• In recognition of his extensive career in the area of electrochemistry, Dr. José Zagal, professor at the Department of Chemistry of Materials, was invited to be part of the editorial board of Electrochemistry Communications, an international journal with the higher impact index in its field.

Dr. José Zagal, professor at the Department of Chemistry of Materials of our university, was selected to be part of the editorial board of Electrochemistry Communications, the renowned scientific journal partnered with Elsevier that has the higher impact index in the field of electrochemistry.

In a conversation with UdeSantiago al Día, the academic said that he understood his inclusion in the board as “recognition of my work over many years; but most important, the recognition of a work that has mainly been done by a team.”

Professor Zagal has a vast experience in the scientific research field, particularly in the study of oxygen and reactivity. He started to work at Universidad de Santiago 40 years ago and he has kept on publishing specialized articles in his field of interest since then.

Besides, he has been part of editorial boards of different scientific journals, like the International Journal of Electrochemistry of Hindawi Publishing Corporation, since 2011 and the International Journal of Biotechnology & Biochemistry (IJBB), since 2012.

Zagal said that it is very important that both students and academics produce publications in their fields and get involved in different creative processes “to contribute not only to this University’s development but to all the country.”

“I think that it is necessary that students in any program should take part in creative and practical processes, that is to say, they should get involved in laboratory work since their first years at the university, so that they produce new knowledge that can reach most of the people through renowned publications,” he said.

“Publishing research results is essential. When you make public the work you do, your work becomes recognized in that field and, at the same time, you spread new knowledge,” he added.

For this reason, professor Zagal expects that his role at the Electrochemistry Communications’ editorial board means a contribution to the promotion of sciences and to the better positioning of Universidad de Santiago de Chile.

“You stay at this university because you love it and not for the money. Many researchers here might well be working at private sector companies, but they stay here because they feel a real bond with this institution,” he said.

“For the love that I have for this University, I expect that my inclusion in the editorial board will benefit the institution and will contribute to spread knowledge among society,” Dr. Zagal concluded.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• Academics at the Department of Physics, led by Dr. Raúl Cordero, were part of the scientific expedition made in November by the Chilean Antarctic Institute to Unión Glacier and they contributed with valuable measurements of the optical properties of snow.
   

• The scientific committee of the V Latin American Congress of Mathematicians recognized professor Navas for his scientific contribution to the region in areas like geometry, dynamical systems, algebra and group theory. The activity was organized by the Unión Matemática de América Latina y el Caribe (UMALCA) and it was held in Barranquilla, Colombia.

Dr Andrés Navas, professor at the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science of Universidad de Santiago de Chile, was awarded the UMALCA 2016 Prize during a ceremony in the V Latin American Congress of Mathematicians (CLAM, in Spanish) organized by the Colombian Society of Mathematics (SCM, in Spanish) and Universidad del Norte de Barranquilla, Colombia.

The prize was created in 2000 to honor young mathematicians working in Latin America and to recognize and promote their scientific contributions. After receiving the award, Dr Navas gave a presentation in a plenary session of the congress, which is considered the most important meeting of mathematicians in the region. The 40-year-old professor gave the presentation “Propiedades asintóticas de redes del plano”.

Henrique Bursztyn (IMPA, Brasil), Pablo Shmerkin (Universidad Torcuato di Tella, Argentina) y Robert Morris (IMPA, Brasil) were also awarded prizes for their contributions.

Recognition for scientific research

Dr Navas, who is currently the president of the Mathematics Society of Chile (SOMACHI, in Spanish), said that this award is a recognition for his scientific work; it is the highest recognition that a mathematician working in Latin America may expect.

He thinks that the prize will contribute to the positioning of Universidad de Santiago and the Department of Mathematics in the local and Latin American context.

“It is a significant step for the University and the Department, which has grown very much in the past few years. It will make us more visible at a Latin American level,” he said.

He thinks that another factor that contributed to him being awarded the prize was the publication of his doctoral dissertation “Groups of Circle Diffeomorphisms” (2011) in USA.

 “The University of Chicago Press published my doctoral dissertation as a book, a milestone in the Latin American context, because it was translated from a former publication in Peru and Brazil,” Dr Navas explained.

Promoting Mathematics

In the national context, Dr Navas expects his prize becomes a turning point so that the State creates an institute devoted to fundamental Mathematics.

“We do not have an institute like this in Chile and it would be similar to the National Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics (IMPA) of Brazil. I think we already have all the human potential to do it, but we need the relevant policy making,” he said. “We really need something like this in our country.”

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• Dr. Maximiliano Salinas, researcher at the Department of History, was invited to Universidad de Concepción’s Summer School, where he talked about the meaning of festivities as part of the historical process of a country. “During festivities, people reencounter the essence of their human, spiritual and collective experience,” he stressed.

“Celebration: Dionysus’ times come back to us” was the name of the presentation given by Dr. Maximiliano Salinas, professor at the Department of History of Universidad de Santiago, to the Universidad de Concepción’s community in the inauguration of this university’s 2014 Summer School.

On this occasion, the activity that has been carried out uninterruptedly for more than a decade, has the topic “Festivities: the art of celebrating” as its central subject, a subject to which our University’s researcher can considerably contribute, as he is an expert in popular culture history.

Regarding the role that celebrations play in local identity, the academic says that in all cultures and civilizations, festivities are an integral dimension of people’s lives, because during celebrations people reencounter the essence of their human, spiritual and collective experience.

“In the case of Chilean history, festivities, like all life dimensions, are crossed by contradictions stemming from the colonial times. Indigenous peoples were prodigiously inclined to celebrating. The colonial times order, the European enlightened absolutism, tried to control and restrain that spirit,” Dr. Salinas explained.

However, according to Dr. Salinas, that was not possible, “because the celebration legacy was passed to mestizo peoples and it got mixed with the festive influences from Spain and Africa that left us the cueca, the dance of the Chilean celebrations. Although colonial aspirations- coercive and repressive ones- are replicated until today, festivities will always represent the extension of our humanity and our spirit. The student protests nowadays have undeniably included a festive component that is part of our more permanent culture.”

When asked how the military dictatorship affected this characteristic feature of Chilean culture, Dr. Salinas said that this process can be understood as a systematic effort to extinguish the spirit of popular celebrations, indigenous or mestizo festivities in the country. “Their ambition to impose manu militari, the neoliberal discipline was, basically, an aggressive aspiration to finish with community life and the merry communal living among Chilean people. The idea was to subdue us and turn us into consumerist, scared and indebted individuals,” he said.

According to the expert, a cultural reflection about our identity as a nation is a challenge today, especially in a context in which some sectors of our society express the need of having a new Constitution. “In this sense, it is essential to have a reflection and a discussion about celebrations, as they are part of our original biological and spiritual make-up as a country. This is much more deciding, lively and deep than legal texts or the discussion among constitutional ‘experts’,” he said.

Finally, Dr. Salinas thinks that we should recover the original religious spirit of celebrations, that is to say, the spirit reflected by Dionysus, the god of cosmic harmony, of beautiful lush vegetation; the god of the joy of a nude and equal community without disguises and without ambitious aspirations. “We have to recover the spirit that indigenous peoples had and cultivated for thousand of years and that mestizo peoples legitimately inherited. In that spirit, we should find the delighting value given by the historical vindications of our societies during the 19th and 20th centuries. This was especially expressed during the Government of the Popular Unity, in a much more decisive way than in any other particular political circumstance. There it lies the deepest mysticism of festivities,” he said.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• Alonso Arellano, an expert in geophysics and geology, explains that, due to the type of lava, the potential following events should not be catastrophic. “We may expect stronger eruptions to last for weeks or months.” 
• He says that most of the gas column will pass to the Argentinean territory, just like on other occasions.
• “The alert actions taken for warning people have been adequate,” he says. He suggests people to be alert, because “there is always the possibility of fissures in the volcanic cone and lava could flow in other directions.”

 

After the Villarrica volcano’s eruption early in the morning on March 03rd, an area of 10 kilometre radius around the mountain was restricted. The area includes the Pucón, Villarrica and Panguipulli communities, where the red alert prevailed until yesterday evening. In the areas outside this radius, the Onemi national emergency office issued yellow alert.

Alonso Arellano, professor at the Department of Metallurgical Engineering and an expert in geophysics and geology, considers the actions taken as adequate. Dr Arellano has worked on the study and analysis of predictive models for volcanoes.

“The actions taken are in the scope of what is expected in alert situations and they should not lead to complications,” he says.

He says that the places over which lava flows have been studied and identified, “however, there is always the possibility of fissures in the volcanic cone and lava could flow in other directions,” so he asks people to be alert.

“We have to live with volcanoes and some of their properties are unpredictable. We cannot say that everything is under control, but the alert actions have been suitable, because the country has enough experience,” he explains.

Known behaviour

The expert explains that the basaltic magma typical of the Villarrica volcano is made up of dark- to- intermediate-coloured minerals like pyroxene, olivine, some iron and amphiboles, which are rocks with higher melting points. This means that gases can flow more easily in comparison with other thicker or less liquid types of magma, avoiding gas accumulation and pressure build-up inside the volcanic cone.

“Due to the type of lava, the volcano’s behaviour should be similar to the one in previous eruptions, with a constantly increasing and decreasing activity. If the magma flows over the volcano slopes, it will depend on its pressure and on how it goes up the vent,” he said.

Professor Arellano says that these events could continue. “We may expect stronger eruptions for weeks or months.” 

With regards to the risks to people, professor Arellano explains that besides the risk posed by lava itself, ashes could be harmful. However, he says that most of the gas column will pass to the Argentinean territory, just like on other occasions. 

Professor Arellano holds a PhD in Engineering Sciences with a major in geophysics, geology and geothermal science.

 

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• His work includes publications in national and international books and journals, in relation to the conformation of the Chilean State, the development of the workers’ popular movement and the social- political crises of the XX century.

On August 22^nd, Dr Julio Pinto Vallejos, professor at Universidad de Santiago de Chile, was awarded the National Prize of History 2016.

The renowned historian and Doctor in History from Yale University began to work at Universidad de Santiago when he was 24 years old, in the 80’s. Since then, he has made a major contribution to this discipline as a professor and a researcher.

His work includes publications in national and international books and journals, in relation to the conformation of the Chilean State, the development of the workers’ popular movement and the social- political crises of the XX century, as well as studies on Latin America. Likewise, he has trained several generations of historians and has continuously collaborated with the Ministry of Education.

Dr Pinto expressed that he did not expect this recognition, because there were other very solid candidates. “It was a very gratifying surprise, from which I am still trying to recover. I thank Universidad de Santiago, my university, for supporting my nomination as candidate for this prize and I thank my colleagues and students for their massive and generous support,” he said. “I dedicate this prize to all people who have been by my side throughout these years. They have made me feel that my work has been worthy.

The Minister of Education, Adriana Delpiano, explained that the jury based its decision on the notable historiographical production of Dr Pinto in different fields of the discipline, particularly, in social history and history of the Chilean Republic.

Dr Juan Manuel Zolezzi, President of Universidad de Santiago de Chile, congratulated Dr Pinto and highlighted his great contribution to the university reflected by his commitment to public education and strengthening state universities.

Dr Pinto is a Bachelor of Arts with a major in History (1978), a Master of Arts with a specialization in Latin American History (1979), and a Master of Philosophy in History of the Southern Cone, Colonial Latina America and France between 1789 and 1914 (1983). Hi is also Doctor of Philosophy in History (1991) from Yale University.

Besides, he has been a professor at different national and international universities; he is part of the Scientific Committee of the Historia journal and a member of the editorial board of LOM publishing house, where he is in charge of the History Collection. He has been part of the editorial board of Duke University Press (2013) and Oxford University Press (2014) and he is currently a member of the Humanities Committee of the National Accreditation Commission since 2013.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• Professors Dr. Juan Sepúlveda, Dr. Astrid Oddershede and Dr. Felisa Córdova, who were invited by the International Academic Program, took part in a seminar where they acquired new tools for problem solving through creative thinking. This will considerably benefit the students and will allow improving and updating the Industrial Engineering curricula.

Between January 07th and January 09th, the academics of our University’s Department of Industrial Engineering, Dr. Juan Sepúlveda, Dr. Astrid Oddershede and Dr. Felisa Córdova were invited by the International Academic Program (IAP) to take part in the workshop “Design Thinking and Innovation” at the renowned Harvard University, USA, where they acquired tools to solve problems in an innovating and creative way. They said this will enrich the educational experience of their students.

Specifically, the seminar was given by Professor Srikant Datar to 22 academics from different Latin American universities selected by the IAP and it was held at the Innovation Laboratory of Harvard Business School

Dr. Juan Sepúlveda, the Head of our University’s Department of Industrial Engineering, claimed that this continuing education program for university teachers “is a great progress in updating our teaching methodologies and in adopting thinking and problem solving innovative techniques that we will implement in our classrooms starting this year.”

“The topic that gathered us together in this seminar- Dr. Sepúlveda explained- was ‘Design Thinking’, an approach to develop innovation that is based on the designers and architects’ point of view, which have a very different way of thinking from engineers.”

Dr. Sepúlveda added that Design Thinking is “a very useful methodology to leave behind the conventional paradigms of engineering management, and for us academics, it will be very helpful to show our students that creativity can contribute to solve a large number of problems of our professional lives.”

“After this academic experience, we look for transmitting what we learned to students, so that they dare to break the known models and seek for creative answers to the challenges that they will face in the field of management,” he pointed out.

While, Dr. Felisa Córdova agreed with Dr. Sepúlveda and said that in this visit to Harvard, “we were able to see the learning and teaching methodologies used at this renowned American university and also had access to the researches that professors are now conducting there.”

“After this seminar, the idea is to promote and develop a disruptive way of thinking among our students at Universidad de Santiago de Chile and encourage them to develop a creative thinking, so that they behave out of the ordinary, break the paradigms to implement their innovations then,” Dr Córdova said.

“In the end, this will have an impact on our students, because when they know that their professors are constantly updating their knowledge and that they are taking part in academic activities at Harvard University, for example, they feel supported by teachers of excellence, what in turn makes them more committed with their classes,” she stressed.

For his part, the Head of the Department, Dr. Sepúlveda, concluded that updating knowledge and acquiring new learning and teaching experiences that are world-wide recognized “give our institution a great boost to keep our strong commitment to continue forming world-class professionals.”

Translated by Marcela Contreras

•  Monitoring contaminating emissions at a height of 1,500 meters and understanding how contaminant concentrations vary at height depending on factors like the day, the time, humidity and temperature: this was the objective of the project led by Dr Ernesto Gramsch, professor at the Department of Physics at Universidad de Santiago. For this purpose, he is using a drone, an unmanned aerial vehicle that carries all the necessary instruments to collect specific data regarding this problem that affects the health of people living in the Metropolitan Region.

Dr Ernesto Gramsch, professor at the Department of Physics at Universidad de Santiago is leading a research work that has the purpose of comparing the presence of particulate pollutants in the air, particularly between its presence at ground level and at height. The study is funded through a Regular Fondecyt Project (1151117) and is called “Estudio vertical del carbono negro y perfil de temperatura en Santiago y su relación con la contaminación en la superficie” (“Vertical study on black carbon and temperature profile in Santiago and their relation with ground-level pollution.”)

This research project seeks to measure contaminating emissions at a height of 1,500 meters by means of a drone, an unmanned aerial vehicle adapted to carry the necessary equipment, in order to study how concentrations vary depending on factors like the day, the time, humidity and temperature.

Professor Gremsch explains that “just the fact of knowing how pollution works at height is new, because we do not have that information about Santiago. There is some information about other places, but this work has not been fully developed.”

The drone that will make the measurements will fly over Universidad de Santiago and, probably over Pudahuel and La Parva, the researcher says. “We intend to conduct a campaign that allows us to perform observations for two months in a row, twice or three times a day, plus morning and night observations. Then we will compare both measurements,” he adds.

Air pollutants

Depending on their concentration, regulated pollutants can be the most hazardous to people’s health. They are divided into two categories: PM₁₀ and PM₂₅. PM stands for particulate matter. The two categories are different in that the former includes particles of 10 micrometers or less and the latter, particles of 2.5 micrometers or less.

The PM₁₀ is the material that can be breathed through the nose and reach the lungs. PM₂₅ can reach the alveoli, where the gas exchange with blood is produced. This enables particulate matter to pass into blood circulation.

The researcher explains: “We are going to monitor carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone and sulfur dioxide and fine particles- known as PM₂₅ – that includes black carbon.”

Black carbon is a major component of the soot delivered by combustion. It is black, very fine and volatile, so it remains longer in the air. Under this assumption, Dr Gramsch states that “most of the black carbon in Santiago goes to the mountains and glaciers. Therefore, if it is measured at height, we will be able to see how pollution moves to those areas and how it impacts them.”

This study is part of the constant work done by Dr Gramsch, who has already made measurements of concentrations at height. He obtained data related to concentrations at ground level and temperature measures at height. “This is why we want now to compare the concentration measurements both at ground level and at height,” he explains.

Dr Gramsch says that this study can contribute to prevent diseases. If people are aware of the concentration levels of pollutants, they will avoid, for example, intense physical exercise that might affect their airways. Besides, it will help to establish the industrial areas with poor ventilation conditions.

After finishing the project, Dr Gramsch expects to publish and disseminate consolidated information, including all data generated by the measurements made, showing the contrast between contaminating emissions at ground level and at height.

• Dr Claudio Urrea, a specialist in robotics, has designed an intelligent device that is able to move autonomously through crops in order to perform different prevention and care tasks. 

Dr Claudio Urrea, a researcher at Universidad de Santiago, designed and implemented controllers for a mobile robot that will contribute to farming and improve national agriculture. He was able to design, simulate and evaluate the dynamic performance of different types of controllers. Thanks to these controllers, the mobile robot can be autonomous and its location can be traced at any moment.

According to Dr Urrea, professor at the Department of Electrical Engineering of Universidadd e Santiago de Chile, during the study they have been able to design, simulate and evaluate the dynamic performances of different types of controllers for the mobile robot. This has allowed them to compare the controllers and determine which one had the better performance. 

The researcher says that developing this mechanism could allow the mobile robot to perform crop care tasks. “A mobile robot with artificial intelligence designed and implemented by the Robotics Laboratory of the Department of Electrical Engineering and which is able to move autonomously between rows in a plantation, will have the capability, in the near future, to perform tasks like selective herbicide application, weed and pest control and others,” he says.

Impact on Chilean agricultural production

According to the Chilean Bureau for Agricultural Studies and Policies (ODEPA; in Spanish), Chile is constantly expanding its exports markets. Today, its main export destinations for food, forestry and agricultural products are the USA, the European Union, China, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, Brazil, the Russian Federation, Indonesia, Central America and India.

In this way, Dr Urrea’s research impact would allow to improve the national annual crop yields. “In the future, the impact of this research work will contribute to maintaining the crops all year round, even during the harvest season, when more time, human and economic resources are required. The effects of crop maintenance are directly reflected in the annual production,” he explains.

Dr Urrea says that this mobile robot is being modified to furnish it with more sensors so that it can perform more complex tasks.

The report of this study titled “Path Tracking of Mobile Robot in Crops” was published in the Journal of Intelligent and Robotic Systems (Springer). Patent requests for this technology have currently been filed with the support of the Department of Technology Management of Universidad de Santiago de Chile.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• Dr. Edmundo Leiva, professor at the Informatics Department of Universidad de Santiago and Jorge Segura, who is pursuing a Master´s Degree in this area, developed a software program that recognizes facial microexpressions that evidence basic emotions more effectively than the human eye does. The program can detect sadness, anger and rage - that are expressed through involuntary expressions - even when they last for less than a second. According to professor Leiva, it could have multiple applications: detecting criminals at airports, selecting and recruiting staff for key positions or helping in psychological virtual therapy on Internet.

Affective computing is a research field that relates to the interpretation of human emotions through technology. It looks like science fiction, but it is more real than it appears, and our University is making progress in this matter.

Dr. Edmundo Leiva, professor at the Department of Informatics Engineering of Universidad de Santiago, together with Jorge Segura, a student at the Master’s Program of that unit, developed a software program that can identify emotions by reading human facial expressions even when someone is trying to hide them.

By means of a camera that captures facial muscles movements, it is possible to identify microexpressions, even those lasting less than a second.

“When a person is trying to deceive someone, this program recognizes his/her facial microexpressions. Microexpressions are brief facial expressions shown according to the basic emotions experienced, like anger, happiness, sadness and disgust,” professor Leiva explained.

Professor Leiva - PhD in Informatics - said that although there are experts who study and get certified in interpreting emotions through the face, their estimation range is only 63%, while “our software program has exceeded 70%.”

“Very few people are able to detect microexpressions, because an evident anger expression could hide or mask sadness, what could show for half a second. This microexpressions detector can read that emotion in a fraction of a second,” he explained.

Apps
 
Professor Leiva explained that this innovative tool has a wide scope of applications, from supporting police work to detecting the truthfulness of data provided in recruitment and selection processes of staff for key positions.

“It could be useful for detecting terrorists at airports, or even for virtual therapy given by some psychologists through Internet and Skype. The therapist could have some indications if the patient is lying or, for example, in case of senior people, if they took their medication or not,” professor Leiva said, betting that the list of possibilities could be very long. He also thinks that in the future, it could become an application for mobile devices.

“We speculate that in the future, even Google Glasses (optical displays connected to Internet networks) could have a microexpression recognition device, so that everyone would be able to detect if a person is trying to hide an underlying emotion,” he stressed.

The psychology field that related to facial expression metrics was developed by the American psychologist Paul Ekman, who is a pioneer in detecting the facial expressions of seven basic emotions considered to be linked to the atavistic part of the brain. “Sadness, anger, happiness, fear, surprise, contempt and disgust, which are emotions that all human beings show as a species heritage and not as a trait of a particular culture,” professor Leiva concluded.

The Department of Informatics Engineering is planning to show its work in this line and other research lines to the University community through different stands displaying related technology. Professor Leiva will participate to show this interesting program to anyone who is interested in knowing better about this matter.

Translated by Marcela Contreras