Novos desafios para o Futuro
Este foi o título do X Forum da Portuguese American Postgraduate Society (PAPS). O Fórum PAPS
2009 foi realizado na Universidade da Califórnia em Los Angeles nos passados dias 18 e 19 de Abril,
contando com a participação de uma centena de participantes vindos de diversos pontos dos Estados
Unidos da America, Canadá e Portugal.
Tal como em anos anteriores, o X Forum PAPS contou com a presença de ilustres oradores de diversas
áreas profissionais tais como as Neurociências, Gestão, Consultadoria e Artes.
O Professor António Damásio abriu a ordem de trabalhos com uma intervenção que apaixonou a
audiência. Fez uma retrospectiva histórica das Neurociências, de onde levou depois os presentes a uma
viagem pelos mecanismos da memória e a percepção de emoções no cérebro. Esta apresentação
baseou-se também no seu último paper, que foi publicado no dia seguinte na Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
“A nossa cultura são os nossos genes”
“Não podemos entender onde estamos se não soubermos de onde vimos”
“O conhecimento do cérebro permaneceu o mesmo desde o século XIX até 1960. A mudança deveu-se
à biologia molecular.”
“O conhecimento do DNA conduziu a novas ideias, teorias e hipóteses. As técnicas de imaging do
cérebro abriram novas portas”
“É possível ver o cérebro a sentir uma emoção”
“A complexidade da Humanidade advém do desenvolvimento conjunto da cultura e da genética”
– António Damásio
A sessão seguinte foi moderada pelo jornalista Vitor Gonçalves correspondente em Washington da RTP
e teve como intervenientes o Professor Francisco Veloso, coordenador do programa CMU-Portugal,
Paulo Tabuada, Professor na UCLA, Rui Grilo coordenador do Plano Tecnológico Português, e Torben
Rankine, Country Manager da Leadership Business Consulting nos EUA.
Francisco Veloso abordou questões relacionadas com o empreendorismo e fez um paralelo com as
origens do Silicon Valley. Como surge Silicon Valley? E de onde vêm as outras indústrias de sucesso
Através de uma análise empírica de Silicon Valley e da indústria de lasers nos EUA, ou da indústria de
vestuário do Bangladesh, ou mesmo da indústria de moldes de plásticos em Portugal, é possível
encontrar padrões. O aparecimento da primeira empresa deve-se normalmente a um só empreendedor e
dessa “empresa-mãe” surgem os novos empreendedores. Apesar da compatibilidade com a região ser
importante, o sucesso não parece estar especialmente ligado ao contexto ou às condições locais. Claro
que são necessárias condições básicas, mas não terão de ser extraordinariamente propícias ao projecto.
“O que pode Portugal aprender a partir do desenvolvimento de Silicon Valley?" – Francisco Veloso.
Paulo Tabuada fez uma descrição extremamente informativa e detalhada sobre o percurso de um
estudante de doutoramento até à "tenure" numa universidade americana. Em particular, caracteriza o
professor como o homem dos 7 instrumentos. O professor tem de montar laboratórios, recrutar e
orientar alunos, fazer investigação, dar aulas, apresentar conferências e gerir relações interpessoais,
essenciais para a sua carreira.
"Academic career in a nutshell: work, work, work, network, network, network... :)" – Paulo Tabuada
Torben Rankine fez uma análise das tendências globais mais importantes, entre elas a transformação
dos mercados, o estabelecimento da democracia liberal, mas com regulação, os fenómenos migratórios,
a sustentabilidade ambiental e energética e as rupturas que daí advêm. O corolário é que as empresas
que se conseguirem adaptar a estas tendências alcançarão sucesso.
Rui Grilo realçou que com a globalização todas as barreiras estão a desaparecer, e cada vez
dependemos mais uns dos outros. Tudo muda, mas as mudanças são diferentes a níveis diferentes.
Existem três pilares em torno dos quais assenta o plano tecnológico: conhecimento, tecnologia e
inovação. Em particular os efeitos do plano tecnológico vêem-se ao nível do crescimento do acesso à
internet, do interesse por cursos tecnológicos, e, claro, no Magalhães.
"A globalização aumenta a interacção" – Rui Grilo
O Professor José Pinto dos Santos abriu a sessão da tarde com uma intervenção acerca dos desafios da
globalização onde realçou que “o saber isolado tem pouco valor” e há que ter uma visão integradora na
economia global. Falou do processo de globalização e das peças necessárias para uma empresa ser
verdadeiramente global. Realçou a importância das competências individuais mas a capacidade de
organizar essas competências irá ser o factor crítico no futuro.
“A globalização é um processo de interdepedência das nações, uma união de diferenças.”
“Inovações e descobertas importantes acontecem quando se tem de enfrentar o imprevisível e o
desconhecido.”
“O próximo nível de integração global será melhorar o desempenho usando a diversidade global como
fonte de inovação.”
“ O valor da cultura é enorme”
"O vosso maior valor é o de serem Portugueses"
– José Pinto dos Santos
A segunda sessão da tarde foi apresentada pela artista plástica Joana Vasconcelos, confirmando o
interesse da PAPS na área de Artes e Humanidades. Joana Vasconcelos apresentou várias peças do seu
vasto portfolio analisando a sua concepção e o seu significado. A artista falou também sobre a sua
experiência em tentar ser uma artista internacional a partir de Portugal, descrevendo a sua experiência
de criadora de arte contemporânea inspirada na sua identidade portuguesa. Foi uma sessão
extremamente animada, que tocou também em aspectos de empreendorismo e iniciativa directamente
relacionados com a história da artista, bem como aspectos favoráveis e desfavoráveis de uma artista
portuguesa com reputação internacional. Joana Vasconcelos é uma oradora fenomenal e ficou bem
claro que arte, cultura, e ciência, estão de facto fortemente relacionados.
“Podia ter saído do país, mas decidi ficar e construir a minha carreira em Portugal.”
“Esta obra (A Joia do Tejo) é feita com materiais de países diferentes, um exemplo da economia
global.”
– Joana Vasconcelos
Finalmente Tiago Carvalho (Fundador do Papaformigas), Rossana Henriques (Vice-Presidente da
PAPS), Raquel Oliveira (Presidente da PARSUK) e Ângela Simões (Comissão Executiva da PALCUS)
debateram questões relacionadas com networking, e apresentaram uma breve história e objectivos de
cada uma das suas organizações. Este painel foi moderado pela jornalista da RTP, Bárbara de Oliveira
Pinto.
Tiago Carvalho descreveu o seu trabalho com o Papaformigas, uma rede global de cientistas
portugueses.
Rossana Henriques mostrou como a PAPS tem usado networking para agregar os estudantes
Portugueses de Pós-graduação nos EUA.
Raquel Oliveira partilhou a sua experiência na criação da PARSUK, uma associação de investigadores
Portugueses no Reino Unido.
Ângela Simões, uma descendente portuguesa, descreveu o seu trabalho na PALCUS, PortugueseAmerican Leadership Council of the US. Existem presentemente cerca de um milhão de portugueses
nas comunidades portuguesas dos EUA e a PALCUS trabalha na defesa dos direitos desta comunidade
junto ao Congresso dos EUA.
O Forum PAPS culminou com um cocktail seguido de jantar onde António Murta, vice-presidente da
Wipro Retail, foi o orador convidado. O estado da Economia em Portugal foi o tema escolhido para
esta intervenção onde foram apresentados vários casos de sucesso ao nível do empreendorismo
económico. António Murta delineou os pontos a favor e contra o estabelecimento de novas empresas
em Portugal, bem como estratégias de expansão internacional das mesmas. António Murta fascinou
todos com a descrição do seu percurso até hoje.
"A Enabler, que hoje faz parte da Wipro, criou um valor de 90 milhões com práticamente 0
investimento."
“A dívida pública irá tornar-se num grave problema para Portugal, especialmente quando os alemães se
cansarem de pagar as nossas contas.”
“Não se devem procurar desculpas mas olhar para exemplos com o Skype, Inditex ou a Dra. Elvira
Fortunato…. O sucesso acontece onde menos se espera.”
“Não podemos “ter medo de ser” (José Gil), temos de ultrapassar as barreiras que construímos nas
nossas mentes e tentar alcançar o máximo possível.”
“Empresas baseadas em propriedade intelectual crescem mais rapidamente do que as ligadas ao mundo
físico.”
– António Murta
Com cerca de 500 membros distribuídos entre alunos de mestrado, doutoramento, investigadores e
outros profissionais portugueses espalhados pelos EUA, a PAPS organiza este evento anual de modo a
juntar numa mesma cidade todos os seus associados e debater temas e questões da actualidade desta
comunidade. Sendo uma organização sem receitas próprias, o sucesso da PAPS e a quantidade de
actividades desenvolvidas ao longo dos últimos onze anos têm sido possíveis apenas graças ao espírito
voluntário dos seus membros e ao apoio financeiro concedido por várias empresas, organizações e
organismos estatais.
A organização deste fórum foi liderada pelo actual Presidente da PAPS, João Cruz, que contou com a
colaboração da sua equipa: Rossana Henriques, Sérgio Duarte, Tiago Freire, Pedro Castelo Branco,
Luis Pedro Coelho, Sérgio Figueiredo, Pedro Gardete, Anabela Maia, Inês de Matos, Andreia Rosa, e
Margarida Soares. No próximo ano a PAPS será liderada por Anabela Maia.
Pela Comissão Executiva 2008-2009,
João Cruz
Rossana Henriques
Sérgio Duarte
www.papsonline.org/forum2009
Cobertura fotográfica por Marcus Darhem © 2009
António Damásio
Rui Grilo, Paulo Tabuada, Torben Rankine, Francisco Veloso, Vitor Gonçalves
Fotografia de Grupo
José Pinto dos Santos
Joana Vasconcelos
Tiago Carvalho, Raquel Oliveira, Ângela Simões
Ângela Simões, Rossana Henriques, Bárbara de Oliveira Pinto
João Cruz
João Cruz, Rossana Henriques, Anabela Maia, Sérgio Figueiredo, Pedro Gardete,
Margarida Soares
Cocktail
António Murta
Fotografia gentilmente cedida por Raquel Oliveira
João Cruz, Sérgio Duarte
Speakers
António Damásio is a David Dornsife Professor of Neuroscience and
director of the Brain and Creativity Institute at University of Southern
California. His research has helped to elucidate the neural basis for the
emotions and has shown that emotions play a central role in social
cognition and decision-making. His work has also had a major influence
on current understanding of the neural systems, which underlie memory,
language and consciousness. He got his MD from University of Lisbon
Medical School in 1969 and his PhD from University of Lisbon in 1974.
António Murta is the Vice-President of Retail Services at Wipro. He was the
founder and CEO of Enabler, a leading consultancy for retailers and wholesalers
that was sold to Wipro in 2007. He was previously CIO of Sonae Retailing (a
division of Sonae Group), the largest Portuguese retail group. He was also
involved in the transaction of Mobicomp to Microsoft in 2008. He has recently
created a venture capital entitled Pathena. António graduated as a systems engineer
from the Minho University and holds an MBA from Escola de Gestão do Porto
(EGP) / Porto University and is known for his contagious energy and speeches.
José F. P. dos Santos was born in Porto, Portugal. He holds a degree in
Chemical Engineering by the University of Porto and an MSc, with Distinction,
in Management Science by the University of London. José was Managing
Director of an Italian multinational corporation until 1994. Since 1995, Professor
Santos has been pursuing an academic life as Visiting Professor of International
Management at INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France, but he also lectures as Guest or
Visiting Professor in Portugal at Universidade Católica do Porto, Italy, and
Slovenia. His major research area is in the multinational organization, and he has
focused on innovation, knowledge management, global customer management,
and the impact of e-business.
Joana Vasconcelos was born in Paris in 1971. Joana studied Visual Arts at
the Ar.Co – Centro de Arte e Comunicação Visual between 1989 and 1996.
She is a renowned plastic artist that lives in Lisbon but shows her art around
the world. In 2006, won the award “The winner takes it all” from Berardo’s
Foundation to create the work “Néctar” for the Berardo Collection
Museum. She has also won the Tabaqueira Prize, Largo da Academia das
Belas Artes, Lisbon (2003), Fundação Marquês de Pombal Plastic Arts /
Young Artists Artes Plásticas/ Arte Contemporânea Jovens Artistas (2003),
1st prize for the 45ème Salon de Montrouge, Montrouge, France (2001) and
New Artist, EDP, Electricidade de Portugal, Lisbon (2000). Most of her
work can be found at http://www.joanavasconcelos.com/.
Tiago P. Carvalho is currently a Research Associate of the Department of
Neurobiology at UCLA, where he has been for the past 5 years. He recently
completed his PhD. in Computational Neuroscience through the Gulbenkian PhD.
Program in Biomedicine. In 2005 Tiago started Papaformigas.com, the search
engine of Portuguese scientists. He is the 2009 recipient of the Eva Kavan Prize
for Excellence in Research on the Brain.
Vitor Gonçalves is a journalist at Radio Televisão Portuguesa (RTP) since 1992.
He was the national politics editor between 2001 and 2007 and is the RTP
correspondent in Washington since August 2007. He also presents and
coordinates the program Choque Ideológico broadcasted by RTP N. He has a
Licenciatura in Social Communications and a Masters in Political Science from
Instituto de Ciências Sociais e Políticas, Technical University of Lisbon. He held
a professorship at the same institute between 1998 and 2007. He is the author of
the following titles: A Agenda de Cavaco Silva (Cavaco Silva’s Agenda), Edição Oficina do Livro,
2005; and Nos Bastidores do Jogo Político (Behind the Scenes of the Political Game), Edição Minerva,
2005.
Rui Grilo is currently the Deputy Coordinator of the Portuguese
Technological Plan. He has occupied several political relevant positions
with the Portuguese Government as advisor to the Prime Minister and the
President. He holds a Licenciatura in Management from University of
Évora and doctoral degree in Management from University of
Hertfordshire, where he specialized in Organizational Change. His area of
interest and expertise is in complexity, management, emerging
technologies, telecommunications and internet-related areas and
psychology.
Bárbara de Oliveira Pinto was born in Portugal in 1982. She is an RTP
journalist since 2003 specialized in cinema coverage and events. She was a
Foundation member of the North Contemporary Ballet in Portugal (1995). In
2002 she graduated in Communications and Audio Visual Production Studies
from London Guildhall University with First Class Honors. In 2001 she
became a member of the EUR'OPERA company in Paris. In 2004 she finished
her Master in Opera Studies from Sheffield University. She was a diplomatic
intern in the Permanent Portuguese Mission to the United Nations during the
63rd General Assembly (2008). In 2009 she became General Manager of
Roadmedia - a TV production company currently responsible for Hollywood.pt a program that
broadcasts weekly in RTPN. Since 2009, she is also an MPAA - Motion Picture Association of America
– member.
Raquel Oliveira concluded her undergraduate studies in Biochemistry by
Faculdade de Ciências, Porto University in 2002. She completed her PhD in
2007, attending the first Doctoral Program in Experimental Biology and
Biomedicine from Centro de Neurociências e Biologia Celular de Coimbra with
a project at Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular (IBMC), Porto University
in Dr. Claudio Sunkel’s lab and Bayreuth University, Germany on cell cycle
and chromosome condensation. After concluding her PhD in 2007, she started a
post-doctoral position in the area of cell cycle regulation at Professor Kim
Nasmyth lab in the Biochemical Department, University of Oxford. In 2008 she
was involved in the creation of PARSUK – Portuguese Association of Researchers and Students in the
United Kigndom – and in July 2008 she was elected President of this association.
Torben Rankine is currently the Country Manager for Leadership Business
Consulting, an international management consulting firm of Portuguese origin
with offices in San Francisco. Torben was born in Lisbon of Scottish and Dutch
parentage. He was educated in England and gained a Business Studies Degree
from Edinburgh University. He also holds a Marketing post-graduate from the
Chartered Institute of Marketing in the United Kingdom and the Series 65 in
the US. He has worked in the financial services and consulting sectors in Europe, South America and the US. While working in Madrid he formed part of the
board of the Forum dos Portugueses whose mission is to assist in the cultural
and social interaction between Spaniards and Portuguese.
Angela Simões completed her BA in Communication and English from University
of San Francisco in 1998. She is currently hi-tech PR for Autodesk. She has spent
the past 8 years doing hi-tech PR, with clients in enterprise software,
semiconductor and electronic design automation, and venture capital. She is very
involved in the Portuguese community, working with various organizations such as
the Portuguese Historical Museum and PALCUS –The Portuguese-American
Leadership Council of the U.S for which she serves in the executive committee.
Paulo Tabuada was born in Lisbon, Portugal, one year after the Carnation
Revolution. He received his "Licenciatura" degree in Aerospace Engineering
from Instituto Superior Técnico, Lisbon, Portugal in 1998 and his PhD. degree
in Electrical and Computer Engineering in 2002 from the Institute for Systems
and Robotics, a private research institute associated with Instituto Superior
Técnico. He was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Pennsylvania and
an Assistant Professor at University of Notre Dame for thre years. He then
joined the Electrical Engineering Department at the University of California at
Los Angeles, where he directs the Cyber-Physical Systems Laboratory. Paulo
received numerous distinctions such as the Portuguese Science Foundation
Francisco de Holanda prize in 1998 for the best research project with an artistic
or aesthetic component, the NSF CAREER award in 2005, and the 2009 Donald P. Eckman Award
from the American Automatic Control Council. He is an IEEE Senior Member and co-edited the
volume Networked Embedded Sensing and Control published by Springer, co-chaired the International
Conference Hybrid Systems: Computation and Control 2009 (HSCC'09). His research interests include
modeling, analysis, and control of real-time, embedded, networked, and distributed systems; geometric
control theory and mathematical systems theory.
Francisco Veloso is an Associate Professor in the Department of Engineering and
Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University. He also has an appointment with
the Business School at the Portuguese Catholic University. Since 2007, Francisco
is the Educational Director for the Carnegie Mellon – Portugal Program.
Francisco's scholarly work focuses on how firms and regions develop and
leverage scientific and technical capabilities for economic growth. He has
published in journals such as Academy of Management Review, Journal of
Operation Management, or Research Policy and worked with a variety of
international firms and organizations, including McKinsey & Co., Alcoa Inc., the
Mexican Science and Technology Foundation, or the European DG of Enterprise
and Industry. He has won several awards including the best paper published in the area of Operations
Management and the Alfred P. Sloan Industry Studies Fellowship. Francisco has a PhD in Technology,
Management and Policy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, an M.S. in Technology
Management from ISEG and a Diploma in Physics Engineering from IST, both part of the Technical
University of Lisbon.
Executive Committee
João Cruz is a MBA graduate from the University of Rhode Island and is
currently involved with a biotech startup in the Boston area. João also holds a
Licenciatura in Applied Mathematics and a Masters in Computer Science from
Instituto Superior Técnico in Lisbon, Portugal. After a brief period at EDP, João
worked as a researcher in the Software Engineering group at INESC, before
being invited to move to the US to work in the software industry. João has been
actively involved with the Portuguese American Post-Graduate Society (PAPS)
since 2007, integrating the Executive Committee in 2007-2008, and becoming
President in 2008-2009.
Rossana Henriques is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Rockefeller
University. Her research in Plant Molecular Biology aims at the
understanding of the mechanisms of protein post-translational
modifications and their importance for signal transduction under
different environmental stimuli. Rossana earned her PhD at the
University of Lisbon in collaboration with the Max-Planck Institute for
Plant Breeding Research in Cologne, Germany. She then moved to
London where she worked as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Royal
Holloway College, University of London. Currently Rossana is PAPS Vice-President and responsible
for the PAPS Newsletter.
Sérgio Duarte is a PhD student in Transplant Immunobiology at the David Geffen
School of Medicine of the University of California Los Angeles. Under the supervision
of Dr. Ana J. Coito he currently focuses on understanding the mechanisms that promote
leukocyte recruitment and migration to the graft in ischemia/reperfusion injury, a
prominent injury in Organ Transplantation. Sérgio got his degree in Biochemistry from
the University of Porto and before coming to UCLA he did his internship at the
Biological Research Center of the University of Szeged, Hungary. He also worked for a year at the
Molecular Genetics Laboratory of the Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar, University of
Porto.
Tiago Freire is an Economics PhD student at Brown University (Providence, RI),
currently working on two projects: the impact on urban wages from internal migration
in Brazil, and corruption in the distribution of aid in post-tsunami Aceh, Indonesia
(where he did field work). Before going to Brown University, Tiago did a MSc in
Economics at the University of Birmingham, UK after working for a year as a Junior
Financial Analyst at Fincor S.A..
Pedro Castelo-Branco did his undergraduate studies in Biology at the University of
Aveiro and his graduate studies in Molecular Biology at Oxford University. Pedro
moved to the US in 2006 and joined the Neurosurgery department as a Research
Fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School working on
viral therapies for brain tumors. Pedro is currently a Research Fellow at the Brain
Tumor Research Center at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto where he
develops combinational cancer therapies for pediatric brain tumors. Pedro joined
PAPS in 2006 and is now responsible for the Toronto regional chapter.
Luís Pedro Coelho is a PhD. student in computational biology at Carnegie
Mellon University. He is interested in furthering the intersection of theoretical and
applied machine learning and is currently working on a proteome-wide computer
supported study of protein subcellular localization in mammalian cells. Luís has a
BS and MS in computer science from Instituto Superior Técnico in Lisbon
(Portugal). Outside academia, Luís produced and starred in theatrical productions
in college. He is currently in the planning phase for a profession show he will
direct with his partner Rita Reis.
Sérgio Miguel Figueiredo is a trained architect and urbanist, a graduate of
Lisbon’s Technical University School of Architecture and Amsterdam Academy
of Architecture with international academic research experience also in Italy and
Japan. After practicing in several high profile offices in Portugal and the
Netherlands, he became a Fulbright scholar and is currently a Doctoral student
at UCLA’s Architecture and Urban Design Department in Los Angeles. His
current research analyses and theorizes the super-modern phenomenon of
'Architectural Tourism,' or how tourism consumption affects architectural
production.
Pedro Gardete is a 4th year PhD student in Business Administration at the Haas
School of Business at UC Berkeley. He specializes in Marketing, more specifically
around the credibility of advertising strategies and retail marketing strategies. Pedro
holds a MA in Economics and a Bachelor's degree in Business from the Catholic
University of Portugal.
Anabela Maia is a PhD student of Biological Sciences at University of Rhode
Island (URI). She is conducting research on the functional morphology of
shark dorsal fins under the supervision of Dr. Cheryl Wilga. She holds a
Licenciatura in Applied Biology to Marine Animal Resources from University
of Lisbon. For two years, she held a research assistant position at Lisbon
Oceanographic Institute, working on fish nursery connectivity. She did two
internships on several aspects of shark biology for National Marine Fisheries
Service in Panama City, FL and at Mote Marine Laboratory, Sarasota, FL. She
is currently responsible for the Rhode Island PAPS Chapter.
Inês de Matos is since 2007 a Visiting PhD student at the Rockefeller University,
NY. Her professional interests are mainly in Immunology and Cell Biology. She is
currently studying the mechanisms employed by dendritic cells (pivotal cells of the
immune system) to regulate lymphocyte function in tolerance and resistance, as well
as the use of dendritic cells to design new therapies and vaccines. Inês joined PAPS
when she arrived in the US in 2007, and since October 2008 is the responsible for
the New York regional chapter of this association.
Andreia Rosa has an undergraduate degree in Economics from Universidade
Nova de Lisboa. She worked for Cifial Brass Works in Atlanta, USA and returned
to Portugal to work as Treasurer for 3 years at the multinational Banco Cetelem.
She is currently pursuing a MBA at Boston University. She is currently responsible
for the Boston PAPS Chapter.
Margarida Soares is an Economics PhD student at the University of Chicago.
She is currently in the third year of the program and does research in the fields
of Industrial Organization and Labor Economics, in particular Margarida is
interested in in the impact of the internet in the way the firms relate with each
other and with consumers and the several dimensions of family life that shape
the formation of Human Capital. Previously she did an Economics BA at New
University in Lisbon.