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.
He currently serves as Research Professor at Carnegie Mellon University, while training the next generation of African tech leaders at the CMU Africa campus in Kigali, Rwanda. 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.
João 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 Ph.D. 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.