“We seek to develop technologies that help people’s quality of life”

Within the framework of the Day of Creativity and Innovation, Dr. Aldonza Jaques, director of Innovation and Technology Transfer, specified that the USM has 150 patents that have been granted.

Due to its relevance in the lives of people and in the development of countries, in 2017 the United Nations Organization (UN) decided to designate April 21 as World Day of Creativity and Innovation.

And it is that, without a doubt, thanks to the creation and the possibility of innovating in different aspects of society, it is possible to solve certain problems and have a positive impact, for example, on health, economic growth or environmental issues.

In this regard, the director of Innovation and Technology Transfer (ITT) of the Federico Santa María Technical University, Dr. Aldonza Jaques, specified that “as a university focused on science, engineering, architecture and technology, we have a lot to contribute in the field of innovation and, proof of this, is the record that we have in registered patents – 150 in total – in declaration of invention and 106 technologies protected by patents, which gives an idea about the creativity and approach that our researchers have to to be able to take knowledge and bring it to practical solutions that society needs”.

He added that “we have a very solid academic body, teachers and researchers, each one within their disciplines, where in their line of research they seek to solve a problem that afflicts society in various areas that range from having healthy foods to combating the climate change or make Chile more sustainable”.

Likewise, the director of the ITT explained that “at the USM, following the guidelines of Corfo and ANID (National Agency for Research and Development), we encourage research products to be transformed into patents that indicate that there is something new for the solution of a existing problem, then in the R+D+I (Research, Development and Innovation) rankings, we are in the top 10 of the most competitive universities in Chile”.

Virtuous circle

Dr. Jaques indicated that “as USM we seek to develop technologies and solutions that help people’s quality of life, the essential thing being to reach the next level, which is to complete the virtuous circle from the idea to the venture, passing through the invention, innovation to technology transfer and taking it to society to achieve commercialization or entrepreneurship and, finally, the direct product to the people”.

In this sense, she was emphatic in pointing out that “if we want Chile to stop being an exporter of raw materials such as copper, paper pulp, salmon or fruit and we want processed products to be exported, we must be able to have technological competitiveness. We as USM must be able to transform the knowledge that is generated within the university, the original knowledge, into innovative products that are used for the well-being of society”.