Meeting Stimulates Student Clubs, Information Sharing

The chapter and the Portuguese AFCEA student clubs held their third annual student clubs meeting in May at the Portuguese Naval Academy to stimulate club action and to encourage government, industry and academia to exchange information about defense R&D. During the meeting, the Almada, Covilha and Porto student clubs had the opportunity to expose their capabilities, activities and projects. The student clubs are linked to the national scientific and technological system to prompt academic work that addresses the needs and opportunities of technological development in the defense and security sectors. Regina Salvador, a professor at the New University of Lisbon (NOVA), presented the opening speech, which addressed the theme "Challenges and Opportunities in the Maritime Domain." Cmdr. Luis Arsenio, PRT N, head of research and development, Director General of National Defense Resources, identified priority technology areas for defense and provided guidelines for future research and development projects involving industry and military end users. John Rodrigues of INOV INESC Innovation moderated a discussion following student club presentations. Fernando Carvalho Rodrigues, professor emeritus, Institute of Art, Design and Enterprise (IADE-U), began the roundtable on the theme "Innovation and Project Opportunities for Defense and Security," stressing the importance of innovation in the national scientific and technological system. Then, an industry panel debated the importance of innovation, the need to attract and retain talent, and the skills required in the future. The companies represented on the panel included Altice Labs, Axians, CRITICAL Software, Edisoft/Thales Group, Indra, Microsoft, Tekever and Vision-Box.