Governance & Coordination Team

At its core, the MIT Portugal Program (MPP) is a collaboration of people – individuals with diverse talents, experiences and perspectives united around a common mission to devise novel and robust solutions to some of society’s thorniest challenges. It is the people at all levels of the program that have sustained its success over two decades and continue to drive new partnerships, research and innovation.

Program Directors

MPP Program Directors appointed by MIT and the Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation, or FCT) work together to oversee, direct and coordinate the activities of all entities participating in the program. Representing several academic disciplines and interests, the current MPP Program Directors are:

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Alexandre Ferreira da Silva

Professor in the Department of Industrial Electronics at UMinho, National Co-Director of MIT Portugal Program

Portugal

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Alexandre Ferreira da Silva

Professor in the Department of Industrial Electronics at UMinho, National Co-Director of MIT Portugal Program

Portugal

Bio

ALEXANDRE FERREIRA DA SILVA graduated in 2007 in Biomedical Engineering (Integrated Masters, Post-Bologna) at the University of Minho, Braga, Portugal. He obtained his PhD in 2011 in Leaders for Technical Industries at the same institution, through the MIT-Portugal Program in the Engineering Design and Advanced Manufacturing (EDAM) focus area. In 2023, he completed the Space Studies Program at the International Space University, held at ITA and INPE in São José dos Campos, Brazil, and in 2025, the "CubeSat Development Advanced Study Course" at ISU, Strasbourg.
Currently, he is an Assistant Professor in Electronic Instrumentation and Microsystems at the Department of Industrial Electronics, University of Minho, where he has been teaching since 2014. Since 2011, he has also been an invited professor (equivalent to assistant professor) for the MIT Portugal Program’s EDAM focus area at the University of Minho. Between 2018 and 2021, he served as Executive Coordinator of the MIT Portugal Program.
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João Pedro Barreto

Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at UCoimbra, National Co-Director of MIT Portugal Program

Portugal

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João Pedro Barreto

Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at UCoimbra, National Co-Director of MIT Portugal Program

Portugal

Bio

Joao P. Barreto holds a Ph.D. degree from the University of Coimbra (UC). He was visiting scholar in INRIA Rhone-Alpes, Grenoble, France, and a postdoctoral researcher in the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, before joining the UC as a Professor. Joao is an acknowledged expert in camera modeling and multi-view 3D reconstruction, being the author of more than 80 peer-reviewed articles in the most prestigious journals and conferences. He is the recipient of several academic distinctions and awards including the “Google Faculty Research Award”, was Area Chair in ECCV’2018 and currently serves as Associate Editor in the journals “Computer Vision and Image Understanding”, “Image and Vision Computing” and “Journal of Mathematical Image and Vision. Joao is also an entrepreneur having co-founded Perceive3D SA (P3D) in 2013. P3D builds in advanced knowledge in computer vision to provide advanced systems for improving visualization and guiding the surgeon during minimally invasive orthopedic procedures. Joao has been the CEO of P3D since foundation being responsible for R&D, Business Development and Investor Relations. The company has raised so far 1M€ in private capital and more than 2M€ in R&D grants having been recently awarded with the prestigious SMEi Phase 2 from the EU commission.
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R. John Hansman

T. Wilson Professor of Aeronautics & Astronautics at MIT, Co-Director of MIT Portugal Program at MIT

MIT

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R. John Hansman

T. Wilson Professor of Aeronautics & Astronautics at MIT, Co-Director of MIT Portugal Program at MIT

MIT

Bio

R. John Hansman is the T. Wilson Professor of Aeronautics & Astronautics at MIT and the Director of the MIT International Center for Air Transportation. He conducts research in the application of information technology in operational aerospace systems. Dr. Hansman holds 6 patents and has authored over 250 technical publications. He has over 6000 hours of pilot in-command time in airplanes, helicopters and sailplanes including meteorological, production and engineering flight test experience. Professor Hansman chairs the US Federal Aviation Administration Research Engineering & Development Advisory Committee (REDAC) as well as other national and international advisory committees. He is a member of the US National Academy of Engineering (NAE), is a Fellow of the AIAA and has received numerous awards including the AIAA Dryden Lectureship in Aeronautics Research, the ATCA Kriske Air Traffic Award, Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award, a Laurel from Aviation Week & Space Technology, and the FAA Excellence in Aviation Award.
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Douglas P. Hart

Co-Director MIT Portugal Program, MIT

MIT

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Douglas P. Hart

Co-Director MIT Portugal Program, MIT

MIT

Bio

Professor of mechanical engineering, co-director of the MIT Portugal Program, and faculty director of the MIT Undergraduate Professional Opportunities Program (UPOP) and the Gordon Engineering Leadership program (GEL). Doug has been involved in the successful commercial development of technologies ranging from satellite propulsion and aerial drones to surgical robots. He is the former head of the Hatsopoulos Microfluids Laboratory, and the Controls, Instrumentation, and Robotics division of MIT Mechanical Engineering and currently teaches and conducts research in the areas of autonomous ocean vehicles, design, instrumentation, and energy storage systems.

Program Board

Steering the MPP’s governance as members of the Program Board are individuals on both sides of the Atlantic. They oversee policy with respect to overall program objectives and are responsible for approving the MPP’s annual plan and budget for proposed activities. For MIT, Program Board members are:

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Duane Boning

Vice Provost for International Activities

MIT

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Duane Boning

Vice Provost for International Activities

MIT

Bio

Duane Boning is the vice provost for international activities, providing intellectual leadership, guidance, and oversight of the Institute’s international engagements and policies. As the Clarence J. LeBel Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS), his research focuses on machine learning and statistical methods for modeling and control of variation in semiconductor and photonic manufacturing processes, devices, and circuits, with more than 300 journal and conference publications on these topics.
Prior to joining the faculty MIT in 1992, Boning worked at Texas Instruments from 1991 through 1992. He served as editor-in-chief of the IEEE Transactions on Semiconductor Manufacturing from 2001 to 2011. He has held several leadership positions at the Institute, serving as associate department head of EECS from 2004 to 2011, associate director of the Microsystems Technology Laboratories from 2013 to 2024, and as associate chair of the MIT Faculty from 2019 to 2021. Among his previous leadership roles in international collaborations, Boning served as faculty lead of the MIT/Masdar Institute Cooperative Program and faculty lead of the MIT Skoltech Initiative, and as engineering faculty co-director for MIT's Leadership Global Operations Program. He is currently faculty co-director for the MIT Machine Intelligence in Manufacturing and Operations effort. Boning is a Fellow of the IEEE for contributions to modeling and control in semiconductor manufacturing.
Boning earned his SB, SM, and PhD degrees from MIT in electrical engineering and computer science.
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Dava Newman

Director, MIT Media Lab ; Apollo Program Professor of Astronautics at MIT and Harvard–MIT Health, Sciences, and Technology faculty member - MIT senior administration representative

MIT

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Dava Newman

Director, MIT Media Lab ; Apollo Program Professor of Astronautics at MIT and Harvard–MIT Health, Sciences, and Technology faculty member - MIT senior administration representative

MIT

Bio

Dr. Dava Newman is the former Director of the MIT Media Lab, and a former Director of MIT Portugal Program at MIT. She’s also the Apollo Program Professor of Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a Harvard–MIT Health, Sciences, and Technology faculty member. The Hon. Dava Newman served as NASA Deputy Administrator (2015-17), the first female engineer in this role, and was awarded the NASA Distinguished Service Medal. Her research and teaching expertise include aerospace biomedical engineering, astronaut performance, advanced space suit design, leadership development, innovation and space policy. Newman has been principal investigator (PI) on five spaceflight missions flown aboard the Space Shuttle, Russian Mir Space Station, the International Space Station, and recently a mission to the South Pole of the moon. She is best known for her revolutionary BioSuit™ planetary spacesuit. She serves on multiple Aerospace and STEM boards, has >350 scholarly publications and 2 books. Dr. Newman has been awarded 3 honorary doctorates, has circumnavigated the Earth on her sailboat, and co-founded EarthDNA with partner Guillermo Trotti to accelerate solutions for spaceship Earth’s Ocean, Land and Air subsystems by curating satellite data to make the world work for 100% of humanity.
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Evelyn Wang

Vice President for Energy & Climate at MIT

MIT

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Evelyn Wang

Vice President for Energy & Climate at MIT

MIT

Bio

Dr. Evelyn N. Wang is the Vice President for Energy and Climate and the Ford Professor of Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She previously served as the Senate-confirmed Director at the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) from 2023-2025, where she led the Agency’s development, launch, and execution of high-risk, high-reward energy research and development programs. At MIT, she developed technologies for thermal management, energy conversion and storage, and water harvesting and purification. Dr. Wang holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University. She also received an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from MIT. She is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, and Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
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Portuguese Program Board Member

Portugal

External Review Committee

The leadership of the MPP Directors and Program Board is complemented by an independent External Review Committee (ERC) comprising members of the international scientific community. Responsible for reviewing the MPP’s research program and making recommendations to the Directors and the Program Board, ERC members include:

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External Review Committee Placeholder
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External Review Committee Placeholder 2

Coordination Office

Finally, the successful operation of a trans-Atlantic educational and research collaborative would be impossible without the support of MPP’s Coordination Office. Members of the Coordination team oversee the program’s day-to-day operations, manage calls for research proposals and distribution of grants, and reports on all MPP activities and projects. Team members include:

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Deliana Ernst

Administrative Lead

MIT

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Deliana Ernst

Administrative Lead

MIT

Bio

As Director, Global Programs, Deliana works closely with colleagues across the institute to facilitate and coordinate new international research and capacity building programs and efforts. In addition, Deliana provides operational and administrative support to current institute-level international programs, such as the MIT Portugal Program and previously the MIT Skoltech Program.
Prior to joining MIT, Deliana spent many years in the corporate sector, including with Shell and EY. She has a law degree from the Leiden University in the Netherlands, and a LLM in Environmental and Energy Law.
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Natalia Billings

Program Coordinator

MIT

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Natalia Billings

Program Coordinator

MIT

Bio

Natalia is responsible for providing administrative support. Natalia has an extensive administrative experience and is passionate about higher education. She received a Master of Education degree with the concentration in Higher Education Administration from the Northeastern University in 2019. Natalia is fluent in both English and Russian languages.
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Chrissy Mullin

Financial Administrator II

MIT

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Chrissy Mullin

Financial Administrator II

MIT

Bio

Chrissy is responsible for the program’s financial operations. She joined MIT back in May of 2013 at the MIT Federal Credit Union where she worked until joining MIT’s Office for the Vice President of Finance in November 2016.
Chrissy was born and raised in the Boston area. She has a background in finance and prior to coming to MIT, worked in the payment processing center for the Child Support Enforcement Agency under the Department of Revenue.
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Marta Passadouro

Executive Director, Portugal

Portugal

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Marta Passadouro

Executive Director, Portugal

Portugal

Bio

Marta Passadouro is a scientist and innovation leader with a PhD in Biochemical Technology from the University of Coimbra. With nearly 8 years of experience in Molecular Biology research and more than a decade working in health innovation, she has built a career connecting science, healthcare, and innovation ecosystems.
She has extensive experience managing international collaborations, innovation programmes, and multi-stakeholder networks across academia, healthcare, industry, startups, and public institutions. As the former National Lead for a strategic European network of healthcare innovators, she played a key role in strengthening Portugal’s position within the European health innovation landscape.
Currently leading MIT Portugal, Marta focuses on fostering strategic partnerships and advancing world-class R&D collaboration, education, and innovation. She supports the development of high-impact research and technology initiatives while building transatlantic bridges that empower Portuguese scientists to expand the reach, relevance, and global impact of their research within the national R&D ecosystem.
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Beatriz Silva

Communication Officer

Portugal

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Beatriz Silva

Communication Officer

Portugal
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Lília Rocha

Project Officer

Portugal

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Lília Rocha

Project Officer

Portugal