Congratulations to Rodrigo Belo!

Rodrigo Belo, dual degree Ph.D. student in Technological Change and Entrepreneurship, successfully passed his Ph.D. Thesis Defense titled "Broadband in Schools: Effects on Student Performance and Spillovers for Household Internet Adoption." The defense was held yesterday, August 9, at Carnegie Mellon. Rodrigo Belo became the fifth dual degree doctorate in the scope of the Carnegie Mellon Portugal Program.
Advisors: Pedro Ferreira (IST/UTL) and Rahul Telang (CMU)

Rodrigo Belo's Profile: http://www.cmuportugal.org/tiercontent.aspx?id=2996

“These Robots Are Not Science Fiction”

Manuela Veloso, a well-known Portuguese researcher at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), was recently interviewed by WIRED Magazine (http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/08/worlds-most-wired-roboticist/) about her team’s challenges and wishes to build up the first robots that will “intermingle with the living, breathing masses.”

After pursuing research on automated planning algorithms for her Ph.D. thesis in Computer Science at CMU, Manuela Veloso became interested in actual intelligent robots, capable of the complete autonomy cycle: detect the state of the world, generate a plan to achieve goals, and actually execute planned actions - just like humans do.

Manuela Veloso within the CMU Portugal Program
In the scope of the Carnegie Mellon Portugal Program, Manuela Veloso has several roles: she is the Principal Investigator on a research project, serves as an advisor within the Program, and receives faculty exchange members at CMU. As a Principal Investigator at Carnegie Mellon of the MAIS+S project, she works in conjunction with the Instituto Superior Técnico of the Universidade Técnica de Lisboa (IST/UTL) with the research institutes: INESC ID and ISR, Carnegie Mellon University, and the Portuguese company Observit. The project addresses the problem of planning in decentralized multi-agent systems in the context of intelligent surveillance networks. Susana Brandão is the dual degree doctoral student in Electrical and Computer Engineering whom is advised by Veloso and João Paulo Costeira, a professor from the IST/UTL. Recently Manuela Veloso received at CMU Rodrigo Ventura an Assistant Professor at the IST/UTL.

Read the full article at http://www.cmuportugal.org/tiercontent.aspx?id=4310 .

António Casimiro Says: “To Ensure a Trustworthy Network Operation will be Crucial for Telecom Operators”

The Carnegie Mellon Portugal Program, through the Portuguese Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), funds 25 research projects in the Information and Communication Technologies areas. One of the projects approved for funding is TRONE - Trustworthy and Resilient Operations in a Network Environment, which goal is to enhance network quality of service and protection, operational efficiency and agility. During the first year of this project the research team published one paper in a journal and four papers in International Conferences and Workshops.

António Casimiro, principal investigator of the project at the Faculdade de Ciências of the Universidade de Lisboa (FCUL), in Portugal, explains that “the initial work in the project was directed towards the analysis of the possible use cases and the selection of one that would be appropriate to anchor the expected project results and, at the same time, relevant for Portugal Telecom,” the project industrial partner. Therefore “in the deliverable we analyze the main threats to the cloud infrastructure components and identify the possible controls that may be in place to prevent or minimize potential threats.” The research team did also a risk analysis for the considered use case, classifying the threats as more or less severe according to the probability of vulnerability exploitation. “The scenario provides a base for forthcoming work,” says Casimiro adding that “in particular it will serve to guide the definition of concrete proof-of-concept prototypes to show the benefits and impact of TRONE solutions.

Read the full article at http://www.cmuportugal.org/tiercontent.aspx?id=4282 .

Robert Unitech said: "The Business Angels Invest in People, More Often than they Invest in Technology"

“Startup funding: Streamlining venture capitalists and business angels” was the theme for the 2^nd UTEN Workshop 2012 that was held in collaboration with the Carnegie Mellon Portugal Program. This two-day workshop targeted at Technology Transfer Officers (TTO’s) and Start-Up Companies aimed to increase the awareness and knowledge about the key aspects to successfully get venture funding in the US. A renowned expert from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), Robert Unetich, was in Portugal to present his views on how to approach Venture Capital (VC). Robert M. Unetich is an active member of several Pittsburgh based venture capital firms, including Pittsburgh Equity Partners, and he is an active angel investor.
Read the article in Portugal at TEK.SAPO (July 11, 2012).

Cars Can Communicate With Each Other as They Go

A team of researchers from the Instituto de Telecomunicações of the Universidade de Aveiro lead by Susana Sargento is carrying out a prototype that enables cars to talk with each other. This prototype is developed in the scope of the DRIVE-IN project, which involves the Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto (FCUP), Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto (FEUP), Instituto de Telecomunicações (IT), Universidade de Aveiro (UA), Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), the public institution IMTT, and companies like NDrive, Geolink, and RadiTaxis. It is supported by the Carnegie Mellon Portugal program, funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT).