opportunity is offered by the Carnegie Mellon | Portugal Program to promote a positive exchange of culture and faculty experiences.

During their time, a faculty member from Portugal is exposed to the same environment and working conditions as a colleague at Carnegie Mellon University. The visitor receives a formal appointment as a visiting faculty member, is hosted by a research group, joins the teaching team of a course (undergraduate or graduate level) in a specific area of interest, and is invited to participate in various activities. The same applies to faculty members of Carnegie Mellon, who join a Portuguese university for a given period of time.

For more information visit: www.cmuportugal.org .
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Carnegie Mellon | Portugal Program Mission:
The mission of the Carnegie Mellon|Portugal Program is to create new knowledge in key focused areas of information and communications technologies by means of cutting-edge research, world-class graduate education, and a close connection with Portuguese Industry, thus placing Portugal at the forefront of Science and Innovation.

Admission Phase of the Carnegie Mellon|Portugal Dual Degree Ph.D. and Master programs

The Carnegie Mellon|Portugal Program is a unique, collaborative international program between Carnegie Mellon and several universities and companies in Portugal, funded by the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT), and focusing on Science, Technology and Graduate Education in the following key focused areas:
• Next Generation Networks for Trusted High-Quality Services
• Software Engineering for Large-Scale Dependable Systems
• Cyber-Physical Systems for Ambient Intelligence
• Human-Centric Computing
• Public Policy & Entrepreneurship Dynamics in New Information and Communication Technologies
• Applied Mathematics

By earning a dual degree from Carnegie Mellon and a Portuguese University, our students are in an excellent position to shape their careers and become leaders in their fields. We currently offer our students a variety of Professional Master’s, Doctoral, and Post Doctoral programs in cutting-edge fields of information and communication technology.

Please take a look around to learn more about ICTI and the Carnegie Mellon|Portugal Program. A special web page provides an overview about the programs we offer. Please note that many of our students will qualify for fellowships and scholarships funded by FCT that help cover tuition and living expenses.

If you have any questions, please visit our FAQ, News and Events pages. Should you still have any unanswered questions, you may contact us via email: info@cmuportugal.org .

Admission Process

Admissions varies depending on which graduate program and affiliate university you attend.

ICTI has a decentralized admission process. All programs manage their own application process. To apply, determine which program you are interested in and then apply directly to that program. The Carnegie Mellon|Portugal program engages the different departments in universities affiliated with the program; therefore, all admissions are handled by the individual programs themselves.
For a list of programs and links to program descriptions and program admissions sites, explore whichever of the following that best suit your interests:
Dual Ph.D. Programs
Dual Masters Programs
Post Doctoral Training
Detailed description of the admission process please find here: Admission and application process (pdf file)

Admission Requirements

We welcome students from the United States & Portugal as well as other international students who qualify for our programs.

Admission is highly competitive. About 20 outstanding students with a potential to distinguish themselves in research are fully funded and enter the doctoral program, and around 45 students enter the master program each fall.

Reviewers evaluate the applicant’s essays, academic background and performance, research interest and potential, prior exposure to academic research, strength of recommendations and standardized test scores. The application deadline varies depending on selected Program (M.S. or Ph.D.). International applicants are encouraged to submit their information earlier. Admitted students enroll the following autumn.

GRE test
On the following website - http://www.ets.org - you can register for the GRE test. In Portugal, this test can be taken in Lisbon and Coimbra. To meet the application deadline, we recommend applicants to take the required tests by September. GRE Scores are valid for five years; older scores will not be considered.

Fluency in English
The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) is required for international applicants whose native language is not English. More information can be found on the following website: http://www.ets.org.

Financial Assistance for the Ph.D. students

All students who are admitted to the Ph.D. Program are automatically considered for financial assistance consisting of a tuition grant and stipend support. Financial assistance is granted on the basis of the student’s potential for scholarship and creative research.

When in Portugal, you will be supported by a fellowship from FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia), which also funds your contract with Carnegie Mellon during the foreseen study periods in the United States. Once you accept the admission offer you will be instructed on the steps you need to follow to process it. The current (2009/2010) monthly stipend in Portugal is €980.

Tuition Grants
Full tuition support is available for five years of full-time study, conditional on satisfactory progress in the program.

Again, welcome to the Carnegie Mellon|Portugal Program!

Carnegie Mellon|Portugal Program Newsletter October/November 2009

http://www.cmuportugal.org/tiercontent.aspx?id=380

Carnegie Mellon Portugal Partnership September 2009 Newsletter

OPEN CALLS FOR RESEARCH PROPOSALS 2009

Carnegie Mellon Portugal Program
2009 Call for Proposals
In accordance with the strategic plan for the Carnegie Mellon Portugal Program, which was subject to a broad scientific debate in the research and business communities, research projects should involve scientific institutions in Portugal, companies and research groups at Carnegie Mellon. In this call, priority will be given to the following key focused areas:
· Next Generation Networks for Trusted High-Quality Services
· Software Engineering for Large-Scale Dependable Systems
· Cyber-Physical Systems for Ambient Intelligence

Deadline submission for full proposals: November 13th, 2009 (17h00 Lisbon time).

UT Austin Carnegie Mellon Portugal Programs
2009 Call for Proposals in Mathematics
Deadline submission for full proposals: November 13th, 2009 (17h00 Lisbon time).

more information at http://www.cmuportugal.org/

Carnegie Mellon Portugal|Program Orientation Day in Aveiro

On September 13th 2009, in Aveiro, the Carnegie Mellon Portugal Program organizes the Orientation Day for the Master and PhD students who are starting their academic year 2009/2010 in Portugal. The main goal of the orientation is to welcome the students to their new surroundings.

In the morning, the students will participate in several workshops:
- “Living in Portugal”, presented by two international students;
- “Introduction to Portuguese cultural peculiarities”, a presentation prepared by two Portuguese students;
- Students will also have an opportunity to participate in a generic workshop that will cover several topics: student guide, policy on cheating, and “who is who” in the ICTI Offices.

In the afternoon, the students will participate in a Teambuilding Activity that will give them the opportunity to get to know each other better, to work as a team, and to know the Aveiro city.

How can you get to Aveiro?
You can go to Aveiro by train. See the timetables at http://www.cp.pt.

André Martins wins the best paper award at the Annual Conference of the Association for Computational Linguistics

André Martins, Ph.D. student of Carnegie MellonPortugal Program and employee in Priberam, won the best paper award (ex aequo with another 2 papers) at the Annual Conference of the Association for Computational Linguistics (ACL).

Paper “Concise Integer Linear Programming Formulations for Dependency Parsing” - http://www.aclweb.org/anthology/P/P09/P09-1039.pdf

Read the article at http://www.cienciahoje.pt/index.php?oid=34197&op=all

Denzil Ferreira wins first prize in an international competition

Denzil Ferreira developed the “Twitware” (http://www.betavine.net/bvportal/application/Twitware/index.html), an application for mobile phones with Internet access which won a first prize in an international competition sponsored by Vodafone:”‘Summer of Widgets”. Ferreira holds a Masters degree in Computer Engineering, Dep. of Mathematics and Engineering, Universidade da Madeira, and he is now in Pittsburgh, where he will start a Masters study in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), within the Carnegie Mellon Portugal Partnership.

Read the news at http://www.dnoticias.pt/Default.aspx?file_id=dn04010201140809&id_user

Don’t Miss: Carnegie Mellon Orientation Week 2009

In the weeks prior to the first day of class on August 24, incoming ICTI students can expect a variety of activities designed to acquaint them with their departments, Carnegie Mellon’s Campus, and the Pittsburgh area.
In addition to the Graduate Student Services Office’s university-wide graduate student orientation, from August 12 to 13, the Office of International Education (OIE) will host an International Graduate Student orientation on August 11. This orientation will include a mandatory visa check-in and introduction to campus resources.
New students are also invited to the ICTI orientation on August 14 to become more familiar with the Carnegie MellonPortugal Partnership. Students will learn about the various ICTI programs and have a chance to meet each other and the ICTI@CMU staff and Executive Team.
Information on individual department orientations, scheduled for the week of August 17, can be found on department websites. Other resources are the Carnegie Mellon Graduate Education website, http://www.cmu.edu/graduate/index.html , and the Student Affairs website, www.studentaffairs.cmu.edu .

New Interactive Techologies Institute Kick off in Madeira

The University of Carnegie Mellon, the University of Madeira and the Madeira Tecnopolo signed, on July 23, a protocol establishing the Madeira - Interactive Technologies Institute (Madeira - ITI), the first institute of innovation in the archipelago, devoted to the area of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT).

The ceremony was attended by more than 70 people, including the Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education, Mariano Gago, the Secretary of State for Science, Technology and Higher Education, Manuel Heitor, the vice president of the Regional Government of Madeira, João Cunha e Silva, vice president and Provost of Carnegie Mellon University, Mark Kamlet, rector of the University of Madeira, Castanheira da Costa, director of the Carnegie MellonPortugal Partnership at Carnegie Mellon, Fonseca de Moura, and Nuno Nunes one of the scientific directors of the Carnegie MellonPortugal Partnership and the initiator of Madeira—ITI.

This Institute will operate as a separate department, with the primary objective of maintaining relationships and projects for sustainable and long-term cooperation with other institutions of Carnegie Mellon University. The Institute follows the success achieved in the dual Professional Master's Degree in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), under the Carnegie MellonPortugal Partnership.

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“Madeira—ITI focuses on HCI, Entertainment and Services”, says Nuno Nunes.
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Two years after the beginning of the partnership between Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Madeira, the professional Master program proved to be essential to attract talent and build critical mass in interdisciplinary areas such as HCI.
"This is a project of strategic leadership, resulting in a high-level partnership. An example to be followed by other Portuguese universities", noted the Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education. The view was shared by Provost of Carnegie Mellon University who compared the situation of both universities (Carnegie Mellon and Madeira): "We are small universities with big ambitions, that choose areas where we can make a difference, in regions known as centers of know-ledge and which can be engines of the economy." About the Institute, Mark Kamlet emphasized: “this is a very natural step in what has been the partnership”. Castanheira da Costa stressed that this initiative demonstrates that "we are able to innovate." Fonseca de Moura was very pleased to see in only two years such initiatives: an Institute, real projects, recruitment of researchers of international renown, and the attraction of students around the world." Nuno Nunes explained that the aim is "to attract the best students of the World."

Foto 1. (left to right) Mark Kamlet, Provost Carnegie Mellon University, Castanheira da Costa, Rector Universidade da Madeira, and Raul Caires, president of Madeira Tecnolopolo.

Video of the Madeira-ITI quick off ceremony is available at http://www.uma.pt/portal/video/.

Madeira Interactive Technologies Institute: Conducts research and provides graduate training

The Executive Vice President and Provost of Carnegie Mellon University, Mark Kamlet, will be in Madeira on July 23 to sign a protocol with the University of Madeira to establish the Madeira Interactive Technologies Institute (MADEIRA-ITI). This initiative is the result of the successful dual degree professional master’s program in human computer interaction under the Carnegie MellonPortugal Partnership.

The Madeira Interactive Technologies Institute (MADEIRA-ITI) will be an innovation institute as defined by the statutes of the University of Madeira and established as an associated independent non-profit R&D organization whose founding members are the University of Madeira, Madeira Tecnopolo SA, and Carnegie Mellon University. The goals will be to conduct research and provide graduate training in the domain of human-computer interaction, contributing to the development of the field. MADEIRA-ITI also aims to support collaborations with other research and higher education institutions and companies, including consulting services.

“Promote Madeira as a Living Lab for open innovation of companies.”

MADEIRA-ITI builds on the vision of the Carnegie MellonPortugal Partnership to consolidate a strategic plan that:
1. Enables the University of Madeira to create the first innovation institute in the strategic area of information and communication technologies by pursuing a distinctive theme around interactive technologies – including Human Computer Interaction (HCI) and its industrial applications;
2. Creates the conditions to take the current Masters in HCI program into a sustainable model that leverages the quality standards of Carnegie Mellon professional graduate education, providing the program with the necessary agile administrative support while maintaining the fundamental relationship with high-quality research and industry involvement;
3. Promotes the regional government’s goal of changing the economic development model of Madeira, leveraging the attraction of talent and industry involvement in key distinctive areas like HCI, thus generating critical mass to attract industry and develop new innovative services in Madeira;
4. Enables the development of new professional programs required to bring Madeira into the international landscape of interactive technologies while reassuring the quality standards of the small-class model of the MHCI. Areas of particular relevance currently being pursued are entertainment (with synergies for tourism) and service design (with synergies with the international business center);
5. Incorporates a new thematic area of Human-Computer Interaction in the network of Associated Laboratories accredited by FCT, thus contributing to the consolidation of critical mass at the national level in particular for emerging and non-traditional interdisciplinary areas in Portugal, like HCI, and promote Madeira as a Living Lab for open innovation of companies in Europe and elsewhere.

The ceremony will be held on July 23 at 20 p.m. at the University of Madeira. Present at the ceremony will be José Manuel Nunes Castanheira da Costa, Rector of the University of Madeira, Mark Kamlet, Provost of Carnegie Mellon University, José Fonseca de Moura, Director of ICTI@Carnegie Mellon, and Carnegie MellonPortugal Partnership, Nuno Nunes, Scientific Director of ICTI@Portugal, and members of national and regional government.

First Annual Carnegie Mellon|Portugal Partnership Conference

More than 200 members of the academic and business communities attended the first annual conference of the Carnegie Mellon|Portugal Partnership “Economy 3.0: Re-boot and Re-connect.”

The First Annual Carnegie Mellon|Portugal Partnership Conference, sponsored by the oundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and held at the Palácio da Bolsa in Porto on June 22, enjoyed the presence of the Prime Minister of Portugal, the Minister of Science Technology and Higher Education, the State Secretary for Science, Technology and Higher Education, and the President of FCT.

The Carnegie Mellon|Portugal Partnership Conference’s welcome address was given by José Marques dos Santos, Rector of the University of Porto, who announced that the change of management of universities will promote their autonomy. The University of Porto was among the first to attain the status of Foundation in Portugal.

João Barros, National Director of ICTI@Portugal, emphasized the importance of a wide scientific debate about the role of ICT in shaping a new economic model following the current financial crisis. To this end, the leadership of the Partnership prepared a provisional strategic plan that is currently under discussion among scientists and industry professionals in Portugal and at Carnegie Mellon. This document shall be the basis for a new call for research project proposals that will open in the coming weeks. In the strategic plan, ICT focus areas are proposed in which Portugal can develop comparative advantages. These areas include: Next Generation Networks for High-Quality Trusted Services; Software Engineering for Large Scale Dependable Systems; Cyber-Physical Systems for Ambient Intelligence and Human-Centric Community; and Applied Mathematics. Public Policy and Entrepreneurship in High-Growth Areas appear as important complementary fields.

Professor Barros noted that "Portugal already has, in these areas, research groups with international impact and dynamic companies with the capacity to transform the results of basic research in high-tech products with added value." Examples include Portugal Telecom, Nokia Siemens Networks, Novabase, as well as BioDevices, Critical Software, Ndrive or OutSystems. At the end of the speech, João Barros affirmed that it is important to create space for a new generation of leaders, both in academia and in business, and ended by stating that: "This is the time for us to make a difference."

The keynote speaker at the Conference was Marvin Sirbu, Professor of Engineering & Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University. Professor Sirbu’s speech was a response to the question, “How can ICT help?’ His answer touched upon major problems of our times such as global warming, energy efficiency and self reliance, environmental preservation, infrastructure lifetime, aging population and global competition, showing the many areas that ICT impacts.

“The Carnegie Mellon|Portugal partnership aims to create new models for interdisciplinary and international collaboration, new academic centers of excellence, and also new models for academy / industry collaboration.”
Marvin Sirbu

For Marvin Sirbu to go from invention to innovation is a very important step because "it is not enough to do good science & engineering." The key is that "ideas must be translated into products and services." For this to occur, "we need a better understanding of the ecology of innovation.” Mariano Gago, Minister for Science, Technology and Higher Education, said that science in Portugal is characterized by a "culture of seriousness." This is the area in which young professionals are most internationalized" because “their worth comes from the recognition of the best, and that must happen on the world stage.”

The opening session of Annual Conference ended with José Sócrates, Prime-Minister of Portugal, who emphasized the importance of this partnership for the development of the country. He said that science "was the only sector that always had an increase in public investment.”

The investment in science, which was 1.2 percent of GDP, was the only item of the state budget that always had a positive and significant progress in terms of national public investment." In his view, the international partnerships gives the universities the opportunity to compete in the global arena of knowledge.

The aim is to increase the number of scientists working in Portugal to "six researchers for every 1,000 people,” thus matching the European average. On the other hand, it was shown that between 2005 and 2007 the number of companies engaged in research and development has doubled. The Portuguese Prime-Minister still had time to give one more relevant figure:
"Portugal is one of the European countries that have the largest number of women in research - about 44 percent of scientists are women."



More informations and photos at http://www.cmuportugal.org/conference2009/

Newsletter of the Carnegie Mellon|Portugal Program (#02 and #03)

COLAB Mathematics Summer School and Workshop 2009

Kinetics and statistical methods for complex particle systems.

The Colab Mathematics Summer School is a yearly event that aims at bringing together Ph.D. students and junior faculty with well known experts in the several areas of mathematics.
This is two-week summer program to be held this coming July 2009 in Lisbon, Portugal. The week of July 13 to 17 will feature a summer school for graduate students and postdocs, with lectures by E. Carlen, P. Degond, I. Gamba, M. Katsoulakis and R. Pego. The following week of July 20 to 24 will hold a workshop featuring lectures on recent progress in this field.

This program is a University of Texas at Austin-Universities in Portugal initiative http://www.math.ist.utl.pt/~dgomes/austin and is also supported by the ICTI Carnegie Mellon Portugal Program partnership, CIM and CMAF.

The themes of this program are analytical, numerical, and probabilistic issues related to dynamical properties of complex systems, with connection to natural and social sciences. In addition to the particle systems underlying classical kinetic theory, examples of such systems that have been studied recently include statistical modeling of rapid granular flows, coalescence-breakage models for jet-bubble flows, mixtures undergoing chemical reactions, swarming behavior in social animals, traffic networks (e.g., vehicular traffic on highways, TCP traffic on the internet, traffic of goods on supply chains), and economic models related to information sharing in large populations, as well as applications to climate modeling via stochastic methods.

Invited workshop speakers: (* to be confirmed)
Juan Acebron (Universidade Tecnica de Lisboa),
Eli Ben Naim, (Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA) (2 hour lecture)
Marzia Bisi (Parma, Italy),
Maria C. Carvalho (Lisbon, Portugal)
Fabio Chalub (Lisbon, Portugal)
Isabelle Choquet * (University West, Trollhattan, Sweden) Anabela Cruzeiro (GFM and Instituto Superior Tecnico, Portugal)
Miguel Escobedo (Universidad del Pais Vasco, Spain)
Ester Gabetta (Universita di Pavia, Italy)
Wilfrid Gangbo (Gatech, USA)
Diogo Gomes (University of Lisbon, Portugal)
Patricia Goncalves (Lisbon)
Michael Loss (Gatech)
Sylvie Meleard *(Ecole Polytechnique, Paris, France)
Stephane Mischler (Dauphine, Paris, France)
Clement Mouhot (Dauphine, Paris)
Filipe Oliveira (New University of Lisbon, Portugal)
Maria Joao Oliveira (CMAF and Universidade Aberta, Portugal)
Eugenio Regazzini (Pavia, Italy)
Christian Ringhofer*, (Arizona State University, USA)
Lisa Santos (Portugal)
Dejan Slepcev (Carnegie Mellon University, USA)
Ana Jacinta Soares (Univerdidade de Minho, Portugal)
Tom Spencer*, (Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton)
Giuseppe Toscani (Universita di Pavia, Italy)
Rui Vilela Mendes ( CMAF and Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal)
Cedric Villani* (ENS, Lyon, France)
Bernt Wennberg (Chalmers, Sweden)

Key Note speaker: Antonio Camera. Issues related to Digital Media

More information: http://kinetic.ptmat.fc.ul.pt/

Conference by UTEN with speakers from the Carnegie Mellon|Portugal Program

12th International Conference on Technology Policy and Innovation (ICTPI09)

Date: July 13-14, 2009
Location: Porto, Portugal

ICTPI09 is being organized by the University of Porto and INESC Porto with the support of UTEN Portugal (University Technology Enterprise Network) and in cooperation with the IC2 Institute of the University of Texas at Austin and will address Science, Technology and Knowledge Networks and their central role in the development of long term growth strategies to face the financial crisis.
The theme and motto of ICTPI09 is due to challenge us in developing strategic responses to the crisis that integrate long-term concerns, by involving research and development, higher-education and science-based innovation.
This year's conference presents 13 top Key Note Speakers that will address major conference themes and nearly 40 paper presentations enriching the debate with European, American and Asian perspectives, besides 5 round-tables bringing to the floor case-based discussions of best practices in innovation and technology transfer. Editors of Technological Forecasting & Social Change; Technology, Entrepreneurship, Technovation; Journal of Technology Transfer and Models and Methodologies, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management will participate in a Round-table on Scholarly Publishing in Technology Policy and Innovation.

Raj Rajkumar, Professor of Electrical and Computing Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, USA; Co‐Director General Motors‐CMU Information Technology & Autonomous Driving Collaborative Research, USA

Marija Ilic, Professor of Electrical and Computing Engineering and Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University, USA.

More information http://www.ictpi09.org.pt/.

Public Lecture from Don Norman

Date: Monday, 6 July 2009, 18:00-19:30
Place: Auditorium Castanheiro at the Reitoria da Universidade da
Madeira, Funchal

Title: “In Favor of Complexity”
Speaker: Don Norman, Professor Northwestern University

Abstract: Why are things so complex? Because the world is complex. Our tools must reflect reality. Complexity can be good, leading to a rich, satisfying life, filled with rich, satisfying experiences. We must distinguish complexity from confusion, perplexity, and unintelligibility. The goal is complexity with order, lucidity and understandability.

Don Norman, co-founder of the Nielsen-Norman Group and Professor of Design at Northwestern University, is a world renowned authority on usability and design and the author of many books, including “The Design of Everyday Things,” “Emotional Design,” “The Design of Future Things,” and “Sociable Design.” Professor Norman is a guest of the University for MUSE III, the 2009 Madeira Usability and Software Encounters, an annual event sponsored by the Laboratory for Usage-Centered Software Engineering and the Department of Mathematics and Engineering at the University of Madeira.

This event is open to the public.

More information www.labuse.org

Post Doctoral Academy in Mathematics

July 7-8
Instituto Superior Técnico, Lisboa, Portugal

This Academy brings together all post-docs of the Mathematics programs of both the Carnegie MellonPortugal and UTAustinPortugal partnerships.

“In the Academy we will have two courses by leading mathematicians as well as presentations by the post-docs and we expect to attract to the audience both senior faculty as well as junior faculty and advanced graduate students”, explains Diogo Gomes, scientific director of Carnegie Mellon Portugal Program.

This year the main topic of the Academy is Applied Analysis and Partial Differential equations. “We will have courses by Luis Caffarelli from University of Texas at Austin and Panagiotis Souganidis from the University of Chicago”, says Diogo Gomes adding “we are also planning a presentation by the leaders of the research projects in Mathematics under these partnerships. We hope to get the new post-docs actively involved in the research activities at Portuguese institutions. As such, we believe that activities such as this Academy are essential for the integration of the post-docs hired under these programs in ongoing research projects.”

Who is Luis Caffarelli?
Luis Caffarelli is a Sid W. Richardson Foundation Regents Chair at the University of Texas at Austin, and has been awarded in 2009 the AMS Leroy P. Steele Prize for Lifetime Achievement. He is also the Director of Mathematics at the University of Texas at Austin of the CoLab - UTAustinPortugal partnership program.

Who is Panagiotis Souganidis?
Panagiotis Souganidis is a Charles H. Swift Professor of Mathematics at the University of Chicago. He has been awarded a Presidential Young Investigator Award (1987), an Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship (1989) and the 1996 Bodossaki Foundation Academic Prize, which is awarded to outstanding Greek scholars under the age of 40.

More information http://math.utaustinportugal.org/pdworkshop/

Seminar announcement Language Technologies and CALL

Carnegie Mellon Portugal Program
Date: 14:00, Thursday, June 25th, 2009
Room VA2, building of Civil Engineering, IST-Alameda

Speaker: Maxine Eskenazi, Carnegie Mellon University, USA

Abstract: Language Technologies are still in their early stages of use as far as Computer-assisted Language Learning (CALL) is concerned. But some notable progress has been made and some systems have appeared. This talk will discuss three applications that I have developed: Native Accent, Let's Go Lexical Entrainment, and REAP. We will look at how each one uses language technologies. We will also discuss the challenges that each system overcomes when it combines the need to serve the language learner well with the present state of each technology. We will also examine the learning science questions that are raised when the interface between the technology and the student is created.

Bio: Maxine S. Eskenazi received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Modern Languages from Carnegie -Mellon University in 1973. She received her DEA (Diplome d'Etudes Approfondies - equiv. Masters) in Linguistics from the University of Paris VII in 1981 and her Doctorat de Troisieme Cycle in Computer Science from the University of Paris XI in 1984. Her thesis was on "Caracterisation acoustique des voyelles francaises en vue de leurreconnaissance automatique" and her thesis advisor was Jean-Sylvain Lienard. She has been President and Chief Technical Officer of the Carnegie Speech™ Company (2001 - ). Carnegie Speech™ is a CMU spinoff. She is presently Associate Teaching Professor in the Language Technologies Institute of the School of Computer Science of Carnegie Mellon University. From 1980 to 1994 she worked as a grad student andthen a tenured researcher at LIMSI-CNRS in Orsay, France.

First Annual Carnegie Mellon | Portugal Conference - Program

"ECONOMY 3.0:
Re-Boot and Re-Connect"
Palácio da Bolsa, Porto, June 22, 2009

PROGRAM

Cloisters
9:00-9:30 Check-in, Morning Coffee and Networking

Salão Árabe
9:30-10:45 Opening Session
Chairs:
- José Marques dos Santos, Rector of the Universidade do Porto
- José Fonseca de Moura, Director of ICTI@Carnegie Mellon

Speakers:
Presentation of a Working Draft of a Strategic Plan for the Carnegie Mellon Portugal Program
“ICT Portugal: An Innovation Agenda for Research, Technology and Graduate Education”
- João Barros, National Director, ICTI@Portugal

Keynote Speech:
- Marvin Sirbu, Carnegie Mellon University

Opening remarks:
- Alfredo Baptista, CTO of Portugal Telecom
- José Mariano Gago, Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education
- José Sócrates, Prime Minister of Portugal

10:45-11:00 Coffee Break

Salão Árabe
11:00-11:45 Research and Innovation in the Carnegie Mellon Portugal Program
Lightning Round of Short Presentations by Graduate Students and Alumni with Industry

Cloisters
11:45-12:30 Poster Session and Demos from MS / PhD Students and Collaborative Research Projects

12:30-14:00 Lunch Break

14:00-15:45 Parallel Technical Sessions on Key Focused Areas of ICT

Salão Árabe
Session A: Next Generation Networks for Trusted High-Quality Services
Chair:
- Paulo Veríssimo, Director of LASIGE, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa

Participants:
- Hyong Kim, Cylab, Carnegie Mellon
- José Alegria, Portugal Telecom
- Rui Aguiar, IT, Universidade de Aveiro
- Michel Ferreira, IT, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto

Sala Dourada
Session B: Software Engineering for Large-Scale Dependable Systems
Chair:
- João Gabriel Silva, Director of Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade de Coimbra

Participants:
- Ricardo Machado, Universidade do Minho
- Paulo Marques, Universidade de Coimbra
- Henrique Madeira, Universidade de Coimbra
- Lorrie Cranor, Carnegie Mellon University
- Carlos Parreira, Novabase
- Nuno Silva, Critical Software
- Anselmo Silva, PT-SI

Sala das Assembleias Gerais
Session C: Cyber-Physical Systems for Ambient Intelligence
Chair:
- Pedro Guedes de Oliveira, Board Member of Fundação para a Computação Científica Nacional (FCCN), INESC Porto, FEUP

Participants:
- João Paulo Costeira, ISR, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade Técnica de Lisboa
- Priya Narasimhan, Carnegie Mellon
- Eduardo Tovar, CISTER, Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto
- Luis Meireles, CEO of Bio-Devices
- João Paulo Cunha, IEETA, Universidade de Aveiro

Sala dos Retratos
Session D: Human-Centric Computing
Chair:
- Isabel Trancoso, Professor, INESC-ID, Instituto Superior Técnico

Participants:
- Richard Stern, Carnegie Mellon
- Nuno Nunes, UseLab, Universidade da Madeira, Scientific Director of ICTI@Portugal
- Luisa Coheur, INESC-ID, Instituto Superior Técnico
- José Carlos Medeiros, Porto Editora

Sala do Tribunal
Session E: Mathematics for Information and Communication
Chair:
- Carlos Salema, Director of Instituto de Telecomunicações

Participants:
- Miguel Rodrigues, IT, Universidade do Porto
- João Xavier, ISR, Instituto Superior Técnico
- Paulo Mateus, IT, Instituto Superior Técnico

15:45-16:00 Coffee Break

Salão Árabe
16:00-17:00 Roundtable Discussion: ICT-enabled Innovation
Moderator:
- Francisco Veloso, Carnegie Mellon Portugal Program
Panelists:
- Manuel Beja - Director for Innovation and Organizational Development at Novabase
- Artur Calado - Executive Director of Inova-Ria
- Eduardo Carqueja - CEO of Ndrive

17:00-17:30 Closing Remarks
- João Barros, Director of ICTI@Portugal
- José Fonseca de Moura, Director of ICTI@Carnegie Mellon
- João Sentieiro, President of Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia
- Manuel Heitor, State Secretary for Science, Technology and Higher Education

Pátio das Nações
17:30-18:00 Porto de Honra / Kick-off of the Carnegie Mellon Portugal Summer Academy

(*) To be confirmed.

http://www.cmuportugal.org/conference2009/?page_id=8

First Annual Carnegie Mellon | Portugal Conference

Welcome to the First Annual Carnegie Mellon Portugal Conference

The First Annual Carnegie Mellon Portugal Conference, entitled “Economy 3.0: Re-Boot and Re-Connect” is sponsored by the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia and will take place on June 22, 2009, at Palácio da Bolsa, Porto, Portugal.

The current financial crisis has casted some doubt on the existing economic model. Rather than re-booting the system, leaders around the world must re-connect and work towards the growth of global innovation networks, capable of providing robust and sustainable solutions for our common future.

In this context, information and communication technologies have no doubt an important role to play, not only because they remove both geographic and cultural barriers, but also because they are basic building blocks in the search for technical solutions that ensure a more intelligent use of the resources of our planet (e.g. smart grids, vehicular networks, precision agriculture, etc.) and of the talents of our people (workflow software, social networks, personalized contents, etc.). Any increase in competitive advantage is necessarily tied to our ability to lead this search in focused areas of technological innovation. The goal of this conference is to identify some of these areas, from basic research to applications, actively promoting the formation of industrial and academic consortia capable of meeting the challenges of Economy 3.0.

The program includes:

• keynote address by Prof. Marvin Sirbu, Carnegie Mellon University
• presentation of a strategic document on the key focused areas of our program and announcement of the next open call for proposals
• research talks by CarnegieMellonPortugal faculty, researchers and MS/PhD students
• technical contributions by our industrial affiliates
• first results and demos by all teams of ongoing research projects
• welcome and closing addresses by senior government officials
• networking opportunities for students, faculty, researchers and industrial affiliates
  

Registration
Although conference admission is free of charge, we kindly ask you to fill a short registration form for planning purposes.
Students and Alumni should register and submit their poster topics until June 12, 2009. An online form is available here.
All other participants, please register until June 15, 2009. The form is available here.

More information in http://www.cmuportugal.org/conference2009/ .

Carnegie Mellon|Portugal Summer Academy

Dear Members of the CarnegieMellonPortugal Community:

The Carnegie Mellon Portugal Summer Academy is a unique event organized by ICTI involving several workshops and talks covering many breakthrough and practical issues on the area of information and communication technologies (ICT). Tailored for an industry audience with hands-on experience in key methods and techniques for service, software and game development, technology change and entrepreneurship. The workshops and talks will be offered by an international team of experts from the Carnegie Mellon faculty and also invited professors from world renown institutions in the ICT field.

Participants will have an opportunity to choose between the following 2,5 day workshops:
W1 - Embodied Futures
W2 - Interaction Design for non-Designers
W3 - Agile Software Engineering (1 day + 1 day)
W4 - Service Modeling
W5 - Innovation, Entrepreneurship and ICT Policy (1 day + 1 day)
W6 - Videogame Development
DC - Doctoral Consortium (1 day)

The workshops will take place on June 23-25 according to the following timetable:
June 23, from 9:00h to 18:00h
June 24, from 14:00h to 18:00h
June 25, from 9:00h to 18:00h

Participation is subject to registration, the fee includes all the material to be used in the workshops plus the meals and meetings presented in the timetable.

Event location
Hotel Ipanema Porto
Social venues
Welcome event - 22 June 2009 at Palácio da Bolsa (18.00h)
Closing Dinner - 25 June 2009 at Taylor’s Port Wine Cellars (19.30h)

More information in http://www.cmuportugal.org/summeracademy/.

JUNE 22, 2009 Carnegie Mellon | Portugal Conference

Dear Members of the CarnegieMellon|Portugal Community:

This year's main event for our partnership is the CarnegieMellon|Portugal Conference to be held on MONDAY, JUNE 22, 2009 in Porto, Portugal. The chosen venue is the magnificient Palacio da Bolsa, right by the River Douro, in the heart of the World Heritage Site of Porto.

We expect the largest possible attendance by members of our community in Portugal and at Carnegie Mellon.

The main objectives of the event are to present current results to the general public and to set an ambitious research agenda for the future. The conference program shall include:

• presentation of a strategic document on the key focused areas of our program
• research talks by CarnegieMellon|Portugal faculty, researchers and MS/PhD students
• technical contributions by our industrial affiliates
• first results and demos by all teams of ongoing research projects
• welcome and closing addresses by senior government officials
• networking opportunities for students, faculty, researchers and industrial affiliates

In addition, we are organizing a Summer Academy for CarnegieMellon|Portugal students and industrial partners, to take place during the period of JUNE 23-25, 2009 at the University of Porto.

More detailed information on the program will be forthcoming. Please send your ideas and suggestions to jbarros@cmuportugal.org.

With best regards,

The Leadership Team of the CarnegieMellon|Portugal Program

Boa Páscoa!

We wish you Boa Páscoa / Happy Easter!

When we come back from the Easter break, there will be more more news and stories. Stay tuned!

Tartan Olympics!

Carnegie Mellon's Student Athletic Advisory Council is staging a "Tartan Olympics," open to all students. Form a team with your friends and email your contact info, your team's name and your preferred event to: cmusaac@gmail.com.

The Tartan Olympics is a multi-contest event engaging different student organizations(dorms, fraternities, sororities, clubs, honor societies, religious groups, music groups, random groups of friends).

Choose an event: Juggling, Rubik's Cube relay, singing/karaoke, DDR, kickball, ice-rink/sled riding, wall-ball, spelling bee, tug-of-war, eating competition, volleyball, pool/splash competition.

The winning student group of the Tartan Olympics will receive a prize of $500.

The Tartan Olympics will take place over the weekend of January 23-25. In addition to the competition, there will be various activities and social events around campus.

Innovation Tournaments

The Center for Product Strategy and Innovation and professors Jonathan Cagan and Peter Boatwright present "Innovation Tournaments," a talk by Karl Ulrich, a professor of entrepreneurship and e-commerce at the Wharton School of Business (one of the top business schools in the country). Ulrich is co-author of the leading graduate textbook on product design.

Thursday, November 13
5:30 p.m.
Scaife Hall 125
A reception at 4:30 p.m. in Scaife 224 will precede the lecture.

"Stuff the Bus", College of Engineering toy drive

Carnegie Mellon's College of Engineering students host their annual toys for tots (kids) holiday campaign with former Steeler Jerome Bettis. The student toy drive, "Stuff the Bus," is expected to raise more than $1,000 to help purchase toys for needy children. Students will collect and send toys to local Marine Corps reserve units for distribution nationwide.

"Toys for Tots" was established in 1947 by the U.S. Marine Corps to help less-fortunate children during the holiday season.

1 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 16, WPXI Television, 4145 Evergreen Road, Pittsburgh, Pa. 15214

http://www.cmu.edu/news/archive/2008/October/oct16_toysfortots.shtml

Yahoo! VP Heck from Yahoo Labs, technical talk

Talk: "An Introduction to Yahoo! Labs," Friday October 17, 2008, 2:00pm - 3:00pm, 1305 NSH

Presenter: Larry Heck, Vice President
Search & Advertising Sciences, Yahoo! Labs

Abstract: Yahoo! Labs is the central advanced research and development organization of Yahoo! Inc., a leading global Internet brand and one of the most trafficked Internet destinations worldwide. We're responsible for innovating the Internet: all the way from the big invention through to deploying that invention into production. Our goals are nothing short of inventing the future of the Internet and creating the next generation of businesses for Yahoo! In this talk, I will give an overview of Yahoo! Labs and provide a glimpse into the technical problems we are working hard to solve. BIO: Dr. Larry Heck is Vice President of Search & Advertising Sciences at Yahoo. In this role, Dr. Heck leads the teams responsible for the scientific development and deployment of Yahoo search and monetization algorithms. He received the PhD in Electrical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Doctoral Career Path Seminar, Oct 21

CMU has a great grad programs office; they sponsor a lot of different activities. Coming up for doctoral students: Doctoral Career Path Seminar, "Doing Research Outside the Academy/ Consulting Careers," includes lunch, October 21, 12:00. This seminar will feature three industry insiders:

* Amelia Haviland, Statistician, Rand Corporation (PhD in Statistics and Public Policy);
* Antonio Fernandez, Engineering Consultant, Paul C. Rizzo Associates (PhD in Civil Engineering);
* David Nakles, Consultant, ENSR/AEComm and Adjunct Faculty, Steinbrenner Institute

To attend this seminar, register before Oct 17: http://education.andrew.cmu.edu/graduateprograms/graduate_program_registration.php

Mobot info session, Oct 14

Carnegie Mellon has a great "Mobot" tradition, mobile robots that race each other in the spring. This is why there are wavy white lines in front of Wean Hall, in case you were wondering! Whether you're an undergrad, grad, alum, faculty or staff member, you are invited to attend the Mobot Fall Open House, Tuesday, October 14, Wean Hall 5409. Eating of Nutritious Pizza at 6:00 pm. Talks start at 6:15 pm.

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~mobot

There will be presentations and discussions on the Mobot Competition and information on Mobot construction. Members of the Mobot Committee, the 2008 Course Record Champs, and representatives from the Carnegie Mellon Robotics Club will be available to answer any questions you have about the competition.

Cross-disciplinary teams are always welcome...and we mean ALL disciplines.

Robotics celebration Oct 24-25

In conjunction with the university's homecoming celebration, the Robotics Institute (RI) will celebrate University Professor William L. (Red) Whittaker's 60th birthday and the 25th anniversary of the RI's Field Robotics Center, which he founded in the early 1980s. For a full schedule of the Oct. 24-25 program, visit http://fr25.org/.

Dowd fellowships info, Oct 16

Dowd ICES fellowships support grad students who are conducting cutting-edge research on projects for which traditional sources of funding may not be available. Come find out more about this program at a seminar followed by a reception: October 16, 4:00pm, Singleton Room, Roberts Hall.

CMU DSO event Oct 8, technology to developing countries

Carnegie Mellon's Development Solutions Organization (DSO) is hosting an event to introduce students to opportunities to work on impactful global projects and to build a community around this vision. Check website http://cmudso.org for more info. Wednesday, October 8, 5:00 - 6:30; Wean 5409. If you can't make all of it, drop in anytime to socialize. Food will be provided.

Kennywood Fright Nights

Hi everyone,

Just fyi, you may or may not know that our great and local amusement park Kennywood has "Fright Nights" in October. The park is open Fri and Sat nights from 7pm to 1am; it's a really fantastic time to go because the park isn't very crowded and it's a lot of fun (and a lot more scary!) to ride the rollercoasters in complete darkness. Here's the link for more info: http://www.phantomfrightnights.com/

Political fair for grad students

Carnegie Mellon University's Graduate Student Assembly (GSA) will hold a political resource fair and reception at 7 p.m., Friday, Oct. 3 in Rangos Hall in the University Center. The event is for graduate students (with free tickets) and invited guests only.

Several members of Pittsburgh City Council, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and State Senate have been invited to attend. Carnegie Mellon Students for Barack Obama, the Carnegie Mellon Republican Club, the Pittsburgh Urban Magnet Project and The Pennsylvania League of Young Voters will also participate.

The evening will begin with the reception and an information fair for graduate students and guests. Later in the evening, The Pennsylvania League of Young Voters and members of Pittsburgh City Council will sponsor a game of political trivia. In addition to voter registration, the event will engage Carnegie Mellon students with regional elected officials and open up a dialogue as the November election approaches.

This is a great opportunity for U.S. and non-U.S. citizens to learn more about the election and process. For details, click to http://www.cmu.edu/news/archive/2008/September/sept26_gsapoliticalfair.shtml.

HCII Seminar Series, Wednesday, October 1st, 4:00pm-5:00pm, Newell Simon Hall 1305: Gregory Abowd, Distinguished Professor in the School of Interactive Computing at Georgia Tech. "HCI Research: Does it really matter?" Brief: We must work on problems that children, grandparents, and politicians understand and believe are important. When we connect what we do to the challenges of everyday life, two things happen. First, people pay attention. Second, we see just how complicated real life is to explore and impact as a researcher. http://calendar.cs.cmu.edu/hcii/events

Writing grant proposals panel (with snacks), Oct 7

GPO professional development seminar especially for science, engineering, and computer science students: "Writing Grant Proposals II: Research Grant Awardees: How They Did It." Desserts and coffee will be served. This Graduate Programs Office seminar will feature major grant winners explaining how they wrote successful proposals:

-Birku Akinci, Assistant Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering and NSF Career Grant Awardee
-James Antaki, Professor, Biomedical Engineering, Collaborative Project with Pitt, CMU, and UPMC
-Greg Lowry, Associate Professor, CEE
-Robert Tilton, Professor,Chemical Engineering, Collaborative Interdisciplinary Project, CMU

Date: Tuesday, October 7
Time: 1:00 - 2:30
Place: Rangos 2, UC

If you would like to attend this seminar, please sign up at http://education.andrew.cmu.edu/graduateprograms/graduate_program_registration.php.

Registration for this event will close on October 3. 

Graduate support programs

FYI for students in Pittsburgh: Carnegie Mellon has a graduate programs office (GPO) that does a lot for grad students including conference and research funding, lunch-n-learn sessions, professional development, doctoral career paths, support for women and students of color, and more. This is a friendly and helpful organization, plus their activities (including lunches and networking receptions) are free! 

Speaking of international...

Speaking of international festivals, Carnegie Mellon hosts its own international festival each year with events, speakers, food, crafts and more. This year's event is coming up October 10 with many of the activities in the campus university center. View the OIE website for details.

World food festivals in Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh is home to many ethnic groups, many of which are hosting food festivals in the coming weeks. There are also a lot of farms that are doing special fall events (hay rides, corn mazes, etc.). These are great options for getting out for a couple of hours! View the PG article for more details.

EPP joint kick-off event Friday at IST and Carnegie Mellon

Come find out more about the new PhD in Engineering and Public Policy. This is a joint kick-off event with a location at Instituto Superior Técnico (IST) in Lisboa and at Carnegie Mellon. To find out more: http://www.cmu.edu/portugal/calendar/

Welcome to the Carnegie Mellon|Portugal blog

Friends, welcome and  bem-vindo to our blog! We are an international education and research partnership between Carnegie Mellon and several top-ranked research universities Portugal. Members of our community (students, faculty, alumni, staff) are strongly encouraged to join our blog and add your comments about your experiences in the program. To join, please email us at icti-info@andrew.cmu.edu.

To find out more about our program, including our academic programs, our campuses, our research grants, and news items, please visit our website at www.cmu.edu.portugal. You can also visit our YouTube site to see videos of our students, programs, and faculty members, or subscribe to our Twitter account.

Sign one of the steel beams in the new Gates Center

Campus news: Sign one of the steel beams in the new Gates Center

Be part of Carnegie Mellon history by leaving your personal message on a steel beam that will be used in the construction of the School of Computer Science Complex, the future home of the Gates and Hillman centers. The beam is available for all students, faculty and staff to sign from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sept. 25-26.

The beam will be located in a corner of the construction site, just behind the Purnell loading dock and Cyert Hall. The best way to get to the beam from The Cut is to go through the Warner Hall parking lot.

Once signed, the beam will be hoisted into place during a Topping-Off Ceremony for the SCS Complex, from 3 to 5 p.m. on Sept. 29. A topping-off ceremony is a construction-industry tradition marking the moment when the crew puts in place the highest structural point of a building. In addition to signing the beam, it is also customary to put an evergreen tree on one of them as a good luck charm for the workers and future occupants of the building.

Technical Opportunities Conference

Students, the TOC is a great opportunity for you to meet and network with US and international companies who have all come to Carnegie Mellon specifically to recruit students. For more information, view the TOC's website. This is an annual event. It's usually held in conjunction with the BOC, the Business Opportunities Conference.

Pausch memorial, simulcast tickets (CMU ID required)

Campus news: 

The memorial service for Randy Pausch, "Remembering Randy: A Celebration of the Life and Legacy of Randy Pausch," will be simulcast at 4:30 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 22 in McConomy Auditorium. A limited number of tickets to this simulcast are available at the University Center Information Desk. A Carnegie Mellon ID card is required to receive a ticket. Tickets will be
distributed one per person.

In addition to the simulcast in McConomy, the service can be seen at the following campus locations: 7500 Wean Hall; Giant Eagle Auditorium, Baker Hall; and Philip Chosky Theatre, Purnell Center for the Arts.

Links to the live webcast hosted by ABCNews.com will be available at http://www.cmu.edu/randyslecture, and video of the memorial service will be posted soon afterward on the Carnegie Mellon channels of YouTube and iTunesU, as well as http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/LastLecture.

The service will include recollections and tributes from a number of Pausch's friends and colleagues, including Jared L. Cohon, Carnegie Mellon president; Randal E. Bryant, dean, Carnegie Mellon School of Computer Science; Andy van Dam, Brown University computer science professor; Dennis Proffitt, University of Virginia psychology professor; Dan Siewiorek, head of Carnegie Mellon's Human-Computer Interaction Institute (HCII); and Don Marinelli, co-founder and executive producer of Carnegie Mellon's Entertainment Technology Center. Questions about the memorial celebration can be directed to randy-memorial@andrew.cmu.edu.