News
06-01-2022
MIT Portugal nominated two new members for the Program Governing Committee
The MIT Portugal program has two new members on the Program Governing Committee (PGC): Paulo Ferrão, appointed by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), as a representative from Portuguese participating entities, and Dava Newman, currently Director of The MIT Media Lab, as representative of MIT’s senior administration.
Paulo Ferrão is a full Professor at Instituto Superior Técnico (Department of Mechanical Engineering – DEM) and co-founder of IN+ Centre for Innovation, Technology and Policy Research. He is a board member of the EUREKA Association and a former President of the COST association. He was president of FCT from 2016 to 2019 and director of the MIT Portugal Program from 2006-2016. He is also a member of the “Environmental Advisory Committee” at Rolls-Royce.
Dava Newman is Director at MIT Media Lab; Apollo Program Professor of Astronautics in MIT’s Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and a faculty member in the Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology. She has served as director of the MIT Portugal Program from 2011 to 2015, and from 2017 until june 2021.
The PGC is responsible for policy oversight, approval of the annual plan and budget allocation for any proposed activities. With these two new appointments, the PGC goes from 5 to 7 members, taking into account the vast experience of the new members and the contributions they will make to the community and boost the Program's activities.
The new members will join to José Paulo Esperança, PGC chair and Vice-President of FCT; to the representative members of MIT’s senior administration: Richard K. Lester, MIT Associate Provost for International Activities and Maria Zuber, Vice President for Research at MIT; to the Representative of the Portuguese participating entities, António M. Cunha, President of Norte Portugal Regional Coordination and Development Commission, and also to the Portuguese Industry Representative, Isabel Furtado, CEO of TMG Automotive.
Biography Paulo Ferrão
Biography Dava Newman
Photo credits: Paulo Ferrão, COST website; Dava Newman, NASA