Between April and May 2026, the CMU Portugal Program will launch a brand-new series of Talks: “Research Unplugged @CMUPortugal”.
Hosted by National Co-Directors Inês Lynce and João Magalhães, these 30-minute talks feature conversations with faculty and researchers from both sides of the Atlantic. Each session showcases CMU Portugal’s collaborative initiatives, exploring how cutting-edge research addresses emerging challenges and delivers real-world impact.
Sessions will take place on Wednesdays at 5 p.m. (Lisbon) / 12 p.m. (Pittsburgh) via Zoom.
The Line-up:
29 April: Alexandre Ferreira da Silva (UMinho)
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.
13 May: Paulo Dimas (Center for Responsible AI | Halo NeuroAI)
Paulo Dimas is the CEO of the Center for Responsible AI, one of the world’s leading consortia dedicated to ethical artificial intelligence. This center brings together top startups, research centers, and global partners to develop the next generation of AI products rooted in transparency and accountability. With a career defined by technological entrepreneurship, Paulo previously served as VP of Product Innovation at Unbabel, where he played a key role in building the world’s first Language Operations platform. Today, he is a leading voice in the debate on AI’s impact on society and the economy.
27 May: Justine Sherry (CMU)
Justine Sherry is an Associate Professor at CMU’s School of Computer Science. Her recent research focuses on new opportunities and challenges arising from the deployment of middleboxes — such as firewalls and proxies — as services offered by clouds and ISPs. Her work has earned her the VMware Systems Research Award and the SIGCOMM doctoral dissertation award, among other honors from Google and the NSF. As a key collaborator in the CMU Portugal Program, Justine has served as a Principal Investigator for exploratory projects and mentored both Dual Degree and Affiliated Ph.D. candidates.
To register, please fill in this form. The Zoom link of each session will be sent to the participants the day before.
