The International Industry roundtables (IIR) are an ongoing initiative of the MIT Portugal Program in collaboration with multiple other academic and business entities. The IIR aim to use the neutral grounds of academia to bring together entrepreneurs, company executives, policy makers, scientists, engineers and graduate students around topics where cutting-edge technology is put at the service of sustainable economic and social development.
The main aim of the IIR is to bridge views and find common objectives between industry and academia, as well as within industry and within academia. The success of IIR is measured in new joint projects, research collaborations, investment agreements, industry tenures for students and faculty, and any other outcome of each event where steps are given to transform scientific and technological knowledge into economic and social benefit.
The IIR are informal events, typically centered around brief presentations but focusing mostly on open discussions moderated by the organizers. Untested ideas and fierce debate are encouraged, as well as social interactions beyond the events themselves.
IIRs have been taking place at various Portuguese universities in a rolling fashion since late 2015. Currently, two annual events are organized, one under the general topic of Cities, Energy & Transportation and the other on Healthcare, Well-being & Medical Technologies.
Upcoming roundtables
2nd MIT Portugal International Industry Roundtable on New Technologies for Health
IST (Lisbon), April 3 2017
The first IIR on New Technologies for Health (NTH) took place in February 2016 and focused on the topic of “from e-Health to better Health: how engineering and technology will cut costs and shape the future of healthcare”.
A second NTH IIR will be organized on April 3, 2017, dedicated to the topic of wearables and health monitoring technologies. Questions to be tackled will fall under issues ranging from how the IoT and smart textiles are bridging healthcare and industries such as textiles, fashion accessories and clothing, to how permanent access to your health data is changing medicine itself. Event title to be announced[1]
This roundtable will be held at the IN+ Center of IST (Lisbon) and will bring together (1) scientists and engineers from the bio-sensors, smart textiles, health apps and related fields, (2) leaders from the clothing, textile, telecommunications and medical device industries, (3) entrepreneurs opening new business avenues in related areas, and (4) MIT Portugal students.
2nd MIT Portugal International Industry Roundtable on Cities, Energy & Transportation
THE FUTURE OF AUTOMOTIVE - Challenges and Opportunities in Design and Technology
Coimbra (Portugal), May 15 2017
The automotive industry is nowadays one of the most exciting industries to work on – grand societal challenges claim for groundbreaking solutions, emerging technologies spur the development of disruptive products, services and business models, and new industrial players are leading to an increase in the pace of innovation.
All stakeholders must innovate constantly. In fact, the auto industry is of the largest industrial R&D investors in the world. Typically, the annual investment in R&D surpasses 30 billion in Europe only.
The automotive industry is also one of the most important industries in Portugal, being a top contributor for value creation and generation of jobs. It represents around 8% of the country’s GDP, 11% of the country exports and more than 30.000 direct jobs.
The first major steps were given in the 60s and since then the country has acquired and built important competences across the automotive value chain, from molding and components to car manufacturing.
The MIT-Portugal Program has been deeply concerned with these matters as well. Several PhD thesis have addressed challenges in this industry and many collaborations in R&D projects have resulted in important outcomes for the industrial players.
This round table will bring together a group of industry leaders, entrepreneurs, expert researchers and graduate students to look ahead to the next 5-10 years and discuss major challenges and opportunities.
The main goals of the round table are to identify common objectives, new technologies and innovative ideas that are of particular interest for the participating stakeholders, bridge the views between academia and industry, promote networking and facilitate eventual collaborations.
Stay in touch!
Information on the program, speakers and participants will be permanently updated!