Madeira Interactive Technologies Institute

Madeira Interactive Technologies Institute
Madeira Interactive Technologies Institute
Former names
 M-ITI
Established December 2009
Type Public university institutes
President Nuno Jardim Nunes
Vice-president Valentina Nisi, Pedro Campos
Students 175
Postgraduates 25
150
Location Funchal, Portugal
Campus Suburban, Lecture Halls, Scientific Lab, Library, Dining Hall
Nickname M-ITI
Website http://www.m-iti.org
M-ITI LOGO.png

thumbnail The Madeira Interactive Technologies Institute (M-ITI) was conceived in 2000, formally integrated as a research group in 2007, and established as an Innovation Institute in 2010. A result from a collaborative connection between the University of Madeira, Madeira Tecnopolo, and Carnegie Mellon University. M-ITI has also been a member of the National Associated Laboratory for Robotics and Systems in Engineering and Science (LARSyS) since 2011.

M-ITI operates in the interdisciplinary domain of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), encapsulating contributions from the disciplines of Computer Sciences, Psychology and Social Sciences, and Design, with the goal of engaging in important scientific and technological challenges. ICT solutions for aging populations, sustainability and digital culture, are three such challenges that bear increasingly significant societal and economic impacts.

Vision

M-ITI’s vision is to become an influential and internationally recognized centre for research and education in HCI, wherein M-ITI will serve as an “innovation engine” for driving leading-edge research and advancing the strategic development of the University, and region of Madeira, through the following goals:

Carnegie Mellon | Portugal International Partnerhsip

A key factor in the development of M-ITI is its long-standing partnership with the Human-Computer Interaction Institute (HCII) at Carnegie Mellon University (USA), which was founded by computer science pioneers Allen Newell (Turing Award) and Herbert A. Simon (Turing Award and Nobel Prize in Economics). The HCII at Carnegie Mellon is recognized as a worldwide leader in HCI research. M-ITI grew through this collaboration, which was made possible by the Carnegie Mellon | Portugal International Partnership, an initiative conducted by the Portuguese national government that supports collaborative teaching and research between universities in Portugal and Carnegie Mellon University.

Educational Programs

° These programs are taught partially in Funchal, in University of Madeira - Portugal, and partially in Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA - USA.

Research

Research at M-ITI is driven bottom-up via the efforts of individual researchers. M-ITI developed a culture focused on interdisciplinary work for real world impact. Taking advantage of the rigidity and lack of critical mass in Portuguese academia it created a true international and interdisciplinary institute in HCI. M-ITI embraced new areas where the base expertise in technology and infrastructure is used to tackle important problems. Many of the accomplished achievements were conducted in a very short period of time due to the Carnegie Mellon | Portugal International Partnership.

External Evaluation

These have been recognized by several independent evaluation committees, in particular the External Review Committee of the programme composed by Professors Sir John O’Reilly, Vice-Chancellor of Cranfield U. (UK); Luigia Aiello, of Sapienza U. of Roma (Italy); Tariq Durrani, of Strathclyde U. (UK); and Joel Moses, Former Provost of MIT (USA).
Through their independent assessments, M-ITI’s potential as a leading research centre is expressed in the following quotes:

  1. (...)"We were pleased to see that the new Institute in Madeira relating to Human Computer Interaction (HCI), proposed last year, has now been established. This we consider an imaginative and important development of considerable potential benefit, catalyzed by the Carnegie Mellon Portugal programme." (...)
  2. “The proposal from the Madeira team impressed the ERC. Given the support from FCT and other sources and the collaboration with Carnegie Mellon we are of the view that the team has the potential to establish a world class research Centre, one distinctive internationally and we believe unparalleled in Europe.”
  3. “(…) The MHCI Program delivered in Madeira has been successful in attracting a high quality intake of students, including international participants, who have benefited from the Carnegie Mellon experience. (…) Graduates from the Programs have been contributing to their companies and are being recognised as seeds of change.”

M-ITI’s achievements were further recognised in the external evaluation conducted by the FCT, whose panel represents two world-renowned experts in HCI, Prof. Dan Olsen, of Brigham Young University (USA), and Prof. Erik Stolterman, of Indiana University (USA):

  1. “This is an interesting institute in that it is located in one of the more obscure parts of Europe and yet affiliated with the HCI Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. This affiliation is both a strength and a weakness. Because of its affiliation M-ITI has a profile and an attractiveness way beyond its normal capabilities. This is a great strength. On the other hand this comes with a financial price.”
  2. “I find the idea, vision and purpose of the M-ITI to be well developed and situated in the international research field of HCI. I find the people and the ongoing research to be excellent, and I believe the institute will be able to establish itself as one of the top international research centers in the field. Overall I judge the M-ITI to be an excellent research unit.”

Location

Campus

M-ITI is located in Funchal, Madeira Archipelago, Portugal. Autonomous Region of Madeira, an outermost region of Europe. 32°39′32″N 16°55′28″W / 32.65889°N 16.92444°WCoordinates: 32°39′32″N 16°55′28″W / 32.65889°N 16.92444°W

External links