MIT Portugal News

3rd MIT Portugal Program Conference: web streaming

silvia.castro@mitportugal.org (Sílvia Castro) — Sun, 27 May 2012 18:02:55 GMT

On May 28 and 29, it will take place the 3rd MIT Portugal Conference,at the University of Minho, Guimarães, under the motto Excellence in Engineering for Innovation in Global Markets. At this conference we will be discussing how the partnership between Portugal and MIT is contributing to foster Higher Education, Research and, in particular, to enhance Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Portugal. The event will streamed through the link : mms://streaming.uminho.pt/mitportugal (MS Internet Explorer)

New informative sessions: ISCTE-IUL MIT Portugal venture competition roadshow

silvia.castro@mitportugal.org (Sílvia Castro) — Tue, 15 May 2012 14:17:38 GMT

Are you developing an outstanding technology? Do you want to go global? Register now and find how you can turn it into a reality.

This week the ISCTE-IUL MIT Portugal venture competition is on the road again holding 4 informative sessions:

Aveiro - Incubadora de Empresas da Universidade de Aveiro, 10h00
Lisboa - Instituto Superior Técnico - Campus Alameda (Sala Videoconferência, centro congressos), 14h30
Lisboa - Universidade Lusófona, 18h30
Porto - INESC Porto, 14h30

The competition has a great track record:

80% of the promoters succeed in launching a start-up
69% rose funding, of which over 60% is from Venture Capital sources
50% of the start-ups doubled their teams, creating 35 new jobs

The interactive sessions will count with organizing members that will explain how it works, outcomes reached so far and benefits for you. You will meet some of the program startups that will tell you all about their experience and what they conquered so far.

Registration is free but mandatory, just choose the session near you and fill in the registration form:
http://mitportugal-iei.org/index.php/en/roadshow

3rd MIT Portugal Program Conference: Excellence in Engineering for Innovation in Global Markets

silvia.castro@mitportugal.org (Sílvia Castro) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 14:20:08 GMT

Next May 28 and 29 will take place the 3^rd MIT Portugal Conference, in Guimarães, at the University of Minho, under the moto Excellence in Engineering for Innovation in Global Markets.

On this conference we will be discussing how the partnership between Portugal and MIT is contributing to foster Higher Education, Research and, in particular, to enhance Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Portugal.

We´ll be welcoming members of the scientific community, including individuals from leading research center and universities; CEOs and R&D executives from companies innovation and research companies; MIT- Portugal Industry and Educational affiliates.

If you would like to attend the conference, please register online through the MIT Portugal website (students and other delegates).

Silicon Valley returns to Lisbon - SVC2Lx, May 10th

silvia.castro@mitportugal.org (Sílvia Castro) — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 11:57:27 GMT

After the successful first edition of Silicon Valley Comes to Lisbon, the Beta-i, Association for the Promotion of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, decided to continue this initiative throughout this year. Already on May 10^th, the SVC2Lx Sessions will mark the beginning of Silicon Valley Comes to Lisbon 2012, which will be held on 15 and 16 November.

The SVC2Lx Sessions are integrated into the official program of the Entrepreneurship Week in Lisbon and will take place on May 10th, from 5pm GMT onwards at the ICSTE’s Grand Auditorium. This is an informal meeting which brings to Lisbon accredited four international guests.

During the late afternoon, it will be discussed entrepreneurship and innovation issues related to new forms of funding for startups, internationalization strategies for success and the relationship between startups and corporate world.

Registration for the SVc2LX_Sessions are already open in through, and those who register by May 2 qualifies to be awarded a free entry to the main event in in November.

keep track of all news and updates at the event’s Facebook page.

Congratulations to MPP PhD student Michaela Simcikova - a MIT 100K semifinalist!

silvia.castro@mitportugal.org (Sílvia Castro) — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 18:59:24 GMT

Michaela Simcikova, a MIT Portugal Program PhD student in bioengineering at Instituto Superior Técnico, has just been selected as semifinalist for the MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition business plan contest in emerging markets. The MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition is a yearlong educational experience that encourages MIT students to act on their talent, ideas, and energy to produce tomorrow’s leading firms. Michaela business plan for Glyanet, an e-health field company, is now running for the first prize at the May 15^th Finale.

Michael came in contact with her partners at Glyanet, in an impact-oriented class at MIT, where she is currently to complete part of her research work. Inspired by this class and supported by Jhonatan Rotberg's guidance - director of the MIT NextLab Program- Michaela started from the original idea of her Colombian team mates and help them to developed the business strategy that is now a semifinalist at the MIT100K business plan contest in emerging markets.

GlyaNet is a web based e-health platform delivering medical services through IT technology and communication. GlyaNet aims to improve the patient-physician relationship and decrease waiting time by providing a service for fast consultation and making accessible to patients their own medical history - giving them more control on their health. As the world leader among student-run university entrepreneurship competitions, the MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition has facilitated the birth of more than 130 companies with aggregate exit values of $2.5 billion captured and a market cap of over $15 billion. These companies have generated more than 2,500 jobs and have received $770 million in venture capital funding.

After an initial contact with Portugal though the Erasmus Program, Michaela applied for a PhD in Bioengineering Systems through the MIT Portugal Program, that according to Michaels has been essential for the development of her business skills “For the MIT100K business plan contest I benefited from all the knowledge I gain within my first year of MPP in Bioengineering: we learn about the first essential steps of how to start a company, protect our technology, where to arise capital and how to place our product in the market. The greatest impact on me had to be the countless personal stories of nowadays successful entrepreneurs that encounter thought the program either in Portugal (such as BluePharma’ Sergio Simões and BioAlvo’s CEO Helena Vieira) and in the USA.

Michaela is an IST PhD student under the MIT Portugal Program, where she is supervised by Gabriel Monteiro and Miguel Prazeres. She is currently at MIT in Kris Prather's laboratory to complete part of her research work regarding delivering methods for preventive and therapeutic vaccination.

GlyaNet team members:

Carlos Augusto López, CEO, M.D., M.Sc., international consultant for IT solutions in health care

Diego Alexandro Pérez, CTO, Biomedical informatics, Professor at University of Antioquia, Colombia

Camilo Andrés Garzón, M.Sc., Investigator in Biomedical informatics

Gabriela Vilaro, MBA Harvard student

Michaela Simcikova, PhD candidate in Bioengineering, MIT Portugal

Semifinalist for the MIT $100K business plan contest in emerging markets: http://mit100k.org/bpc/bpc-semi-finalists/

Applications are Opening for Beta-start Transports & Energy

silvia.castro@mitportugal.org (Sílvia Castro) — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 11:33:56 GMT

Applications are now open for Beta-start Transports and Energy that counts with the MIT Portugal’s support.

This is a great way to start if you have an idea and want to transform it into a business. Beta Start is an innovative program from Beta-I to help you turn your ideas into reality. At the end of the one month program Beta I will help you present your idea to potential customers and over 30 potential investors. This is can be the first step to accelerate your business idea either if it is the first time you write down your idea or if you already have a business plan complete. Registrations are now open until April 26^th at Beta-start website. http://te.beta-start.com/

Building Global Innovators - The Roadshow

silvia.castro@mitportugal.org (Sílvia Castro) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 09:43:59 GMT

Building Global Innovators, the venture competition that is part of the ISCTE-IUL MIT Portugal Innovation and Entrepreneurship Initiative, is taking the road and will run information session at several locations:

Porto - April 10th, EGP – UPBS (17h00)
Oeiras – April 11th Taguspark (17h30)
Aveiro – April 12th, Universidade de Aveiro (TBD)
Coimbra - April 19th, IPN (17h00)
Webinar w/ Brazil - April 27th (17h00 - GMT)

If you are developing an outstanding technology and want to go global, here is your chance to register and find how you can turn it into a reality.

The competition has an outstanding track record:

80% of the promoters succeed in launching a start-up
69% rose funding, of which over 60% is from Venture Capital sources
50% of the start-ups doubled their teams, creating 35 new jobs

The interactive sessions will count with organizing members that will explain you how it works, outcomes reached so far and benefits. You will meet some of the program startups that will tell you all about their experience and what they conquered so far.

Registration is free but mandatory, just choose the session near you and fill in the registration form: http://mitportugal-iei.org/index.php/en/roadshow

Ambassador João Mira Gomes - Portugal's representative to NATO - visited with MIT Portugal Students

silvia.castro@mitportugal.org (Sílvia Castro) — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 16:19:29 GMT

Ambassador João Mira Gomes of Portugal, permanent representative to NATO, visited the MIT campus in the beginning of March. The ambassador discussed with students from MIT Portugal and the Technology and Policy Program some of the key challenges in the global community, in advance of the NATO summit in Chicago in May. Ambassador Mira Gomes asked students to identify what they thought were some of the major challenges in terms of international security, and he then talked a bit about each item suggested—which included issues of petroleum, immigration, poverty, and nuclear proliferation. He emphasized the complexity of each challenge and the need for international collaboration in determining effective responses. The Ambassador was accompanied by the Consul General of Portugal, Paulo Cunha Alves. The visit was facilitated by the nonprofit organization World Boston.

3rd Edition is now open : ISCTE-IUL MIT Portugal Program innovation and entrepreneurship initiative

silvia.castro@mitportugal.org (Sílvia Castro) — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 10:40:08 GMT

The 3rd Edition of the ISCTE-IUL MIT Portugal Program innovation and entrepreneurship initiative is now open and is accepting applications until May 1st, 2012.

Semifinalists from past editions have a great track record:

80% of the promoters succed in launching a start-up
69% raised funding, of which over 60% is from Venture Capital sources
50% of the start-ups doubled their teams, creating 35 new jobs

Please follow the link for further information regarding on how to apply to this year’s edition: http://mitportugal-iei.org/

Call for applications: Invited Chair WS Energia at Instituto Superior Técnico

silvia.castro@mitportugal.org (Sílvia Castro) — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 14:15:54 GMT

Position: Invited Chair Holder

The Invited Chair mission is to research and develop tools and platforms to POWER THE PEOPLE, by enhancing the choices and access of every end-user to energy management and production. The research topics within the scope of the Invited Chair are: distributed electricity generation, penetration of micro-generation, new energy sources, e-electricity digital infrastructure, virtual network for individual electricity consumers and producers and sustainable energy systems.

The WS Energia Invited Chair, is co-funded by WS Energia and Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia through its Invited Chair Program.

This initiative is the result of the commitment made by WS Energia, as MIT Portugal Research Affiliate, to contribute to the development of research and graduate training in the area of sustainable energy systems.

Please consult the file "Information for Applicants" and submit your application in the online platform www.ws-energia.com/np4EN/invitedchair . Applications via e -mail are not valid.

IMPORTANT: submission process closes on the 22nd of April 2012 at 10 p.m (GMT).