University of Porto Vice Rector Visits Texas

1 May 2010

UTEN Austin hosted visitors from the University of Porto on April 22 and 23, 2010.

UTEN Austin hosted visitors from the University of Porto on April 22 and 23, 2010. Professor Jorge Gonçalves, vice rector; Clara Gonçalves, UPTEC director; and Joana Miranda, UPMEDIA, followed up on previous visits that concerned the University of Porto’s growing creative-industry and medical-bio-incubation partnerships with Austin and Texas. A visit to San Antonio's INCELL Corporation, LLC, included discussions with Dr. Mary Pat Moyer, founder, president, CEO, and chief science officer, and James V. Janowiak, vice president, finance and administration. The group talked about sharing UPTEC's lessons learned in the building of Porto’s new bio and wet-lab facilities. It also discussed taking the INCELL incubation model to Porto. While in San Antonio, the Portuguese guests visited South Texas Technology Management to thank it for hosting three Portuguese TTO interns during the past months. The group also wanted to learn more about the general operation of STTM as a South Texas TTO concerning lessons learned so that it could take this information back to the University of Porto.

Austin visits focused on the College of Communication's film production facilities. Keefe Boerner, technical facilities manager, and Karen Gustafson, program manager, CoLab Advanced Digital Media, provided an overview. Boerner and Gustafson also discussed best practices for the design, building, and outfitting of Porto’s film and TV studios which are currently under construction. (See image with whiteboards. Left to Right: Prentiss Riddle, CoLab Austin; Karen Gustafson; Joana Miranda; Clara Goncalves; Keefe Boerner; and Jorge Goncalves in the College of Communication's film and TV studios at UT Austin.)

The UTEN team arranged visits that concerned a closer collaboration between creative industries in Porto and the City of Austin. The group met with Jim Butler, creative industries development manager, City of Austin, and Mark Hall, an Austin-based film producer and director. During the filming of “True Grit,” the current Coen Brothers film, the group toured Austin Studios with Martin Parrington, facilities manager. (See photo with Soundcheck in the background. Left to Right: Cliff Zintgraff, UTEN Austin; Jorge Goncalves; Joana Miranda; Mark Hall; Clara Goncalves; and David Gibson at Austin Studios.) The group focused on ways to effectively stimulate and build Porto's creative industries initiative and foster collaboration with UT Austin and Austin's film and creative arts communities. As an example of building collaboration, the Austin Film Society featured six Portuguese films in Austin theaters from April 13 to May 7, 2010.

The group also visited UT Austin’s Visual Arts Center (as a follow-up to Director Jade Walker’s April 2010 visit to Porto) to meet with Associate Professor Dan Olsen; Xochi Q. Solis, director of events and public programming; and Peter Hall and Daniel Olsen, professors of design. Discussion focused on collaboration possibilities for UT Austin and Porto. For example, the Universities might host student interns in creative industry education and production activities in digital media and visual arts, or UT Austin's VAC might feature Porto’s creative arts.

As stated by Vice Rector Jorge Gonçalves, “On top of the common interests that both parties have on this [CoLab] project, I am learning that people from Portugal and Texas share other characteristics. These institutional contacts are becoming also personal and this, from my point of view, is an advantage because [it] will make people more involved for sustainable partnerships.”