News

From September 21-24, MIT leaders in Cambridge hosted a productive series of meetings and site visits with several Portugese companies and visitors from industry, academia and government.  It is hoped that these events—which highlighted the ways in which MIT cultivates relationships between academia and industry—will help to encourage industry involvement in the MIT Portugal Program.

Participants from Portugal included Manuel Heitor, Secretary of State for Science, Technology and Higher Education; Vasco Varela, Executive Director, International Partnerships (FCT); Antonio Cunha, Dean, School of Engineering, University of Minho; and Professor Paulo Ferrao, Director of MIT Portugal in Lisbon.  Also participating were representatives from UTEN (University Technology Enterprise Network)—a network of technology transfer offices in the main schools of engineering within Portugal—and senior executives from several Portuguese companies affiliated with the MIT Portugal Program.

Ph.D. student Maya Abou-Zeid recently answered questions about her studies in Transportation Systems, and how she came to be involved with the MIT Portugal Program.

MPP: What is your hometown, and what degree are you pursuing?

Abou-Zeid: I’m from Beirut, Lebanon, and am working toward a Ph.D. in Transportation at MIT.

MPP: Where did you do your previous studies?

Abou-Zeid: At the American University of Beirut, in Civil Engineering, and at MIT, where I got an M.Sc. in Transportation in 2003.

MPP: Have you had any work experience?

Abou-Zeid: Yes. For two-and-a-half years after my Master’s degree, I worked in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Chevy Chase, Maryland, for Cambridge Systematics, a transportation consulting firm. Then I decided to come back to MIT, in January 2006.

In an effort to enhance industry and academic partnerships within the MIT Portugal Program, MIT leaders will host several Portuguese companies and visitors on MIT’s campus next week.

The companies, which include Sunviauto, M. C. Graça, Autoeuropa, Iber-Oleff, TMG, Adira and CEIIA/Inteli, are engaged with the MIT Portugal Program’s education and research programs through the Engineering Design and Advanced Manufacturing focus area.

Title: Assistant Professor, University of Minho, Bio-Engineering Focus Area

MIT Portugal teaching activities: Computational Biosystems Sciences & Engineering, Leadership, BioTeams

Current research/ research interests: Systems Biology, Bioinformatics and Metabolic Engineering

Isabel Rocha has played an important role as part of the MIT Portugal Program’s Bio-engineering Systems group. She recently answered the following questions about her background and her thoughts on the program.

MPP: What is your background (prior to MIT Portugal)?

Rocha: I have a PhD in Chemical and Biological Engineering from University of Minho and I did a Post-Doc at the Technical University of Denmark.