Heitor, Manuel V. 1958- (Manuel Frederico Tojal de Valsassina Heitor)

views updated

Heitor, Manuel V. 1958- (Manuel Frederico Tojal de Valsassina Heitor)

PERSONAL:

Born September 21, 1958, in Lisbon, Portugal; son of Frederico Lucio and Maria Manuela de Oliveira Tojal de Valsassina Heitor; married; wife's name Joana. Education: Technical University of Lisbon, diploma, 1981, D.Sc., 1992; University of London, Ph.D., 1985.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Palacio das Laranjeiras, Estrada das Laranjeiras, 205, 1649-018 Lisbon, Portugal. E-mail—gasinete@mctes.gov.pt.

CAREER:

Academician. Technical University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal, lecturer, 1985, assistant professor, 1986-91, associate professor, 1991-95, professor, 1995— deputy-president of the Instituto Superior Técnico, 1993-98,; Center for Innovation, Technology, and Policy Research, Lisbon, founder and director, 1998-2004; Government of Portugal, Secretary of State of Sciences, Technology, and Higher Education, Lisbon, 2005—. University of California, San Diego, postdoctoral researcher, 1986; Combustion Institute, Portuguese section, president, 1995-2002; University of Texas, Austin IC2 Institute, senior research fellow, 1996—.

WRITINGS:

(Editor, with F. Culick and J.H. Whitelaw) Unsteady Combustion, Kluwer Academic (Boston, MA), 1996.

(Editor, with Pedro Conceicao and Bengt-Aiske Lundvall) Innovation, Competence Building, and Social Cohesion in Europe: Towards a Learning Society, Edward Elgar (Northhampton, MA), 2003.

(Editor, with David V. Gibson and Alejandro Ibarra-Yunez) Learning and Knowledge for the Network Society, Purdue University Press (West Lafayette, IN), 2005.

(Editor, with Marina van Geenhuizen and David V. Gibson) Regional Development and Conditions for Innovation in the Network Society, Purdue University Press (West Lafayette, IN), 2005.

(Editor, with Pedro Conceicao) Innovation for All? Learning from the Portuguese Path to Technical Change and the Dynamics of Innovation, foreword by Jean-Pierre Contzen, Praeger (Westport, CT), 2005.

(Editor, with David V. Gibson and Alejandro Ibarra-Yunez) Connecting People, Ideas, and Resources across Communities, Purdue University Press (West Lafayette, IN), 2007.

Contributor to academic journals, including Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Industrial Marketing Management Journal, Higher Education Policy, Combustion Science and Technology, Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science, Higher Education Management, Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences, Thermal Science, and International Journal of Technology, Policy, and Management. Editor of journals, including Technological Forecasting and Social Change and International Journal of Technology, Policy, and Management.

SIDELIGHTS:

Manuel V. Heitor is a Portuguese academician and engineer. Born in Lisbon, Portugal, Heitor earned degrees in mechanical engineering from the Technical University of Lisbon and the University of London. Heitor began lecturing in the field in 1985 and later founded and directed Lisbon's Center for Innovation, Technology, and Policy Research. In 2005 he was appointed as Portugal's Secretary of State of Sciences, Technology, and Higher Education.

Heitor edited Unsteady Combustion in 1996 with F. Culick and J.H. Whitelaw. The technical book covers the topics of combustion-induced oscillations, internal combustion engines, and experimental techniques and modeling. In 2003 Heitor published Innovation, Competence Building, and Social Cohesion in Europe: Towards a Learning Society. Edited with Pedro Conceicao and Bengt-Aiske Lundvall, the book collects fourteen essays from two seminars in Lisbon in the early 2000s by sociologists, global business economists, and government officials about various approaches they take in their respective fields to foster innovation, promote organizational learning, build competencies, and work towards social togetherness.

Heitor published Learning and Knowledge for the Network Society in 2005. Edited with David V. Gibson and Alejandro Ibarra-Yunez, the book is a compilation of essays by authors in the academic, business, and government sectors and deals with the role of science and technology as a tool to promote economic development around the globe. The various chapters of the book outline how to build a "learning economy," networking for improved economic development in a specific region, and solutions for overcoming communication and language barriers. The book is illustrated with charts and graphs and supported with a bibliography. Able Greenspan, writing in the Midwest Book Review, called the information in the book "valuable and cutting-edge assessments."

Heitor published two other books in 2005. The first, Regional Development and Conditions for Innovation in the Network Society, was edited with Marina van Geenhuizen and David V. Gibson. The book examines the changes in the business world since 2000, highlighting the rise of importance in innovation and adaptation. The book emphasizes knowledge-induced growth from wealthy countries and contrasts it with the potential and difficulties of lesser developed countries. The second book is Innovation for All? Learning from the Portuguese Path to Technical Change and the Dynamics of Innovation, which he edited with Pedro Conceicao and appended a foreword by Jean-Pierre Contzen. The book takes a look at the different reasons companies need to be innovative and adaptive to change, including technological advances, changes to the regulatory framework of the industry itself, change in consumer spending and tastes, upcoming demographic trends, and significant changes in global geopolitics. The book uses Portugal as the case study to apply various innovation theories.

In 2007 Heitor published Connecting People, Ideas, and Resources across Communities through Purdue University Press. Edited with David V. Gibson and Alejandro Ibarra-Yunez, the book deals with the challenges in coordinating communication and exchange of ideas across boundaries in order to compete globally and create a foundation for solid business practices. The editors also look at the asymmetrical global distribution of the means to create wealth through communication and cross-community exchange.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Journal of Economic Literature, March, 2004, review of Innovation, Competence Building, and Social Cohesion in Europe: Towards a Learning Society, p. 317.

Midwest Book Review, March, 2005, Able Greenspan, review of Learning and Knowledge for the Network Society.

Reference & Research Book News, May, 2005, review of Innovation for All? Learning from the Portuguese Path to Technical Change and the Dynamics of Innovation, p. 101.