“We are impressed especially by the way the program has secured strong engagement from industry in Portugal.”

More than 100 people attended the External Review Meetings of the Carnegie Mellon Portugal Program this year. The event was held in Lisbon, at Centro Cientifico e Cultural de Macau, between January 9 and 10, 2012. Sir John O’Oreilly, Vice-Chancellor of the Cranfield University, United Kingdom, the chairman of the External Review Committee (ERC), expressed that the Committee “have been impressed with the way this partnership program has developed,” adding that “the quality of researchers and students attracted to the programme is very high.”

Every year the Carnegie Mellon Portugal Program is evaluated by the External Review Committee whose role is to analyze a report by the Directors, hold several meetings with researchers, students, alumni and entrepreneurs, and report on the progress of the partnership towards achieving its goals in terms of cutting edge research, advanced training, internationalization and collaboration among the various players, in particular Portuguese universities, Carnegie Mellon, and industry in Portugal.

The External Review Committee is formed by Sir John O'Reilly, Vice-Chancellor of Cranfield University United Kingdom, Chairman, Luigia Aiello, Università di Roma La Sapienza, Rome, Italy, and Tariq Durrani, University of Strathclyde Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom. During two days, the Committee saw presentations on research highlights of projects with companies and end users, spoke with more than 70 faculty, students and alumni, and had the opportunity to listen to entrepreneurs that are engaged in the Program. (agenda available here)

The Chairman of the External Review Committee considers that “the program has broken new ground in terms of international interactions and engagement. The 'architecture' established for the program allowed sufficient scope for adjustment and improvement, and this has been exercised beneficially.” Sir John O’Reilly believes that “there have been gains in terms of standard and standing of research and educational programs but a very major benefit is the level of industrial engagement the partnership has stimulated and enabled.”

Read the full article at http://www.cmuportugal.org/tiercontent.aspx?id=4094.