João Barros

João Barros is an electrical and computer engineer, university professor, academic leader and passionate entrepreneur, who loves to turn complex theorems and algorithms into technologies, products and services that can make a real difference in people’s lives. For the past 25 years, he has worked mostly on wireless networks and intelligent transportation systems with special emphasis on sensor networks, physical-layer security, network coding, vehicular networks and edge AI. Barros received his undergraduate education in electrical and computer engineering from the Universidade do Porto, Portugal and Universitaet Karlsruhe. He completed his Ph.D. in electrical engineering and information technology at Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TUM), Germany. At the Universidade do Porto, Portugal, he served as full professor and founding director of the Instituto de Telecomunicações - Porto and taught MBA-level courses at Porto Business School.

Barros has held visiting appointments at MIT, Cornell and Stanford University. Between 2009 and 2012, Barros served as the national director of the CMU-Portugal program, a $77M research initiative of the Portuguese Government in partnership with Carnegie Mellon University. On the entrepreneurship side, Barros co-founded two venture-backed startups, Streambolico and Veniam, where he led the company as CEO for 10 years until the successful acquisition by Nexar Inc in August 2022. His last corporate position was Chief Platform Officer of Nexar.

Barros is an IEEE Fellow and a twice Fulbright alumnus. His work has led to more than 180 science and technology papers, 22 international patents, a book published by Cambridge University Press, and feature articles by NPR, BBC, MIT Technology Review, the Atlantic, CNBC and TechCrunch, among others. His publications have received more than 12,000 citations, as well as 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. He also received a state-wide best teaching award by the Bavarian State Ministry of Sciences, Research and the Arts.

Barros holds a performing arts degree from the Music Conservatory of Porto, Portugal where he plays regularly with various music ensembles, including his wife and three sons