Ecuadorian university committee met UdeC R+D+i+e model

A delegation from the University of Cuenca of Ecuador visited the Concepción campus of the University of Concepción, to learn details about the research, development, entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem of the traditional Penquista university.

This is because the Ecuadorian house of studies, with more than 150 years of tradition, has given itself the task of creating the ‘Innovation Zone of the University of Cuenca – ZIUC’, for which they are currently learning about various Latin American examples on the ground that allow them to obtain the necessary learning to succeed in that objective.

The visit began with an overview of the UdeC by the UdeC Vice Chancellor for R&D, Dr. Andrea Rodríguez Tastets. “Our University is always open to receiving other institutions with which to share experiences, because one always learns from these instances, and in this case from ecosystems that are growing, with which we hope to interact and be able to achieve greater added value to everything. What are we doing, ”commented the authority.

“They,” he added, “started two years ago with a vice-rectorate and are organizing themselves into internal structures to promote research, separating, which is something different from what we have, the academic part itself, training, with respect to the load administered through the vice-rector for research. They have had a sustained growth and, therefore, it is necessary to support and achieve in this way that another University in Latin America can have great standards of productivity and transfer”.

For her part, the Vice Chancellor for Research at the University of Cuenca, Dr. Monserrath Jerves Hermida explained that “our University has 155 years of institutional existence, but only in the last 30 years have we been dedicated to research.” In Chile, he explains, “we have been visiting all the different institutions to be able to visualize and understand how the entire ecosystem and all the instances dialogue and articulate for the development of innovation. We come from the Academy, but all the actors who contribute and energize this system are important in this area”.

“We especially wanted to know the University of Concepción”, he explains, “precisely because we have learned of its high prestige. And, for this reason, although our visit was to Santiago, we have decided to come too. In addition, the University of Cuenca is in the third city of the country, so it has similar characteristics between the cities in which we are located. It has been very inspiring because we are working on what you have already developed, such as all governance, the structure, how to visualize it already in operation and successfully in its development”.

In addition to both vice rectors, the following participated in the activity: the Director of Research and Artistic Creation, Dr. Ronald Mennickent Cid; the director of Development and Innovation, Dr. Jorge Carpinelli Pavisich; and from the Ecuadorian university Dr. Gustavo Flores Sánchez, Dr. Silvana Astudillo Durán, Dr. Juan Aguirre Quezada and Dr. Zaida Gutiérrez Castro.

The agenda continued with a detailed presentation of UdeC’s R&D&i&e indicators by Dr. Mennickent and other more specific ones on industrial property by Ximena Sepúlveda Barrera; Innovation Districts, Dr. Pablo Catalán Martínez; IncubaUdeC, Beatriz Millán Jara; and Office of Transfer and Licensing, Andrea Catalán Lobos; to close with a visit to the zero waste copper production pilot plant, guided by Dr. Roberto Parra Figueroa.