Over a two day period, from September 30th to October 1st, the first year PhD and Master’s students of the MIT Portugal Program had an in-depth, hands-on opportunity to learn about, and practice, how to become innovators and entrepreneurs. The session was organized by Luis Perez-Breva from MIT, and was based on his experience teaching innovation “hands-on” at MIT, within MIT-Portugal (through the bio-innovation module and Bio-Teams), and within other MIT international programs. In a truly “boot-camp” fashion, the participants deep-dived intensively, and in an interactive way, into the innovation theme. Furthermore, the session included Steve Connors (research engineer with the MIT Portugal Program's Sustainable Energy Systems focus area); Frederico Ferreira (Assistant Professor at Instituto Superior Técnico, who gave participants an insight into the Bio-Teams competition); and André Pina (PhD student in the Sustainable Energy Systems focus area of the MIT Portugal Program, who shared his experience as a participant at the ISCTE-IUL MIT Portugal Venture Competition). Moreover, the Boot-Camp brought together for the first time the students from different areas that are just starting their journey into MIT Portugal . The coffee-breaks and work group assignments helped the students to network and meet their fellow colleagues. Students were also welcomed by the MIT faculty in Lisbon present at the time: Dava Newman (Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Engineering Systems; Director of MIT’s Technology and Policy Program, MIT Director of MIT Portugal Program); Philip S. Khoury (MIT Associate Provost and responsible for overseeing MIT's strategic planning for international education and research) ; Bruce Tidor (Professor of Biological Engineering and Computer Science and MIT Portugal Program Bioengineering Systems Director); and António Cunha (Rector of the Universidade do Minho and Chairman of the MIT Portugal Program Governing Committee). 
Please visit our Facebook page to see some of the pictures that capture this vibrant experience, held at Reitoria da Universidade Nova de Lisboa. |
