International Collaboration

UT-Austin is keen to continue the collaboration efforts with the other international institutions within FCT’s International Partnerships Program, namely the Fraunhofer Society, Carnegie Mellon University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with which several activities have been co-organized.

 

Specifically, the Advanced Computing Program collaborates with the following institutions:

- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Professors David Padua and Wen-Mei Hwu)

- Argonne National Laboratory, Chicago, Illinois (Dr. Marc Snir)

- Sungard (Dr. Indu Kodukula, CTO)

- NVIDIA (Dr. Michael Garland)

- IBM (Dr. Pratap Pattnaik)

- University of Padova, Italy (Professor Gianfranco Bilardi)

 

Several of these individuals have taught short courses in the past at Minho and Porto, and they have worked with faculty and students in Portuguese Institutions. In addition, NVIDIA has donated equipment to the University of Minho, and it has hosted visits from Portuguese students that were arranged through CoLab. The plan is to continue collaborating with these individuals through the two workshops that are proposed to occur in Portugal every year.

The benefits of cross-cultural exchange have been well investigated and well cited; the potential for cross-cultural research opens up possibilities that are unthinkable in a homogeneous context.  Each participant in the research portions of the program holds a particular worldview, based on his/her past experience and native culture that shapes the ideas and innovations s/he brings to the program.  By mixing these backgrounds together in collaborative investigations, new ways of thinking will emerge, problems will be seen through the eyes of a different culture, and solutions can precipitate in new and exciting ways.  Not only is the potential of each researcher enhanced in the atmosphere of this international research program, resources and raw materials can be shared and exchanged as well.

Also through the proposed work, the relationships between Portugal and The University of Texas at Austin in nanoscience and nanotechnology will continue to open thoroughfares of information and idea sharing that enrich the scientific community as a whole, and expand each country’s and institution’s understanding of one another’s potential.  The possibilities established in the proposed work will be particularly important for students and young investigators who will be enriched through the interactions, and additionally, may take advantage of longer periods of stay and exchange in a foreign country.