Brazilian partnership a testament to Grainger Engineering’s global reach
Written by Jeni Bushman
Meet the Insper Program
In a testimony to the University of Illinois’ exceptional international reach, a collaborative exchange with a Brazilian nonprofit is now entering its fourth year.
Founded in Sao Paolo in 2021, the Insper Institute of Education and Research (Insper) offers undergraduate education in seven disciplines including engineering and computer science. Through an immersive partnership with the Grainger College of Engineering and the Siebel School of Computing and Data Science, the Insper program pairs Brazilian exchange students with co-PIs from both schools to conduct joint research projects on the Urbana-Champaign campus. The collaboration also offers sabbaticals, postdocs, fellowships and internships for Insper faculty and students.
By the Numbers
The Illinois Impact
Through curriculum development and mentored teaching opportunities at Illinois, hosted faculty and postdocs are acquiring the skills and resources needed to tackle their next goal: establishing Insper graduate programs in computer science and engineering. The partnership benefits both institutions, engaging Illinois faculty members in curriculum consulting and design.
“The University of Illinois partnership is instrumental for our inspiration in designing curriculum — especially the CS+X initiative. We intend to have computing permeate every one of our degrees, from law to business and economics.” - Fabio Miranda, Insper Brazilian coordinator
Testimonials
Luciano Soares, Insper associate professor of engineering: “Because Insper does not have any graduate programs in engineering or computer science, our students cannot see other masters or PhD students working (in those disciplines). But at Illinois, they can experience these super modern laboratories and see what it is like to do research in their field. Watching other graduate students develop sophisticated research shows them what is possible.”
Andre Correa Santos, Computer Engineering major mentored by Nancy Amato for his project on manual learning in robots: “Beyond technical skills, I learned how to adjust the way I work. I think this experience helped me acquire the patience needed to improve (my) research and publishing quality.”
Eduardo Mendes Vaz, Computer Science major studying AI tools for crop data collection under John Reid: “This program was the most important thing I did in my undergraduate (career). Talking to my professor and the PhD students in my lab about their experiences made me feel a lot more secure about the number of opportunities in my field. It was really good to have that networking.”
Laura Pontiroli Machado, Computer Science major investigating live neurons for computational purposes with advisor Nancy Amato: “I've seen here how many fields can intersect with computer science. I enjoyed how there is space for every subject, as well as space for changing (your) mind and exploring other areas.”
Joao Lucas de Moraes Barros Cadorniga, Computer Science major using semantics to control the assisted navigation of robots under Nancy Amato: “I joined this program because I knew that the Siebel School was a place for curious people. This was a great opportunity to discover new things — about research, and about myself.”
Henrique Bucci Rodrigues Netto, Computer Science major working with John Reid in the field of digital agriculture: “I’ve always liked having the freedom to be creative with my work. My project had a main direction, but my advisor gave me freedom to develop the solution by whatever means I thought was best. I also loved having the opportunity to talk to my co-workers and people outside of my research group. I got insight from people who weren't familiar with my project and learned how to restructure my own thinking to see different perspectives of a problem.”