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2021 CMU Portugal Doctoral Symposium, a platform to present the research work developed under the Program

The 2021 CMU Portugal Doctoral Symposium took place on September 15th at Pavilhão do Conhecimento in Lisbon and gathered 24 students who presented their research work developed under the CMU Portugal Program. The welcome session had the privilege to begin with a brief speech from Rosalia Vargas (President of Agência Ciência Viva), Inês Lynce (on behalf of CMU Portugal Directors), José Paulo Esperança (Vice President of Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia), and Manuel Heitor (Minister for Science, Technology and Higher Education).  

The main goal of this new initiative was to foster a supportive community of Ph.D. candidates and promote a collaborative research environment by providing participants the opportunity to present their work plans and discuss the results with their peers. The six parallel sessions, held simultaneously in two separate rooms (Auditorium and Library), were chaired by a diverse group including CMU Portugal alumni, scientific directors, and leading experts from the Program´s affiliated companies.

The 24 presentations were given by 13 Dual Degree Ph.D. candidates, by 3 of our new Affiliated Ph.D. candidates already involved with the Program through research projects, and 8 researchers conducting their thesis under the framework of CMU Portugal projects (ERIs, ERPs, Large-Scale projects). Together, they provided evidence for a perspective on the diverse and multidisciplinary research developed under the scope of CMU Portugal Program.

At the end of the day, the goal was successfully achieved, and the debate included the enthusiastic participation of all the panel speakers and the audience. 

The first session at the Auditorium was dedicated to Language Technologies and chaired by CMU Portugal alumnus Zita Marinho, a Research Scientist at DeepMind. Presentations were led by Gonçalo Raposo (IST), Gustavo Gonçalves (FCT UNL), John Mendonca (IST) and Patrick Fernandes (IST).

 

João Paulo Cunha, CMU Portugal Scientific Director from FEUP, chaired the second Auditorium’s session which counted with four presentations: two in the area of Computer Science led by researchers from CMU Portugal projects TAMI and SCREEN DR both from FEUP: Maria Helena Montenegro e Almeida and Teresa Araújo. Dual Degree Ph.D. students Alex Gaudio and Manuel Reis Carneiro presented next, in the area of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

 

Lastly, João Abreu from Outsystems, a CMU Portugal Affiliated company and the promoter of our Large-Scale Collaborative project GOLEM led the final session. All presentations were related to Computer Science, starting with Ricardo Brancas (IST) who just joined the Program as one of our 12 new Affiliated Ph.D. students, Margarida Ferreira (IST), Luís de Sá (FCT UNL) and Claudio Gomes (FCUP), all Dual Degree Ph.D. candidates.

To watch the Auditorium sessions, please visit our YouTube:

 

Three other sessions were organized at the Library, starting with a group of 4 Dual Degree students which included Daniel Ramos (IST), Maria Casimiro (IST), Paulo dos Santos (FCUL) and Pedro Valdeira (IST), and Abdelghafour Abraray conducting his PhD research at Universidade de Aveiro, under the scope of the ERP “Intelligent Beamforming Metasurfaces for Future Telecommunications.” The chair of this session was Feedzai’s CTO and co-founder, Paulo Marques, who has a long-lasting relationship with the Program, now as our Scientific Director and in the past as Visiting Faculty and adjunct professor at Carnegie Mellon University. Feedzai, a Portuguese Unicorn company, was one of the first startups created under the scope of the CMU Portugal Program and is now one of our Affiliated partner companies.

Lia Patrício, from FEUP, is CMU Portugal most recent Scientific Director and took part for the first time in a CMU Portugal event. This debut started in a great way in a session focused on Engineering and Public Policy where our Dual Degree students Afonso Amaral and Jihoon Shin shared the work that they are developing under the scope of their Ph.D.

Finally, the last session at the Library centered on health issues with three of the speakers involved in CMU Portugal research project TAMI from INESC TEC, Joana Rocha, Sofia Pereira and Wilson Silva, who promoted a fruitful discussion moderated by Francisca Leite from Luz Saúde. Moreover, at the end of the day Francisca Leite was highly impressed with their work leaving a door open for future collaborations. Fernanda Famá, one of the three CMU Portugal Affiliated Ph.D. candidates, was the last speaker of the day presenting work that she will now develop under her Ph.D. 

To watch the Library sessions please visit our YouTube:

Both sessions are available online at CMU Portugal  and Abstracts can be accessed at CMU Portugal 2021 Doctoral Symposium Abstracts.

IST Distinguished Lecture by CMU Portugal Director José M.F. Moura

After being awarded on September 13th the title of Doctor Honoris Causa by Universidade de Lisboa at a Ceremony held at Técnico, Professor José M.F. Moura shared his life experience and knowledge at a Lecture held at Técnico. 

On September 16th under the title “Uma história que se tece detetando dados em discos rígidos”/ “A story that weaves itself by detecting data on hard drives” the Philip L. and Marsha Dowd University Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University shared the story around one of his inventions and won over the audience with his expertise.

The lecture opened with a brief introduction from Técnico President Rogério Colaço and the audience included numerous colleagues, former students and admirers of the Carnegie Mellon University faculty member.

During his speech, the CMU Portugal Director shared the story behind one of his inventions and patents, going beyond the most technical details focusing on the context in which it emerged and sharing the contours of the seven years of litigation in U.S. Federal courts around this technology.

José M.F. Moura guided the audience through a timeline starting in the early 1990s when he was part of a CMU team that, with support from the US National Science Foundation, set to develop in ten years a hard disk drive that increased by two orders of magnitude (a factor of 100) the magnetic recording density – meaning that, in the same volume, it became possible to store 100 times more data.

José M.F. Moura’s part of the deal was to come up with a detector, i.e., the contraption that accurately read those bits recorded in ever-small magnetic domains that became the PhD thesis of his student Alek Kavcic. In 1997, CMU filed a provisional patent on the Kavcic-Moura design with the US Patent Office. Two patents were issued in the early 2000s. 

The technology of these two patents is now used in more than three billion hard disk drives in 60% of all computers sold in the world. Those patents were the subject in 2016 of a $750 million settlement between CMU and a semiconductor manufacturer in the largest-ever settlement in the IP area.

During his talk, José M.F. Moura explained what he learned from the various interactions with industry and with CMU, from the main steps in the seven years litigation in US Federal courts, to the largest ever verdict in information technology (roughly, US$ 1.5Billion (thousand millions), and finally, in 2016, the US$750M settlement between CMU and a chip designer, the largest intellectual property (IP) settlement ever. 

At the end of the Lecture, Isabel Ribeiro, Vice-president of Técnico for Administrative Modernization, thanked Professor José M.F. Moura for sharing this story in public for the first time. 

More at Técnico Website and at the Institution Youtube. 

Tribute to CMU Portugal Director José M. F. Moura on the occasion of his Honoris Causa Ceremony

On September 13, José M.F. Moura, CMU Portugal Director at Carnegie Mellon University was awarded the title of Doctor Honoris Causa by Universidade de Lisboa in a Ceremony at Instituto Superior Técnico.

José M.F. Moura, who leads the CMU Portugal Program since its beginning in 2006, is the Philip L. and Marsha Dowd University Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. He was full professor at Técnico in the 1980s and president of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

During his career, Professor Moura has met an impressive number of people In Portugal ranging from students to co-workers, many of whom became close friends, and who have contributed to his remarkable career.

To honor the academic man but also the friend, here are some testimonies from people who were part, in many different ways, of his path.

Testimonies

11th edition of the Lisbon Machine Learning Summer School (LxMLS 2021)

Team of attendees at the University of Copenhagen.
LxMLS – Team of attendees at the University of Copenhagen.

The 11th edition of the Lisbon Machine Learning Summer School (LxMLS 2021) took place on July 7- 15th. Over eight days, participants dive straight into a range of Machine Learning (ML) topics, from theory to practice, that are important in solving Natural Language Processing (NLP) problems that arise in the analysis and use of Web data.

LxMLS do no requires previous deep knowledge of ML or NLP. Still, the attendants are assumed to have some essential background in mathematics and programming. Organizers take the first day to review basic concepts and introduce the necessary tools for implementation exercises, while specialists in machine learning and natural language processing lead the following sessions. The next days are split into lectures in the morning and lab sessions and practical talks by experts in the afternoon.

LxMLS had a record number of 774 applications, 245 registered attendees (39% female) from 24 countries, 17 speakers, and 23 monitors. Participants were able to attend all the lectures and participate in the Q&As and labs remotely through Slack for communication about the school, Zoom for lectures and Q&A, Youtube for live and record talks and Gather. town for social interaction with the speakers and among participants. This year’s edition was entirely remote, similar to last year, due to current COVID-19 restrictions. However, organizers are expecting to welcome everyone in Lisbon for the 2022’s edition.

The virtual school results from a partnership between by Instituto Superior Técnico, Instituto de Telecomunicações, Instituto de Engenharia de Sistemas e Computadores, Investigação e Desenvolvimento em Lisboa, Lisbon Unit for Learning and Intelligent Systems, Unbabel, Priberam , Carnegie Mellon Portugal and sponsored by Google and Cleverly.


The complete list of LxMLS 2021 and LxMLX 2020  lectures are available on the school’s youtube channel. 

Live sketches by Max Müller-Eberstein
LxMLS: Live sketches by Max Müller-Eberstein
https://personads.me/vitae/me.html

CMU Portugal Session at Ciência 2021 Summit

On June 28th, the CMU Portugal Program held the Session “The contribution of the CMU Portugal international partnership for the high-tech ecosystem in Portugal” at Encontro Ciência 2021 Summit, a discussion focused on the importance of the collaborations established under the Program throughout the years, in order to promote an innovation ecosystem that connects highly innovative companies of the data-driven economy.

Encontro Ciência is the central Science Conference in Portugal promoted by the Ministry of Science Technology and Higher Education (MCTES) along with Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT). This edition was organized in a mixed format both online and onsite, due to the current pandemic situation limited seats were available.

The session started with a brief presentation from Inês Lynce and Nuno Nunes, CMU Portugal National Co-Directors, who introduced in first-hand the brand new video of the 12 new Large- Scale Projects with an overview of the research projects that are now being developed under the Program and that are, for the first time, led by a Portuguese company.

https://youtu.be/zm2LHD7xXjs

To summarize the industry involvement of the Program since its beginning in 2006, José M.F. Moura, CMU Portugal Director at CMU, offered an overview of the initiatives established throughout the years to promote Industry collaborations.

Since 2006, CMU Portugal has promoted 74 projects, most of them in collaboration with companies extending the network of the program to over 150 companies. The involvement with companies is also supported by 168 Ph.D. and 247 Masters students directly supported by the Program’s research projects and PhD and Masters scholarships. From these, 80% of Masters and 54% of Ph.D. alumni are now part of leading organizations and companies.

Additionally, since the third phase of the Program which began in 2018, 16 CMU Portugal Industrial Affiliates have committed to actively contribute to the advanced education and research programs of the partnership by investing in R&D, in advanced training of human resources, and in building a highly-skilled workforce dedicated to innovation activities. CMU Portugal Industry Affiliates includes three Portuguese Unicorn companies (Farfetch, Talkdesk, and Outsystems), three CMU Portugal startups (Feedzai, Unbabel, and Veniam), and ICT leaders (Accenture, Altice, CEiiA, NOS, Priberam, REN, Remote, Tekever, Thales, and Uniplaces). Furthermore, Farfetch, Feedzai, Outsystems, and Unbabel reinforced their commitment to the Program by leading four out of the twelve CMU Portugal Large-Scale Projects that started in 2020. CMU Portugal has also been a hub for faculty members, students, and alumni to launch their entrepreneurial initiatives. The Program has supported the creation and development of twelve startups and these companies have created over 1,000 highly skilled jobs.

To offer a broad insight of the Program’s involvement with Industry, the session counted on the participation of four leading ICT companies with a strong bond to the Program that shared their point of view on this association: Farfetch, Feedzai, Mambu and Outsystems. These four companies, all valued above $1 billion, are all highly involved with the Program: some are part of the CMU Portugal Industry Affiliates list, others are Large Scale project promoters, or even startups created under the scope of the Program.

The discussion panel was composed by Luís Carvalho from Farfetch, João Abril de Abreu from Outsystems, Pedro Bizarro from Feedzai, and Sofia Nunes from Mambu who began by summarizing their involvement with the program and the advantages of this partnership. The discussion was moderated by the two CMU Portugal National co-directors, Inês Lynce and Nuno Nunes.

First, João Abreu who is responsible for the Innovation and Academic Relations at OutSystems, spoke about the company’s connection to the CMU Portugal Program as an Industry Affiliate company since 2018 and now leading the Large-Scale project GOLEM, an initiative to create enterprise applications with no code through Artificial Intelligence (AI) and a rich set of language abstractions.

Luis Carvalho, Senior Vice President of Technology at Farfetch, introduced the company’s vision of the collaboration with the Program since 2018 as an Industry Affiliate company. The luxury fashion platform is now leading the CMU Portugal Large Scale project IFETCH and expects to revolutionize the whole online shopping experience by changing how customers access information and make shopping decisions.

Pedro Bizarro is co-founder and CSO of Feedzai, a company with a long-lasting relationship with CMU Portugal: it was the 1st startup created under the scope of the Program; leads the CAMELOT project; is one of our Industry Affiliate companies; both founders were visiting faculty at CMU; and Paulo Marques is one of the CMU Portugal Scientific Directors. Pedro Bizarro spoke among other topics about the importance of talent acquisition that is made possible through the Program and stated that CMU Portugal touched Feedzai in many different ways throughout the years.

Sofia Nunes, one of the Mambu founders, has a background in Clinical Psychology and holds a Master’s in Human-Computer Interaction, an interdisciplinary experience that Nuno Nunes pointed out as an advantage to launch the idea for the company that started as the result of the research work developed by Sofia and two other colleagues during the CMU Portugal Master at ITI in Madeira. The Unicorn company is now based in Germany.

The dialogue continued focusing on some key issues related to Industry and University collaborations, emphasizing strengths and challenges. The four representatives offered a valued perspective and inputs on how these collaborations may be enhanced in the future under the attentive eye of Manuel Heitor, Minister for Science, Technology and Higher Education who was in the audience. The topics under discussion will surely allow all participants to define some action items to implement in future initiatives.

For more information you can watch the full video of the session available on our youtube channel.

The CMU Portugal Program was also represented in other sessions, namely with Inês Lynce as moderator at the Session “Artificial Intelligence, Data Science and Virtual Reality” (June 28 I 11:30-13:00),  Nuno Nunes (June 29 I 14:00-15:30) as part of the session “Research and Development in Creative Industries” talking about “The new European Bauhaus” and Faculty members Ana Paiva, Mário Figueiredo, Arlindo Oliveira, André Martins and Industry Affiliated companies Feedzai and Unbabel (June 29 I 15:30). Our Large-Scale project Bee2wasteCrypto led by FutureCompta in collaboration with Técnico, Carnegie Mellon University, 3Drivers and NOVA IMS also presented on June 29 by Ian Scott.

Additionally, Inês Lynce was interviewed by the Event’s organization on the importance of this Science Summit and the proficient work being done by the Program to build solid Industry collaborations.

Paulo Marques is one of Feedzai founders and has been highly involved with the Program since day one, being the first faculty member from Coimbra to be certified as an adjunct professor at CMU. He was the first Director of the Master’s in Software Engineering from the Portugal side and continues his affiliation now as a CMU Portugal Scientific Director. Here’s his interview at Encontro Ciência where he referred to the Program as a transformative initiative:

João Abril de Abreu from Outsystems, who was part of the CMU Portugal Panel was also interviewed after the Program’s Session:

 

To watch other sessions or interviews you can visit the Event youtube at:
https://www.youtube.com/c/encontrocienciapt

CMU Portugal 2021 Doctoral Symposium

Developing a supportive community for all researchers pursuing their PhDs under the scope of CMU Portugal initiatives

The CMU Portugal Program is organizing on September 15th, a Doctoral Symposium directed to all dual-degree CMU Portugal Ph.D. candidates, Affiliated Ph.D. Programs candidates, and all Ph.D. candidates conducting their doctoral thesis under one of the CMU Portugal research Projects (ERIs, ERPs, Large-Scale projects). The main goal of this initiative is to foster a supportive community of Ph.D. candidates and promote a collaborative research environment by providing participants the opportunity to present their work plans and discuss the results with their peers.

In addition to more than 20 students, the event will count on the participation onsite of both CMU Portugal National Directors, Inês Lynce and Nuno Nunes and CMU Portugal Director at CMU, José Fonseca de Moura.

Location: Pavilhão do Conhecimento, Lisbon and Live Streaming
Date: September 15th / 2pm to 6pm (Lisbon) / 9am to 1pm (Pittsburgh)

 

CMU Portugal Ph.D. Educational offer

The Carnegie Mellon Portugal Program currently offers, with the support of the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and in a partnership with various higher education institutions in Portugal and Carnegie Mellon, two different types of Ph.D. programs and scholarships:  Dual Degree Ph.D. Programs available since the start of the international partnership in 2006 and the Affiliated Ph.D. Programs launched for the first time in 2021. Upon completion of the Dual Degree Ph.D., students receive a dual degree as students from both Carnegie Mellon and a partner University in Portugal. Under the Affiliated Ph.D. Program students will be hosted exclusively at a Portuguese University, with a research period at Carnegie Mellon up to 1 year. CMU Portugal also hosts diverse funding instruments for research projects through which Ph.D. candidates are supported at several Portuguese universities. These students conduct their thesis within the researcher topics close to the CMU Portugal action areas and often in collaboration with CMU researchers.

More at: https://cmuportugal.org/education-overview/

 

3rd User Experience Design Talk with Gierad Laput: “Context-Driven Implicit Interactions”

Gierad Laput, Research and Engineering Manager at Apple hosted on June 1st the third and last Webinar of the series “User Experience Design Talks @CMU Portugal” organized in the framework of the Advanced Training Programs in User Experience Design of the CMU Portugal Program, planned to start in 2021.

The session was presented by CMU Portugal Education officer João Fumega and Teresa Romão (NOVA School of Science and Technology) who welcomed the participants and introduced Gierad Laput, the speaker of the CMU Portugal initiative’s closing session “Context-Driven Implicit Interactions” .

Dr. Gierad Laput is a Research and Engineering Manager at Apple, where he leads the Sensing Technologies Group under Machine Learning and AI. The group mission is to explore and build technologies that profoundly impact millions of people through research and development in sensing and AI. Applications of the group’s work include health technologies, context-driven systems, and natural + assistive interactions. Gierad completed his Ph.D. and M.S. in Human-Computer Interaction at Carnegie Mellon University, and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering at the University of Michigan. He is also an Affiliate Faculty at Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Computer Science.

During this session, he spoke about the importance of having systems that understand and take into account people’s context of use, regardless of whether the platform is a mobile device, a wearable, or embedded in the environment. Context offers an implicit dimension that will become highly important to power more human-centric experiences.  He focused on constructing and evaluating of sensing technologies that can be practically deployed and enhance contextual awareness, primarily drawing upon machine learning to unlock a wide range of applications and by introducing examples developed by his team’s recent work at Apple.

Between April and June the CMU Portugal Program organized three talks to offer a look into the new Advanced Training Programs in User Experience Design that is planned to start in 2021.

 

More about the previous Talks:

CMU Portugal joins Bauhaus of the Seas discussion at an international conference

The 1st Bauhaus of the Seas conference took place on May 20th and gathered at MAAT, the Lisbon Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology, distinguished speakers from all over the globe involved in the New European Bauhaus (NEB) Initiative, a movement aimed at improving the quality of life of European citizens and promoting a more sustainable society. The Bauhaus of the seas, an initiative led by CMU Portugal co-director Nuno Nunes, aims to promote renewed ethical and aesthetic regenerative development from a widely diverse range of dimensions of our continued relationship with the sea.

The CMU Portugal Program was delighted to join Instituto Superior Técnico, Câmara Municipal de Lisboa and MAAT in the organization of the mix format of onsite and online conference. The international event was split in 10 sessions, over 9 hours of live transmission at the Bauhaus of the Seas Youtube,  with more than 50 speakers joining in person or via zoom and with +600 registrations from all over the world.

Cortesia Fundação EDP. Fotografia de Francisco CraveiroCourtesy of EDP Foundation. Francisco Craveiro photo

The welcome session started with some words from Beatrice Leanza, MAAT’s executive director and Nuno Nunes, Professor at Técnico. They were joined by Catarina Vaz Pinto, the City of Lisbon’s Councillor for Culture and two ministers of the Portuguese Republic: Graça Fonseca, the Minister of Culture and Manuel Heitor, the Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education.

The Conference continued with greetings from the European Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms Elisa Ferreira, and Themis Christophidou, the European Commission’s Director-General for Education and Culture.

Afterward Ruth Reichstein, Advisor at the European Commission Presidential Advisory Board on Green Deal and New European Bauhaus, introduced the European Commission’s vision for the New European Bauhaus, and the architect Miguel Figueira presented a proposal for a “Bauhaus of the Seas School Ship”.

To continue the discussion, the Conference selected a wide range of designers, scientists and researchers that will contribute from now onwards to Developing the vision of a Bauhaus of the Seas.

Courtesy of EDP Foundation. Francisco Craveiro photo

Before the lunch break, officials from European universities and cities introduced the topic “Institutional Involvement”, focusing on what it takes to make the Bauhaus of the Seas a reality.


Courtesy of EDP Foundation. Francisco Craveiro photo

In the afternoon, five parallel Roundtable Discussions, invited experts from various disciplines to debate design approaches sparked by the Bauhaus of the Seas. By the end of the Roundtables, a summary of their discussions was held at the main stage.

Courtesy of EDP Foundation. Francisco Craveiro photo

Just before the closing session one of the most expected presentations of the day, Paola Antonelli, Senior Curator of MoMA’s Department of Architecture & Design, delivered the event’s keynote lecture.

Finally, to close the day, Gonçalo Byrne, President of the Order of Architects left some words in person and Luigi Brugnaro, Italian Minister of University and Research and Cristina Messa, Italian Minister of University and Research sent us a video message on the involvement of Italy and Venice in this initiative. Together with Lisbon, Venice will be one of the cities adhering to the “New European Bauhaus” initiative, launched by the European Commission to redesign the cities of the future in an eco-sustainable, accessible and green key, with the support of EU funding (news article in Live Comune Venezia)

To highlight the commitment of the Municipality of Lisbon, the last speaker was Miguel Gaspar, Councilor of the Municipality of Lisbon, that referred to the City as one of the NEB’s Lighthouses.

For the full session please watch the video at Bauhaus of the Seas Youtube.

More about the New European Bauhaus and Bauhaus of the Seas

Nuno Jardim Nunes, CMU Portugal Co-Director since 2018, president of ITI/ LARSyS, and Head of IST Department of Computer Science and Engineering leads the working group from Técnico that the European Commission has selected as one of the official partners of the New European Bauhaus (NEB) initiative. This creative initiative is a bridge between the world of science and technology and the world of art and culture.

“Técnico is very well positioned to contribute to NEB’s technological solutions. We are very strong in areas such as digital technologies, mobility, new materials, energy, sustainability, circular economy, innovation, etc. This initiative will allow us to put this knowledge at the service of new citizenship, in the context of a network created from the coastal urban environments and the challenges of our relationship with the sea”, said Professor Nuno Nunes, in an interview shared at Técnico website on the Bauhaus of the Seas initiative where he also highlighted that “Lisbon can be one of the first Lighthouse Cities of the NEB initiative at European level and Técnico can be one of the leading European academic institutions”.

According to Nunes, considering the importance that NEB has gained “many opportunities will come from this partnership. In addition to the main funding call, which will finance the five European networks, “other funding opportunities of great importance will be available for almost all Técnico research units”.

More at: https://tecnico.ulisboa.pt/en/news/tecnico-becomes-a-partner-of-the-new-european-bauhaus-initiative/

2nd UxD Talk with Lining Yao (CMU): “Making Active Materials Green: Morphing Matter for Sustainability”

Lining Yao, Assistant Professor of the Human-Computer Interaction Institute (HCII) at Carnegie Mellon University and director of the Morphing Matter Lab hosted on May 20th the second Webinar of the series “User Experience Design Talks @CMU Portugal”.

The introduction to the session and presentation of the UxD Advanced Training Program expected to be launched in a near future was led by Nuno Nunes, National Director of the CMU Portugal Program and a senior researcher in the area of Human Computer Interaction. Diogo Cabral,  Interactive Technologies Institute, Instituto Superior Técnico, welcomed the participants and introduced Professor Lining Yao, who in addition to her role as CMU Professor leads the Morphing Matter Lab, a lab focused on developing materials, tools, and applications of adaptive, dynamic and intelligent morphing matter from nano to macro scales. Lining and her lab work anti-disciplinarily, publishing and exhibiting across science, engineering, design and art. Lining gained her PhD at MIT Media Lab, where she combined biological and engineering approaches to develop physical materials with dynamic and tunable properties including shape, color, stiffness, texture and density.

Under this talk Lining Yao spoke about her and efforts to build, or rebuild, a harmonious relationship between technology and environment, humankind and nature. She started by approaching different morphing mechanisms in natural seeds and microorganisms, and ended with an ecological vision of the future empowered by morphing materials. According to Yao, Nature has engineered many morphing materials for the sake of survival, and it is important to learn from nature, how biodegradable morphing mechanisms are developed to save our planet’s energy consumption and carbon emissions.

The third and last talk of this series of Webinars will take place on June 1st, 3 pm (Lisbon)/ 10 am (Pittsburgh) , by Gierad Laput Research and Engineering Manager at Apple, entitled “Context-Driven Implicit Interactions”.More at the event page

Registration is free but mandatory: online form. All participants will receive the login credentials the day before the event.

These Sessions will take place between April and June under the Advanced Training Programs in User Experience Design of the CMU Portugal Program, which is planned to start in 2021.

More about the previous Talk:

Session 1: John Zimmerman (CMU HCI Institute) “Designing Systems that Blend Human and Machine Intelligence”