More than 700 people attended the various events of Engineering Week of the Universidad del Valle (Univalle) which ran from November 1 to November 9, 2022, including students, teachers and guests from Ecuador.
Below are some of the highlights of the event, which each year discusses current issues to show how engineering can find innovative, inclusive, modern, current and sustainable solutions.
This year there were also events in the regional campus of Buenaventura on the Pacific coast and the campus of Tuluá in the central region of Valle del Cauca.
Tuesday November 1st- Ecuador-Colombia Border Integration
After a welcome speech from Prof. Johannio Marulanda Casas, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering of Univalle, the first speaker was Prof. Teresa Sanchez, from the Universidad Politécnica Estatal de Carchi in Tulcán, Ecuador.
In her talk "Role of the Observatory of the Ecuador - Colombia Border Integration Zone OZIFEC as a strategy of internationalization of Higher Education", the professor explained that the two departments of Colombia and the four provinces of Ecuador on the border between the two countries need data for transformation, for example, on their shared watersheds.
"At the university, we are 5 minutes from the border with Colombia, we are closer to Valle de Cauca than the central part of Ecuador", Professor Sanchez said. She also gave chocolates from Ecuador to the people who shared a striking fact from her presentation.
Tuesday November 1st - Science Communication
Another talk was by Sofía Cabrera, Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral (ESPL)in Guayaquil, Ecuador, telling the audience about her analysis of science outreach strategies in universities in Latin America and Ecuador.
"In Brazil, Mexico and Chile, Latin American institutions must position social networks based on their research strengths," said Sofia Cabrera, from Ecuador. Vice Dean of Research Joao Ealo asked "Does outreach often focus on 'What' rather than 'How' we did the accomplishment, do you have data on this?" Cabrera responded that the first stage for universities is to know what they have.
Tuesday November 1st - Education to transform lives
In the afternoon, José Antonio Lara Ramos, a PhD researcher at Univalle's School of Chemical Engineering (EIQ) and from the Advanced Oxidation Processes for Biological and Chemical Treatment Research Group (GAOX), spoke to a group of students about his journey from an indigenous community to a researcher who has worked abroad; and the ability of education to transform lives.
He explained that at some point, there was no money for him to continue his studies but his grandmother made the effort so he would have the resources.
"She told me that 'I'm going to see to it that you finish your studies because my grandson made a promise to God and I'm going to keep that promise,'" Lara said.
Wednesday 2nd November - Employability of Engineering Degrees
"In Jan-Sept 2022, salaries fell, but fell less for the most qualified," said Pablo Parra, Professional of the Labor Observatory (Univalle), adding that the highest salaries the requirement is around 3-4 years of experience", said Pablo Parra, Professional of the Labor Observatory (Univalle).
"The largest vacancies are in female engineers, up to half of the vacancies, particularly systems engineers," said Parra, adding that although there is a government regulation that women and men should earn the same, women still earn less.
"80% of engineering graduates are earning up to 3.3 minimum wages," Parra said.
In the next talk, Alejandro Ossa of Invest Pacific explained that salaries can go up "30%-40% on top just to have a good level of English."
Wednesday 2nd November - Cheese and Wine Fair
During a break during the day's program, students and professors from the Food Studies program of the Universidad Politécnica Estatal del Carchi (UPEC) showed a wide range of cheeses and wines from mortiño (agraz) and (uchuva) made with raw materials from the area of Tulcán, Ecuador.
Teachers Teresa Sanchez, Carlos Paredes and Freddy Torres and students Paula Aleman Pozo and Julieth Ayala España of food engineering discussed with a large group of students and teachers of Univalle about the products they made part of the didactics of the university and their research.
"The idea is to develop value-added products to take advantage of the raw material of the area",
said Carlos Paredes, professor of the Food career, adding that a student developed a Greek yogurt.
Read more from UPEC (Spanish): UPEC Presente En La Semana De La Ingeniería En Cali
Thursday 3rd November - Special event at the regional campus of Tulúa
During a special event at the Tulúa campus of Univalle, Professor Royer David Estrada Esponda, research coordinator of the Tuluá branch of Univalle and a researcher of the Science, Action and Development Group. (CAD) presented some examples of research at the campus.
The professor explained about internationalization experiences, including student mobility; networking experiences such as the Delfin and examples of their experiences as a research group.
Freddy Torres, decano de la Facultad de Industrias Agrícolas de la Universidad Estatal Politécnica del Carchi (UPEC) spoke about the role of the food engineer in the productive sector.
Read more: Why do Mexicans appear to have a better knowledge of human-computer interaction than Colombians?
Thursday 3rd November - Regional Campus Conversation
In a virtual discussion, directors and teachers from the regional offices of Zarzal, Caicedonia and Cartago talked about the challenges and contributions of research at the regional offices.
From the Zarzal Campus, Professor Mary Hellen Burbano, Director of the GEDESC Group, Professor Leonardo Nieto, Researcher and executor of Regional Projects and Professor Vivian Chud, Researcher of Regional Projects; from the Caicedonia Campus, Professor Sandra Lorena Aguirre, Director of the Campus and Professor and researcher Esteban Largo; and from the Cartago Campus, Professor Fernando Echeverri Valencia, Director of the Campus,
Student Andrés Felipe Grajales Galindo asked how to articulate in an interdisciplinary way between lines of research to foster that same diversity of knowledge.
"We are already directing degree works that are interdisciplinary," responded Professor Vivian Chud.
Read more about the research of some of the the regional campuses:
Caicedonia: Boosting coffee's taste and smell by controling the drying process with affordable sensors
Friday 4th November - Communications Office Giveaway
Part of the fair at the Plazoleta de Ingeniería, the communications office team handed out more than 400 gifts to people who comply with the activity, i.e., follow the faculty's social networks, take a picture with the "selfie frame" and publish it on the networks.
In addition, the team explained the functions of the office to the participants, including information bulletins and events, the publication of scientific dissemination notes and assistance to teachers, students and faculty members with design and corporate image.
Viernes 4 - Visita de estudiantes
In the morning, Beatriz Eugenia Florián, Academic Vice-Dean, Faculty of Engineering and member of the STEM Women's Group spoke to more than 50 9th, 10th, and 11th grade students, accompanied by their school principals.
She spoke about the power of education to transform lives and build a new society from science and engineering.
There was also another virtual talk "Science as a lifestyle and how to get there (we can all be scientists)" where students heard about the journey of Adriana Esguerra Arce and Johana Esguerra Arce from a village in Valle de Cauca to become professors at the Colombian School of Engineering Julio Garavito in Bogota.
Tuesday 8th November: Entrepreneurship
Univalle, through the Univalle Entrepreneurs Program, organized the UV Ágora event that since 2016 became the space to support and strengthen the culture of entrepreneurship and business development in Cali, Colombia.
On Tuesday, November 8, under the framework of UV Ágora Sharks and the Engineering Week, entrepreneurs competed by presenting their projects.
Wednesday 9th de Noviembre - The Roberto Caicedo Douat Award
The engineer Roberto Caicedo Douat is known in Cali for founding his own engineering firm, under the name 'Roberto Caicedo y Asociados'.
In his honor, and with funds donated by his family, the Roberto Caicedo Douat Award is given to the civil engineering student of the Universidad del Valle with the best average in subjects related to structures, through the Acres Foundation and the Colombian Chamber of Infrastructure.
This year, that student was Walter Vásquez from the School of Civil Engineering and Geomatics.
If you would like to contact the researcher or learn more about the project, please write to the Communications Office, Faculty of Engineering: comunicaingenieria(at)correounivalle.edu.co.
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