Between April and May 2026, the CMU Portugal Program will launch a brand-new series of talks: “Research Unplugged @CMUPortugal.”
The inaugural session features Alexandre Ferreira da Silva (Universidade do Minho | CMU Portugal project PROMETHEUS) on Wednesday, April 29th, at 5 p.m. (Lisbon) / noon (Pittsburgh) via Zoom.
In early 2025, Alexandre Ferreira da Silva was part of the team that launched the “PROMETHEUS-1” nanosatellite into space. The 5cm cubic satellite – roughly the size of a Rubik’s Cube – was developed under a CMUPortugal Exploratory Research project involving Universidade do Minho, Instituto Superior Técnico, and Carnegie Mellon University.
Hosted by National Co-Director Inês Lynce (INESC ID I TÉCNICO), the inaugural session will share expert insights on key topics such as:
- The use of nanosatellites and the Prometheus success story.
- The legal framework and barriers to launching satellites into space.
- Collaboration with Carnegie Mellon
- The future of space research.
To register, please fill in this form. The Zoom link of each session will be sent to the participants the day before.
Short Bio:
Alexandre Ferreira da Silva is a Professor in the Department of Industrial Electronics at the University of Minho and currently serves as the National Co-Director of the MIT Portugal Program. Under the CMU Portugal Program, he served as the Principal Investigator for the 2022 exploratory research project “PROMETHEUS“. This initiative led to the development of Prometheus-1, a Rubik’s Cube-sized satellite launched to space in January 2025. The satellite was built at the University of Minho in collaboration with Instituto Superior Técnico and Carnegie Mellon University.
Upcoming Sessions:
- May 13 – Paulo Dimas (Center for Responsible AI)
- May 27 – Justine Sherry (CMU)