“Nothing to lose”, the slogan for experience

Professor Laura Sofía Rodríguez Pulecio and Joshua Sebastián Chicame (to her left) and Luis Carlos Lucero (to her right), two of the students who participated in the ICT Huawei Competition. Credit: Édgar Bejarano, Communications Office, Faculty of Engineering.

On March 1, a group of students from the Systems Engineering and Electronics Engineering programs at Universidad del Valle competed in the "Huawei ICT Competition", an event held annually by the multinational technology company.  Although they did not have much preparation time, they faced the challenge. The slogan was clear: they had nothing to lose and, instead, a horizon full of experiences for their careers was offered to them for the future. 

The agreement that opened the doors 

It all started in December 2023, thanks to the agreement signed between the Universidad del Valle and the technology multinational Huawei. This was an academic-type agreement, which provided training opportunity for both teachers and students, in four specific lines: networking (communication networks), cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and cloud computing. The idea of the agreement is to allow the academic community to access courses, through a virtual platform, for a future international certification in academic programs at the HCIA level. But that's not all. In addition to access to these certifications, the agreement also includes the possibility of participating in national, regional and international competitions, such as the “Huawei ICT Competition”, along with participation in calls to support innovation and community participation. 

"That's where (in the competition field) we made a hugely ambitious bet: since we only started with the agreement in December (last year), we had not yet had the opportunity to train our students in the topics. Even so, I invited them to participate,” recalls Laura Sofía Rodríguez Pulecio, Professor at the School of Systems and Computer Engineering at Universidad del Valle and promoter of the agreement with Huawei. Facing the possibility of participating in a global event, and seeking to dissipate the fears of her students, the motto was clear: whatever the outcome could be, the experience would be more than enough to try. 

They were not wrong. The "Huawei ICT Competition" is a global event, which seeks to generate a space for talent exchange, and in which center are students from countries around the world. The basis on which they work is ICT, and the objective is to generate meetings to strengthen the knowledge they have in this area, in addition to promoting the projects and initiatives of these communities. Held annually, it offers the possibility of competing both nationally and internationally. Less than two months after launching the agreement, Professor Rodríguez Pulecio's students were faced with the possibility of representing the University and meeting young people from other countries with the same interests. Without hesitation, they accepted the challenge. 

The competition 

Although, by decision of the event organizers, this year the competition was held virtually, this did not prevent the group from working together. "We tried to get together, to work together, to try to find the best strategy to present ourselves at the competition," recalls Professor Rodriguez Pulecio, and clarifies that the invitation to the event was also extended to students of the Electrical Engineering and Electronic Engineering programs. With the group formed, the preliminary phase of the competition began, carried out individually by each student. This was composed of 60 questions, for which they had a time of 90 minutes.  

In that phase, where they competed with 20 other universities from Colombia and Ecuador, they came sixth in the areas of networking and cloud computing, which gave them a pass to the national final. This final was held on March 1. In it they had even greater challenges: the same 90 minutes to answer, but now with 90 questions instead of 60, that is: one question per minute. There was no time to waste. For this new competition, in which they had to form groups of three students, in addition to taking an individual version of the exam, as a mandatory requirement, they agreed to take another one, this time in the name of one of them, but with the members of the team supporting them. The idea was to join forces. 

Although this time they did not make it to the regional phase, for Luis Carlos Lucero, a sixth semester student of Systems Engineering, participating in the "Huawei ICT Competition" served him to have a base to opting for his international certification, one of the possibilities of the agreement. "It feels good to take the test, because you gain knowledge. I was very pleased to have been part of the process, and besides the difficulties, qualifying for the national final was even cooler!" he says. According to him, his expectations from the competition were to learn and to consolidate knowledge in his areas of interest. "Teacher told us that we had a lot to gain in this sense. So, we told ourselves we were going to try." 

What remains after competing 

School of Systems and Computer Engineering at Universidad del Valle students in their classroom. Credit: Édgar Bejarano, Communications Office, Faculty of Engineering.

For Professor Laura Sofía Rodríguez Pulecio, Luis Carlos' desire is a clear indicator of the success of this type of agreement, in addition to the experience in the competition: "I always talk a lot to my students about international certifications, because that is what opened doors for me professionally, and what allowed me to work with a multinational company like Claro". In this sense, it is worth mentioning that the School of Systems and Computer Engineering seeks to sign agreements with other companies in the sector, such as Google and Oracle.  

After participating in the competition, prospects are much higher. For Luis Carlos, the participation he had along with his classmates opens a door, in turn, for future generations: "Next students will have more opportunities to study more advanced courses, because in the competition we saw that they exist. For me personally, this study line of the networks has really caught my attention. Having participated in the contest, and having made it to the national finals, motivates me even more. It tells you: yes, you can do it. 

For her part, Professor Rodríguez Pulecio adds that the commitment to the future should not be reduced only to seeking agreements, but to focus on calls for innovation. The path has been mapped out. According to her, the experience after their participation in the "Huawei ICT Competition" helped them to strengthen their desire to invite students to form teams with their professors and, as a result of this alliance, to aspire not only to be awarded in this type of events but to become the origin of a major business venture or high-level academic research.

If interested in being in touch with the students or the professor in charge of the group that participated in the competition, please write the Faculty of Engineering Communications Office: comunicaingenieria@correounivalle.edu.co