João Barros
Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Porto, Portugal
AI Hits the Streets
The Age of AI is definitely here, and no city or industry will be left untouched. Based on real-world deployments, we will show how the combination of advanced connectivity and edge processing can deliver the fresh, real-time maps that are needed to power the next generation of driver assistance and autonomous mobility services.
Given the massive amounts of data that need to be processed in real-time, running AI models at the edge in a distributed way emerges as the critical path for scaling up these services in an economically feasible way.
Bio
An award-winning wireless engineer, academic leader and passionate entrepreneur, João loves to turn complex theorems and algorithms into products and services that can make a real difference in people’s lives.
During the 23 years he spent developing new wireless networking and intelligent transportation technologies, João Barros held appointments at Technische Universitaet Muenchen, Universidade do Porto, MIT, Carnegie Mellon and Stanford, while founding two venture-backed startups, Streambolico and Veniam, where he served as CEO until the acquisition by Nexar Inc in 2022. His work has led to one book, 180 science and technology papers, 22 International patents, and feature articles by NPR, BBC, MIT Technology Review, The Atlantic, and TechCrunch, among others.
Prof. Barros is an IEEE Fellow, was awarded two Fulbright scholarships, and served as principal investigator for several national and European projects and has received numerous awards, including the 2010 IEEE Communications Society Young Researcher Award for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, the 2011 IEEE ComSoC and Information Theory Society Joint Paper Award, CableLabs, Wireless broadband alliance, TU Automotive, and a state-wide best teaching award by the Bavarian State Ministry of Sciences, Research and the Arts. He has a PhD degree in Electrical Engineering and Information Technology from the Technische Universitaet Muenchen (Germany), his undergraduate education in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the Universidade do Porto, Portugal and Universitaet Karlsruhe, Germany, and a performing arts degree in flute from the Music Conservatory of Porto, Portugal.
