FCT scholarship holder wins the Babbage Industrial Innovation Awards 2022

Afonso Amaral, a fellow of the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the Dual CMU Portugal PhD Programme, was distinguished for his work with the first prize of 10 thousand dollars in the Babbage Industrial Innovation Policy Awards 2022, with the winning article "National and Sub-National Policy for Domestic Manufacturing Flexibility: A Policy Framework to Incentivize Flexibility Based on Lessons from the COVID-19 Medical Supply Response" and co-authored with Nikhil Kalathil.

The article is based on a case study of five countries to assess the different policies implemented by Germany, Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, and the United States of America to help domestic companies increase or control their production and medical equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A PhD student in Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU Portugal) and the Instituto Superior Técnico of the University of Lisbon (IST-UL), Afonso Amaral is dedicated to industrial policy and specialises in maturity models and implementation of critical technologies in Small and Medium Enterprises, their integration in Industry 4.0 and benefits of digital transformation.

The CMU Portugal Programme, funded by FCT, seeks to promote industry-academia relations as a driver of change with economic and social impact in the area of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), in the area of advanced training in which Dual Degree Doctoral Programmes are developed, where admitted candidates may spend up to two years at CMU and up to three years at a University affiliated to the CMU Portugal Programme. Upon successful completion of the Doctoral Programme candidates receive a PhD degree awarded by CMU and another PhD degree awarded by the corresponding Portuguese University.

Photo Credits: CMU Portugal