• Between October 09^th and 12^th, representatives of all the countries in Latin America and the Caribbean will participate in more than 50 lectures and symposiums at Universidad de Santiago de Chile, where they will contribute with their multidisciplinary views about the scientific, technological and cultural aspects of this geographical area.
• This important meeting will have the presence of the Argentinean poet Ernesto Kahan, who is part of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War Federation (Recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize 1985) and the renowned Brazilian economist and social scientist, Theotonio dos Santos, a leading exponent of the dependency theory.
• According to Dr Fernando Estenssoro, acting director of the Institute for Advanced Studies of Universidad de Santiago and member of the organizing committee, this fourth version of the congress seeks to strengthen the development of the scientific and academic thinking in Latin America, “In order to benefit the people in our region and the world, showing our points of view and our demands.”

On October 09^th, the opening ceremony of the “IV Congress on Sciences, Technologies and Cultures: Looking towards the future of Latin America and the Caribbean” was held at the Aula Magna of Universidad de Santiago de Chile. The activity was organized by the Institute for Advanced Studies (IDEA, in Spanish) of Universidad de Santiago to promote a multidisciplinary debate on different issues that affect this part of the world.

Dr Fernando Estenssoro, member of the organizing committee of the congress said that they had high expectations. The activity finished on October 12^th and it had the presence of more more than 2,000 academics from Latin America and the world.

According to Dr Estenssoro, the purpose of the activity is to offer a common space where academics and scientists can meet and study different phenomena of the Americas and the world.

“This is a multidisciplinary congress, where the experiences that are analyzed are considered from a regional point of view, even if they are local; that is to say, how they affect Latin America and the Caribbean, in relation to their current problems and the current world,” Dr Estenssoro said.

In this context, “It is a congress that seeks to strengthen the development of the scientific and academic thinking in Latin America,” he added. It covers phenomena of philosophy, political science, sociology and medicine, but from a multidisciplinary point of view and in relation with the region.

Contribution of the congress

Dr Estenssoro says that to arrange a multidisciplinary meeting like this means a big challenge, as it is logistically difficult to organize the schedule of so many specialists and, for example, to find a place to hold the activity.

The series of panels of the congress were “A contribution, because sometimes we talk about doing multidisciplinary or even interdisciplinary analyses, but how? And this congress helped to put in practice what we usually keep as ideas.”

Dr Estenssoro says that bringing this congress to life required important efforts and, as a consequence, people from different parts of the world were able to appreciate the spirit of Universidad de Santiago with regard to the development of research in all the fields of knowledge.

“It has been a huge challenge. We are proud of having held this congress at Universidad de Santiago because experts from all over the world were participating and they were able to see our efforts to develop these research lines,” he said.

“For the characteristics that the congress has, it is a pioneering activity in Latin America. There have been many disciplinary meetings; for example, historians in Latin America, political scientists in Latin America or linguists in Latin America; however, we are pioneers in this multidisciplinary meeting,” he explained.

New blood

Dr Estenssoro explained that the former versions of the congress were the breeding ground for many publications that are part now of the main debates in the most important universities in Latin America.

In this regard, “It is cutting-edge knowledge, it is what our researchers are developing now, that essentially strengthens the work done by Latin American academics and scientists,” he said.

“What is most important is that our scientists get to know each other, share, debate, and produce joint knowledge,” he added.

The organizers of this fourth version of the congress set three goals. “First, we wanted to get out of the local sphere, where the national domain has to contribute to regional integration; second, it had to involve interdisciplinary work, and third, the work had to be done by academic networks,” he said.

“The idea is that researchers at the continent get to know each other, learn of what is being done, work together and read publications not only from Europe or USA, but also from Latin America. All this to benefit people in our region and in the world, because we want to contribute with our points of view and our demands,” he added.

Renowned speakers

Several worldwide renowned researchers and theorists participated at the meeting held at Universidad de Santiago.

One of the speakers was, for example, Dr Ernesto Kahan, an Argentinean physician and poet who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985), on behalf of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) Federation.

Theotonio dos Santos was another speaker. He is a social scientist, and renowned thinker and forerunner of the dependency theory. His ideas about the world economy based on an unbalanced model in which developed countries have a monopoly of the most important decisions and poor countries that produce raw materials have minimal returns, marked a milestone in the Latin American sociology

“He is one of the most important exponents of the dependency theory of the 60s. He came because our work matters to him,” Dr Estenssoro concluded.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• At the meeting, the first lady Akie Abe, wife of the Japan´s Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, talked in her own language with the young participants and gave each of them a gift. “I hope you visit Japan soon. Let me know in advance so that you can visit my house,” she said.

 

On August 31st, students of the Linguistics Applied to Translation Program, major in English- Japanese given by the Faculty of Humanities of Universidad de Santiago, had the unprecedented opportunity of meeting with Mrs. Akie Abe -the wife of the Japan´s Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe- who started her official visit to Chile with this activity.

During the ceremony headed by the Academic Vice President, Dr. Fernanda Kri, the dignitary conversed with the young participants in Japanese. Each of them explained to her why they decided to learn the Japanese language and she showed herself very interested in their stories, paying attention to the language level that they have reached, especially in those students who have been in Japan, thanks to the scholarships awarded by the Japanese government.

Together with valuing the work done by Universidad de Santiago at teaching the Japanese language in Chile, Mrs. Abe donated more than 50 books to the University.

Mrs. Abe expressed her “deep gratitude for being received with such a kind hospitality.” And she gave the students a message: “I am sure that, with the visit of mi husband to Chile, we are strengthening our bilateral relations and I would like to ask you to be like bridges between the two countries.”

“I hope that you visit Japan soon and let me know in advance so that you can visit my house,” she said.

 
Strong links with Japan

In 1995, the University created the Linguistics Applied to Translation Program, major in English- Japanese. Universidad de Santiago is the only university that gives this program in Latin America, and since its beggining, it has built and strengthened links with Japan.

Examples of the importance that Universidad de Santiago has had in spreading the culture of that oriental country are the visit of Her Imperial Highness of Japan, Akiko de Mikasa, in September 2013, and the appointment of Universidad de Santiago as the only Chilean institution in charge of the administration of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT).

Also the students of this program organize every year the Japanese traditional culture festival, Nihon Matsuri, where they show the traditions of that oriental country.

The Chief of the Linguistics Applied to Translation Program, Marcela Contreras, said that “the Embassy of Japan has always supported the University in the different activities that we organize, since the program was created.”

“At this moment we have more than 200 students in the program and many of them apply for scholarships in Japan. And the Embassy of Japan receives our students for internships. So, we can see that both parties are interested in keep working together much longer, and this is confirmed by the visit of the wife of the Prime Minister to our University,” Contreras said.

 

Watch the video of the activity

 

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Translated by Marcela Contreras

• Engineers, architects and civil constructors of the Service of Housing and Urban Development of all the country will be trained by the Department of Chemical Engineering of Universidad de Santiago in order that they may incorporate the installation of thermal solar panels into all the houses that they supervise or deliver.

• The training program has been jointly developed by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning and the university, with the support of the Ministry of Energy. It started on October 13^th with a first group of 25 civil servants in charge of the construction works to meet the housing needs of the victims of the last disasters in the regions of Antofagasta, Atacama, Coquimbo and Los Lagos (earthquakes, mudslides and the Calbuco volcano’s eruption). 

• According to Francisco Cubillos, Director of the Department of Chemical Engineering, “It is extremely useful that these catastrophic events are considered as opportunities to implement non-conventional renewable energies that will help all beneficiaries.”

• For his part, Christian Santana, Chief of the Renewable Energy Division of the Ministry of Energy and one of the directors of the Centre for Innovation and Promotion of Sustainable Energy, said that this agreement will allow contributing to energy efficiency in the context of the comprehensive public policies of the country. This will also strengthen the links between the Ministry and our university.

   

  The first training course jointly developed by the Department of Chemical Engineering and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning and with the support of the Ministry of Energy was recently started to train professionals at the Service of Housing and Urban Development (Serviu, in Spanish) in order that they may incorporate solar energy into all the new houses built in the different zones affected by the last natural disasters in the country.

  Engineers, architects and civil constructors of that state agency will be able to provide houses in their corresponding regions with thermal solar panels, what will also contribute to the country’s energy efficiency.

  In this way, our corporation, in its commitment to the country, contributes to the fifth item of the Government’s energy agenda, which proposes to strengthen the use of non conventional renewable energy (NCRE) through this type of training course. 

  According to Francisco Cubillos, Director of the Department of Chemical Engineering, “It is extremely useful that these catastrophic events are considered as opportunities to implement non-conventional renewable energies (NCRE) that will help all beneficiaries. The houses to be built will include solar panels.”

   

  “The university is contributing to include this technology in the government policies, which are oriented to the poorest sectors of the population,” director Cubillos said.

   

  For his part, Christian Santana, Chief of the Renewable Energy Division of the Ministry of Energy and who is also one of the directors of the Centre for Innovation and Promotion of Sustainable Energy (CIFES, in Spanish), highlighted that this agreement will allow to contribute to energy efficiency in the context of the comprehensive public policies of the country. This will also strengthen the links between the Ministry and our university.

   

  Theory and practice

  Mario Céspedes Córdova, professor of energy efficiency at the Faculty of Engineering of Universidad de Santiago said that in this type of course, “We provide knowledge to civil servants in order that they may control the variables involved in a solar technological system, learn about the corresponding regulations and norms and learn how to inspect a system and its pattern of use. In this way, they may supervise the entire national reconstruction plan.”

  “Besides, we have a solar energy laboratory, where we can show how to install this type of system and how it works. Those who complete the course will be able to correctly certify the houses with this system,” he explained.

  The program started on October 13^th with a first group of 25 participants. It includes theoretical and practical sessions, with a total of 10 hours, for two days. The objective is to train these civil servants so that they can help to improve the houses built after the last disasters in the country (earthquakes, mudslides and the Calbuco volcano’s eruption) and to face future disasters in a better way.

   

  Translated by Marcela Contreras

• At a seminar organized by the Faculty of Engineering, representatives of the state mining company talked about the implications of the new underground mining project for Chuquicamata, that will bring new challenges and will require operators and professionals to develop new competences.
• Juan Carlos Espinoza, the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, said that just as the mining company is undergoing a transformation process, the Faculty is checking and updating the profile of the new engineers who will be trained at Universidad de Santiago according to world-class parameters and who will have to manage both soft and technical skills.
• “Universities should include abilities like positive leadership and development skills in their training programs from the very beginning and not at the last year, because in real world, problems are not only technical,” Marcelo Vásquez, the director of the Codelco-Chuquicamata’s People Service and Logistics unit, pointed out.

In the context of the seminar “Large-scale mining at Codelco-Chuquicamata and its relation with Universidad de Santiago de Chile” (La Gran Minería de Codelco-Chuquicamata y su relación con la Universidad de Santiago de Chile), two conferences were given at the University’s Salón de Honor by representatives of the state mining company. Their presentations referred to the challenges being faced by that company and by the mining industry in general that could require future engineers to develop new competences.

Edison Pizarro, the Director of Innovation and Technology at the Underground Mining Development Division of Codelco-Chuquicamata, gave the presentation “Chuquicamata underground mining project, a mine of the 21^st Century”, where he explained how the current open pit would be mined in an unprecedented way for the north of Chile, as of 2019.

Edison Pizarro explained that in the past few years, the primary open pit for copper mining at Antofagasta Region (that will be 100 years-old next year and that, due its dimensions, might be the largest open pit of the world) has had a decrease in the quality of the ore mined from a grade once higher than 1% to only 0.7% nowadays, and it seems that it will continue decreasing.

Also, the costs of moving the mining operations inside the pit, the resulting energy consumption and pollution of the area have shown that, if the mine does not change its production process, it will become unsustainable.

A 40-year solution

Therefore the company, using the knowledge that it has developed in other underground divisions, decided to change to this type of production, what will give Chuquicamata 40 years more, with an ore production that will average 0.71% copper and molybdenum and that will reach an extraction rate of 140 thousand tonnes per day.

The representative of the state mining company gave the details of how the mine will operate at this new stage, stressing the need for experts in the fields of telecommunications, electricity, informatics, robotics, and of course, mining operations.

However, this megaproject brings mega challenges, not only for the way of developing the process, but for the technology that will be necessary to implement and manage and the human resources that will be required.

The challenges posed by the project are related to sustainability, which is planned to be reached through the following actions: reducing the amount of particulate matter (PM10) by 97%; opening a Training Center, in partnership with social entities, to train workers and develop the work profiles required by the new underground pit work; highlighting the importance of maintenance systems, as all the production of new Chuquicamata will come out through a conveyor belt that covers several kilometers and cannot be stopped; and, particularly, managing the culture of change at the company, to promote the adaptation to changes, something that has been very resisted up to now due to the mining workers’ and unions’ way of thinking.

An adaptation challenge

Marcelo Velázquez, Director of the Codelco Chuquicamata’s People Service and Logistics unit, in his presentation “Maintenance Engineering in Mining Industry… A technical challenge?” referred to how equipment maintenance management and its processes are set aside due to the productive pressure. This aspect lies beneath the organizational culture and disregards the useful life of equipments and systems at not considering a long-term approach.

The expert explained that, in Chile, maintenance represents up to 40% of the mining industry costs. And despite this is an area where cutbacks are expected, there is not a strategic vision to incorporate a maintenance culture; there are only reactive actions that are usually fairly planned.

Marcelo Velázquez urged future engineers to watch the world trends in maintenance, based on the reliability of systems that intelligently organize the processes considering maintenance times to prevent emergencies and their associated costs.

“The new engineer’s role requires the expertise given by the University, particularly, in technical knowledge. And also, the new engineer has to understand that challenges are faced by people. In some cases, there is a lack of leadership to face adaptation challenges.”

For this reason, he added that “Universities should include abilities like positive leadership and development skills in their training programs from the very beginning and not at the last year, because in real world, problems are not only technical. They may be easily solved; but problems have to be solved by people, and that is difficult.”

Juan Carlos Espinoza, the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, compared the transition process of Chuquicamata with the one that the Faculty is currently undergoing with the purpose of updating the profile of the new engineers for the 21^st Century.

Regarding this, he referred to the need of strengthening the relation with employers to have a permanent contact, receive feedback, and collect new information from the job market, like the aspects mentioned at the seminar. Also he said that similar activities will be organized more frequently to strengthen this work line.

Many students of the Department of Electrical Engineering and the Department of Mining Engineering, together with authorities and academics of those units and other units of the Faculty of Engineering, attended the activity.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• In a presentation given at Universidad de Santiago a few days ago, Iván Núñez Prieto, recipient of the National Award of Education 2015, emphasized that he still shares “the utopia” that education contributes to “build a fairer and more caring society, regardless of the fact that it may be a difficult task that requires many years, and maybe, there have been some mistakes in viewing the difficulties at its implementation.” The renowned researcher and state professor of History, Geography and Civic Education addressed these issues in his presentation “Two moments at teacher training in Chile: 1928 and 1974: Present echoes.”

On October 28^th, at the Armando Quezada Auditorium, the recipient of the National Award of Education 2015, Iván Núñez, gave the presentation “Two moments at teacher training in Chile: 1928 and 1974: Present echoes.” The activity was organized by the Faculty of Humanities and the Department of Education of Universidad de Santiago in the context of the Teachers’ Day celebration.

Professor Núñez was presented by Dr Jorge Rueda, Vice-Dean for Academic Affairs of the Faculty of Humanities. The director of the Department of Education, Dr Saúl Contreras also addressed the audience.

Dr Rueda emphasized the role of education as the driving force for human development and better communal living, in the midst of the individualistic and discriminatory society of current days, as well as the educational role that our university has played through the School of Arts and Crafts, the Pedagogical Institute and the State Technical University (UTE, in Spanish).

For his part, Dr Contreras highlighted the importance of the visit of professor Núñez at a critical time for Chilean education, as well as the contributions made by the university to teacher training, one of the core components of the university development. 

Inconsistent development

Professor Núñez started by mentioning that the development of Chilean education has not been progressive or linear: it has moved forward and backward through history. 

In his presentation, he deeply analyzed two significant moments in the history of teacher training: the closure of teacher training schools (escuelas normales, in Spanish), for different reasons, in 1928, under Carlos Ibáñez del Campo’s dictatorship (1927-1931), and in 1974, under General Augusto Pinochet’s regime.

He reminded the audience that teacher training schools started in 1842, when they were created by the Argentinean Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, under the conservative oligarchic government of Manuel Bulnes, who was able to recognize the importance of peoples’ training. Bulnes founded Universidad de Chile, among others. The first escuela normal was located in the vicinity of Matucana Street.

At that time, teachers did not only receive free training but they had free accommodation and free meals, though they were separated by sex. In return, the had to work for seven years at public schools, but many did not fulfill that commitment and engaged in other crafts and professions.

The first rebellion

He said that later, the saltpeter boom allowed bringing a group of German teachers at the beginning of the 20^th century. At the same time, a combative teachers association was created. They criticized teacher training as they considered it “authoritarian.” Núñez remembered that one of its weaknesses was pedagogical training.

In 1928, there were 15 escuelas normales. Under the pressure of teachers grouped together in the General Association of Teachers (AGP, in Spanish) for an “integral reform of Chilean education”- the escuelas normales included- Ibáñez decided to close them (he closed the Pedagogical Institute of Universidad de Chile too) and appointed its principal leaders to the Ministry of Education, “so that they could implement the reform” that they were demanding.

Although this situation did not last long, as the Government in the end decided to appoint a “commission of experts” to solve the problems, many of the association’s demands were subsequently taken up. For example, the minimum requirement to enter the school changed from four to six years of primary education.

The 60’s

During the following years, the escuelas normales increased their number, but they underwent some changes, especially in the 60’s, during the Education Reform of President Eduardo Frei (1964-1970), when the requirement to enter the school was completing secondary education. Although there was a co educational boarding school in Chillán, the boarding facilities were closed for financial reasons. On the other hand, an evening teacher training school was created at that time.

After the military coup, when there were more than twenty public and private (owned by the Catholic Church) escuelas normales, General Pinochet closed them for considering them “a focus of rebellion.”

The dictatorship imposed that, from then on, teacher training was to be part of university education. In spite of its controversial nature, professor Núñez considers that this action established “a common institutional framework, with the most similar bases possible.” In 1976, during the dictatorship, professor Núñez was detained and tortured.

He concluded by saying that, for his part, he still shares “ the utopia” that education contributes to “build a fairer and more caring society, regardless of the fact that it may be a difficult task that requires many years, and maybe, there have been some mistakes in viewing the difficulties at its implementation.”

“History has left us a few things and, in the midst of the battle of daily life, we should take a look at them,” he finally said.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• With didactic experiments, presentations given by experts, workshops, contests and exhibitions, the 5th version of the Universidad de Santiago’s Scientific Fair was held for three days. The activity is organized by the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology and is recognized as one of the main activities for science dissemination in Chile.
• According to the fair’s coordinator, Professor Leonora Mendoza, “it is encouraging to see how the future professionals of this Faculty are committed to this initiative, in which students from many schools can be scientists for a day.”
• The recipient of the National Award of Exact Sciences 2001, Fernando Lund, who was invited to the fair, shared with visitors and expressed his admiration for “the success of the fair and the eagerness and commitment shown by the organizers.”

From a recipe for home-made tooth paste to a method for frying eggs without a fire: these are some of the experiments that called the attention of more than a thousand secondary students who visited the 5th version of the Universidad de Santiago’s Scientific Fair, between Thursday 25th and Saturday 27th of September, which is organized by the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology.

Around 600 people- students from schools of Santiago, mainly- participated every day in this fair that is recognized as one of the main activities for science dissemination in our country.

In the successful activity, the visitors, some of them with their families, were able to participate for free in experiments, contests and presentations given by experts, besides touring the laboratories of the University, where they were shown different experiences of the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology, the Faculty of Medical Sciences and the Mathematics and Electrical Engineering Departments.

“It is encouraging to see how the future professionals of this Faculty are so committed to this initiative, in which students from many schools can be scientists for a day,” the fair’s coordinator and Professor at the University, Leonora Mendoza, said.

Together with the 45 scientific experiments shown every day, presentations were given by guests like the renowned physicist Fernando Lund, recipient of the National Award of Exact Sciences 2001, who highlighted the importance of promoting scientific thinking in the country.

“I am very impressed how successful this fair is. The eagerness and commitment of the organizers are notable, so I congratulate Universidad de Santiago and the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology for this activity,” Lund said, adding that “controlling scientific thinking and knowledge allows us, human beings and societies, to be free.”

Commitment of all the faculty members

The 2014 version of the Universidad de Santiago’s Scientific Fair is the result of the commitment of more than 1,000 students, professors and staff of the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology

Aracely Flores, a student of the fourth year of the Bachelor of Science in Chemistry Program, who was in charge of organizing the activity this year, highlighted the efforts made over several months to have a successful fair.

“We had to work hard to settle ideas, find sponsors, contact exhibitors and coordinate with the authorities. But today, when we see this excellent rate of response, we are very pleased with the results of our efforts,” she said.

Together with the didactic activities developed at the campus, the third version of the contest Concurso de Proyectos Científicos Dra. Elsa Abuin was held, in which the best scientific project presented by the participant schools was selected.

The successful 5th version of the Universidad de Santiago’s Scientific Fair was sponsored by the Explora Conicyt Program, Fundación Más Ciencia, Soviquim and Fundación Más Ciencia para Chile.


Translated by Marcela Contreras

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•  Universidad de Santiago de Chile made a significant contribution to Expo Food Process 2015, a technical and business platform that brought together different productive sectors related to food industry, facilitating the access to new technologies and solutions in different production processes. 

Universidad de Santiago de Chile had an outstanding participation in Expo Food Process 2015, a technical and business platform that brought together different productive sectors related to food industry, facilitating the access to new technologies and solutions in different production processes.

The activity was held at Espacio Riesco, Santiago, between November 04^th and 06^th. Researchers at the Food Science and Technology Research Center (Cecta), the Department of Food Science and Technology, and the Department of Chemical Engineering of our university participated at the exhibition and led two specialized seminars. One of them was focused on biotechnological research and development for the food and beverages sector, and the other, on food packaging.

The university delegation was led by Dr Oscar Bustos Castillo, Vice President of Research, Development and Innovation. He told the attendees that Universidad de Santiago has strongly been related to the development of the country since its beginnings, what has led it to incorporate new lines of work.

“Today, our society is more aware of improving its quality of life by means of healthy food; therefore, the university considers the food sector a priority area,” he explained.

The scientific productivity in this field of research concentrates 10% of the total number of publications of the university and the 17% of the projects awarded funds from different sources.

Research with impact

Many researchers at Universidad de Santiago participated in the two seminars.

During the first day, Dr Laura Almendares gave the presentation “Generación de Productos Innovativos para la Empresa Alimentaria” (Generating innovative products for Food Industry) and Dr Julio Romero presented his work “Tecnología de membranas y solventes alternativos: ejemplos de transferencia y adaptación tecnológica” (Technology of membranes and alternative solvents: examples of technological adaptation and transfer).

Dr Claudio Martínez, Cecta’s director, presented his work “Mejoramiento del vino a través de la microbiología, una tecnología aplicable a otras bebidas fermentadas” (Improving wine production through microbiology: a technology that can be applied to other fermented drinks), and Raúl Ciudad, member of the I+D Committee of the Social- Business Development Council of Universidad de Santiago, gave the presentation “Desafíos I+D+i Universidad-Empresa” (University-Business I+D+i Challenges).

Gonzalo Jordán, Executive Chairman of CORFO’s Food Strategic Program gave the presentation “La Especialización Inteligente de la Industria Alimentaria: Nuevos Espacios de Competitividad” (Smart specialization in Food Industry: new spaces for competitiveness).

On Friday 06^th, Dr Abel Guarda Moraga gave his presentation “Envases de Alimentos. Requerimientos y Necesidad de desarrollo” (Food packaging. Requirements and need for development, and Dr María José Galotto, “Innovación en el área de envases de alimentos. La nanotecnología como herramienta para el desarrollo” (Innovation in food packaging. nanotechnology as a development tool).

For his part, Dr Francisco Rodríguez talked about “Envases para productos hortofrutícolas” (Packaging for fruit and vegetables) and Dr Julio Bruna, about “Envases y Biodegradabilidad: Realidades y Mitos” (Packaging and biodegradability: myths and facts). Finally, Dr Alejandra Torres closed the presentations with “Requerimientos de Innocuidad en envases plásticos para alimentos” (Innocuousness requirements for plastic food packaging).

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• With didactic experiments, presentations given by experts, workshops, contests and exhibitions, the 5th version of the Universidad de Santiago’s Scientific Fair was held for three days. The activity is organized by the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology and is recognized as one of the main activities for science dissemination in Chile.
• According to the fair’s coordinator, Professor Leonora Mendoza, “it is encouraging to see how the future professionals of this Faculty are committed to this initiative, in which students from many schools can be scientists for a day.”
• The recipient of the National Award of Exact Sciences 2001, Fernando Lund, who was invited to the fair, shared with visitors and expressed his admiration for “the success of the fair and the eagerness and commitment shown by the organizers.”

From a recipe for home-made tooth paste to a method for frying eggs without a fire: these are some of the experiments that called the attention of more than a thousand secondary students who visited the 5th version of the Universidad de Santiago’s Scientific Fair, between Thursday 25th and Saturday 27th of September, which is organized by the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology.

Around 600 people- students from schools of Santiago, mainly- participated every day in this fair that is recognized as one of the main activities for science dissemination in our country.

In the successful activity, the visitors, some of them with their families, were able to participate for free in experiments, contests and presentations given by experts, besides touring the laboratories of the University, where they were shown different experiences of the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology, the Faculty of Medical Sciences and the Mathematics and Electrical Engineering Departments.

“It is encouraging to see how the future professionals of this Faculty are so committed to this initiative, in which students from many schools can be scientists for a day,” the fair’s coordinator and Professor at the University, Leonora Mendoza, said.

Together with the 45 scientific experiments shown every day, presentations were given by guests like the renowned physicist Fernando Lund, recipient of the National Award of Exact Sciences 2001, who highlighted the importance of promoting scientific thinking in the country.

“I am very impressed how successful this fair is. The eagerness and commitment of the organizers are notable, so I congratulate Universidad de Santiago and the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology for this activity,” Lund said, adding that “controlling scientific thinking and knowledge allows us, human beings and societies, to be free.”

Commitment of all the faculty members

The 2014 version of the Universidad de Santiago’s Scientific Fair is the result of the commitment of more than 1,000 students, professors and staff of the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology

Aracely Flores, a student of the fourth year of the Bachelor of Science in Chemistry Program, who was in charge of organizing the activity this year, highlighted the efforts made over several months to have a successful fair.

“We had to work hard to settle ideas, find sponsors, contact exhibitors and coordinate with the authorities. But today, when we see this excellent rate of response, we are very pleased with the results of our efforts,” she said.

Together with the didactic activities developed at the campus, the third version of the contest Concurso de Proyectos Científicos Dra. Elsa Abuin was held, in which the best scientific project presented by the participant schools was selected.

The successful 5th version of the Universidad de Santiago’s Scientific Fair was sponsored by the Explora Conicyt Program, Fundación Más Ciencia, Soviquim and Fundación Más Ciencia para Chile.


Translated by Marcela Contreras

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•  Universidad de Santiago de Chile made a significant contribution to Expo Food Process 2015, a technical and business platform that brought together different productive sectors related to food industry, facilitating the access to new technologies and solutions in different production processes. 

Universidad de Santiago de Chile had an outstanding participation in Expo Food Process 2015, a technical and business platform that brought together different productive sectors related to food industry, facilitating the access to new technologies and solutions in different production processes.

The activity was held at Espacio Riesco, Santiago, between November 04^th and 06^th. Researchers at the Food Science and Technology Research Center (Cecta), the Department of Food Science and Technology, and the Department of Chemical Engineering of our university participated at the exhibition and led two specialized seminars. One of them was focused on biotechnological research and development for the food and beverages sector, and the other, on food packaging.

The university delegation was led by Dr Oscar Bustos Castillo, Vice President of Research, Development and Innovation. He told the attendees that Universidad de Santiago has strongly been related to the development of the country since its beginnings, what has led it to incorporate new lines of work.

“Today, our society is more aware of improving its quality of life by means of healthy food; therefore, the university considers the food sector a priority area,” he explained.

The scientific productivity in this field of research concentrates 10% of the total number of publications of the university and the 17% of the projects awarded funds from different sources.

Research with impact

Many researchers at Universidad de Santiago participated in the two seminars.

During the first day, Dr Laura Almendares gave the presentation “Generación de Productos Innovativos para la Empresa Alimentaria” (Generating innovative products for Food Industry) and Dr Julio Romero presented his work “Tecnología de membranas y solventes alternativos: ejemplos de transferencia y adaptación tecnológica” (Technology of membranes and alternative solvents: examples of technological adaptation and transfer).

Dr Claudio Martínez, Cecta’s director, presented his work “Mejoramiento del vino a través de la microbiología, una tecnología aplicable a otras bebidas fermentadas” (Improving wine production through microbiology: a technology that can be applied to other fermented drinks), and Raúl Ciudad, member of the I+D Committee of the Social- Business Development Council of Universidad de Santiago, gave the presentation “Desafíos I+D+i Universidad-Empresa” (University-Business I+D+i Challenges).

Gonzalo Jordán, Executive Chairman of CORFO’s Food Strategic Program gave the presentation “La Especialización Inteligente de la Industria Alimentaria: Nuevos Espacios de Competitividad” (Smart specialization in Food Industry: new spaces for competitiveness).

On Friday 06^th, Dr Abel Guarda Moraga gave his presentation “Envases de Alimentos. Requerimientos y Necesidad de desarrollo” (Food packaging. Requirements and need for development, and Dr María José Galotto, “Innovación en el área de envases de alimentos. La nanotecnología como herramienta para el desarrollo” (Innovation in food packaging. nanotechnology as a development tool).

For his part, Dr Francisco Rodríguez talked about “Envases para productos hortofrutícolas” (Packaging for fruit and vegetables) and Dr Julio Bruna, about “Envases y Biodegradabilidad: Realidades y Mitos” (Packaging and biodegradability: myths and facts). Finally, Dr Alejandra Torres closed the presentations with “Requerimientos de Innocuidad en envases plásticos para alimentos” (Innocuousness requirements for plastic food packaging).

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• Dr. Sergio Velastín, professor at the Department of Informatics Engineering of Universidad de Santiago de Chile, gave a talk on the use of data fusion in computer vision at the 17th Conference of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), held at Salamanca, Spain. Around 400 officials from the Ministries of Defense of different countries and members of the NATO attended the conference.

International experts on data management gathered last week in Salamanca, Spain, at the 17th version of the International Conference on Information Fusion (Fusion 2014) supported by the IEEE. Universidad the Santiago de Chile was represented by Dr. Sergio Velastín, full professor at the Department of Informatics Engineering, who gave a presentation during the activity.

He gave his presentation “The potential of fusion in computer vision application” to more than 400 people, many of them members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and representatives of Ministries of Defense of different countries, who attended the conference to learn about the progress in this field.

Dr. Velastín talked about computer vision, the branch of artificial intelligence that is concerned with finding artificial means to interpret the visual information of the surrounding world. Human beings have specialized in this interpretation and use a significant part of their brains to do it. “Most of what we do every day (getting around, driving, interacting with others, enjoying sports, teaching our children, learning, reading information, among others) requires interpreting what we see. If machines were able to emulate these abilities, we could potentially enrich our lives and empower mentally or motor- handicapped people. We could also make our public spaces safer,” the academic said.

Data processing in the digital era

According to the researcher, more than 40 years ago, a revolution started in human development that would potentially transform what up to then were physical quantities (images, printed letters, vital signs like blood pressure, sounds, among others) into digital data (numbers) that could be processed by a computer. “This digital era in which we live has surrounded us to such a degree that we almost do not realize how extended the generation, transmission and processing of data are. A routine telephone call occurs thanks to the processing of these numbers. Everything can be more easily filed and humankind is generating more data than ever in its existence,” professor Velastín said.

The academic explained that although many technologies- like data fusion- initially arose due to military needs, especially during the Cold War, “the use of this data involves large potential benefits, but they undoubtedly depend on how societies and governments use it. Europe, with a more egalitarian and socially inclusive model, is achieving great progress benefiting people, for example, through the so-called intelligent cities and environmentally assisted life.”

Professor Velastín thinks that in societies with more individualistic models, like Chile or even the United States, benefits could turn into danger, mainly because these contributions are not well distributed and are not used for social inclusion. “How many municipal schools do usually use tablets or smart boards?” The risk posed by disparity in the access to technology increases inequality, particularly, in future generations,” he said.

Security cameras

At present, Dr. Velastín is conducting a study in London on people’s behavior on public transportation, by recording and interpreting digital images captured by security cameras. In his opinion, the use of cameras in public spaces is a complex issue that depends on the balance between the right to security and the right to privacy. “In an ideal society, nobody is arrested at random unless he/she is a suspect or has put other people’s security at risk. What is important is to have clear regulations that are transparently respected by everyone who is responsible for a security camera, both in the government and in the private sector.

Professor Velastín has worked for several years in the United Kingdom, the country with more cameras per capita in the world, but also with very strong regulations for protecting data. He went to Spain in the context of a visiting professorship at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, through its Chairs of Excellence program, funded by Banco Santander.

Translated by Marcela Contreras