CMU Portugal Program Gets Its First Six Entrepreneurial Research Initiatives
The Portuguese Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) recently announced the results of the first call for Entrepreneurial Research Initiatives (ERIs) of the Carnegie Mellon Portugal Program. Six proposals were approved for funding, among 21 submitted for evaluation, with a total budget of approximately 6 million Euros for the next four years.
With its renewal, the Carnegie Mellon Portugal Program is emphasizing advanced education and research that can lead to significant entrepreneurial impact. The mission of the six ERIs is to stimulate and promote Portuguese innovation in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), by acting as international innovation engines. Embedded in global knowledge and business networks, and under the joint leadership of researchers from Portuguese institutions and Carnegie Mellon University, these initiatives will train creative innovators, generate new ideas, and translate them into products, processes and services.
The overall level of industry participation and commitment in the first call was especially significant. More than 50 companies participated in the consortia, some in multiple proposals, with more than 60 participations. The level of commitment totaled over 3 million Euros in the 21 proposals, and over 1 million Euros in the six proposals recommended for funding.
The Evaluation Panel was chaired by Hans-Dieter Burkhard (Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany), and its members were: David Padua (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, United States), Gilles Barthe (IMDEA – Madrid Institute for Advanced Studies, Spain), H. S. Jamadagni (Indian Institute of Science, India); Nora Ayanian (University of Southern California, United States); Richard de Neufville (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, United States), and Steve Markham (North Carolina State University, United States).
| Name of the ERI | Portuguese PI |
CMU PI |
Portuguese
Institutions |
Organisations |
| AHA: Augmented Human Assistance >> |
Alexandre Bernardino (ISR-IST-UL) |
Daniel P. Siewiorek and Asim Smailagic (HCII) |
IST-UL FMH-UL FCT/UNL M-ITI |
PLUX YDreams Robotics |
| HYRAX: Crowd-sourcing Mobile Devices to Develop Edge Clouds >> |
Fernando Silva (INESC TEC/ FCUP) |
Priya Narasimhan (CS/ECE) |
INESC TEC FCT/UNL IT |
Geolink Wavecom YinzCam |
| Innovation Dynamics in Aeronautics and Embraer in Évora: Towards a Distributed Platform for Entrepreneurial Initiatives, New Employment and Skills Development >> |
Joana Mendonça (IN+/IST-UL) |
Granger Morgan (EPP) |
IST-UL IN+ INESC TEC IDMEC |
CEIIA Embraer Portugal |
| INSIDE: Intelligent Networked robot Systems for Symbiotic Interaction with Children with Impaired Development >> |
Francisco Melo (INESC ID; IST-UL) |
Manuela Veloso (CS) |
INESC-ID IST-UL FCT/UNL |
Hospital Garcia de Orta IDMind PLUX Biosignals VoiceInteraction |
| TEIPL: Technology, Entrepreneurship and Innovation Policy Lab >> |
Pedro Oliveira (CLSBE) |
Lee Branstetter (SDS/Heinz) |
UCP IMM-FMUL IST-UL |
innosabi Novartis Farma Microsoft |
| VR2MARKET: Towards a Mobile Wearable Health Surveillance Product for First Response and other Hazardous Professions >> |
João Paulo Cunha (INESC TEC / FEUP) |
Fernando De la Torre (RI) |
INESC TEC IT IEETA-UA |
Biodevices Hospital de Gaia, Petratex FutureCities-UPorto |
The proposals were all strongly aligned with the ERIs goals as described in the Phase II Roadmap, and with the thematic focus and strategic objectives of the Program.
During Phase I, the Program held three calls for collaborative research projects, involving at least two different institutions in Portugal, one or more companies, and Carnegie Mellon University. The first call took place in 2008 and funded 10 projects. The second call, in 2009, funded 12 more projects. A third call, also in 2009, jointly with the UT Austin Portugal Program, selected three projects in the area of Applied Mathematics. The 10 projects from the first call were concluded in 2012 and early 2013. The 12 projects from the second call had their conclusion planed for 2013/2014. The three projects from the third call have their conclusions planned for 2014.
Last update: June 2014
