• With a marathon reading of Don Quixote, a masterpiece in the canon of world literature, Universidad the Santiago will take part in the World Book and Copyright day celebration. On this date, the death of Miguel de Cervantes, the author of this brilliant creation, is commemorated every year.

• On April 23^rd at noon, and for the third consecutive year, a 24-hour collective reading of this notable piece will begin. Many renowned public figures, like writers Jorge Edwards and Antonio Skármeta, will participate in this cultural activity that will be broadcasted on U. de Santiago radio station (94.5 FM and 1240 AM and www.radiousach.cl).

• Gabriela Martínez, director of the Department of Communications of the University, invited all the University community to join this homage activity, because she thinks that nobody should be left out of this real “cultural crusade.”

Today, on the World Book and Copyright day, the marathon reading of Don Quixote will be started at the Centro Cultural de España-CCE (Spain Cultural Centre). For the third consecutive year, this cultural activity will pay homage to Cervantes’ masterpiece and promote reading in our country.

Starting at noon and for 24 hours, different cultural, artistic and social personalities, together with people of different ages, interests, professions, groups and activities, will meet at a real “cultural crusade” organized by the CCE and Universidad de Santiago.

To open the activity, the masterpiece will be read aloud by Jorge Edwards, writer and recipient of the Cervantes Award, 1999; Carlos Robles, the Ambassador of Spain in Chile; Luis Larraín, President of Fundación Iguales; Alejandra Wood, Director of GAM cultural centre, and Juan Manuel Zolezzi, President of Universidad de Santiago de Chile.

The actresses Carolina Paulsen, Javiera Acevedo and Carmen Barros and the national Deputy Director of Culture, Lilia Concha, were also invited to read during the activity that will be closed on Friday 24^th at noon (at completing 24 hours of this marathon reading) by Antonio Skármeta, recipient of the National Award for Literature and by Carla Guelfenbein, recipient of the Alfaguara Award, 2015.

All the details on this cultural crusade will be live broadcasted from the CCE by Radio U. de Santiago (94.5 FM and 1240 AM and www.radiousach.cl). During these two days, the radio station programming will be focused on the World Book Day and the reading of Don Quixote, the most important piece of Spanish literature and one of the masterpieces of world literature.

“Nobody should be left out”

The reading of this literature classic for a non-stop 24-hour period is not an easy challenge. Therefore, the organizing committee issued a call to everyone interested in taking part of this cultural event to come on the 23^rd and 24^th to the CCE. This Centre is located on Avenida Providencia #927, Salvador Metro Station.

On this point, Gabriela Martínez, director of the Department of Communications and the Radio Station of Universidad de Santiago, said that nobody should be left out of this activity.

With regards to the radio broadcasting, Director Martínez said: “The most difficult thing is to motivate night owls to come to the CCE to participate in this cultural celebration, so we will have attractive spaces available where well- known and less- known people will be moving around.” 

“The idea is that people and the audience feel as protagonists and think that Radio U. de Santiago is “their” radio station. This year, more Chileans abroad and people in different regions and places far from Santiago will be contacted,” she said.

For further information on the Don Quixote Marathon Reading, go to the web page http://www.quijote24h.cl.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

•    The 11^th Chilean Conference on Psychology was organized by the Network of Schools of Psychology of the Consortium of State Universities of Chile and it was held at Universidad de Santiago de Chile.

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For the second time the 11^th Chilean Conference on Psychology of the Consortium of State Universities (Cuech, in Spanish) was organized by Universidad de Santiago. On this occasion, the core topic of the conference was “Ethics and diversity in transformation times.” Dr Mario Morales Navarro, Head of the School of Psychology of Universidad de Santiago and president of the organizing committee, analyzed the conclusions of the meeting and the challenges that they will face in the future.

“We issued a document that expresses our agreement about the minimal training requirements for Psychology students who graduate from State universities, regarding the skills, specific competences, attitudes and values that should be included in each curriculum. This is a very important achievement,” he said.

Besides acknowledging their commitment to continue working on specific areas of this discipline - like diversity, equity, social climate, welfare, sexual offences and work-related stress- Dr Morales highlighted the essential factors for the proper functioning of the Network, which should have a more important role in the country to generate different actions with real impact and where psychologists can actively participate in the development of public policies.

He anticipated that the heads of the different schools of Psychology will meet again in Universidad de Santiago on January 06^th, 2017, to develop a strategic work plan. “Although each university has its own international network, as a Cuech network, it is important for us to build links with institutions in Latin America, USA and Europe,” he said. He also confirmed that the next Conference will be held at Universidad de La Serena.

850 people attended the Conference, including academics and students, both from Chile and abroad, who met for three days in different places of our campus. The activities involved 120 presentations, 22 symposia, 10 lectures and 40 scientific poster presentations related to different areas of psychology.

Burnout and quality of life at work

Among the international lecturers invited to the Conference, the American psychologist Dr Christina Maslach, professor at the Department of Psychology and Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education at the University of California Berkeley, gave a presentation called “Understanding burnout: Current issues.”

Dr Maslach is one of the most renowned experts in job burnout and she is also the author of the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), the most widely used research measure in the burnout field.

For his part, the prominent Spanish researcher, Dr Pedro Gil-Monte, professor of Psychology at the Universitat de València and head of Unipsico at the same university, gave the lecture “Psicología de la Salud Ocupacional: acciones para promover la salud mental en el trabajo.”

“This area of Psychology should focus on quality of life at work; on intervention actions, like promotion, prevention and treatment; and it should affect organizations, individuals, work and the work process,” he explained. He said that it is necessary to develop basic research, descriptive studies to show evidence and develop evaluation instruments to measure work-related stress.

Opening ceremony

During the Conference opening ceremony, Dr Juan Manuel Zolezzi invited the audience to promote interuniversity research to meet the needs of the country. “This Conference is a yearly touchstone not only for people related to the field of Psychology, but also for many professionals and academics in a broader area of Social Sciences,” referring to the integration of related disciplines like Communications, Health and Sociology.

Marco Barraza Gómez, social and clinical psychologist form Universidad de Santiago and Minister of Social Development, was specially invited to give the opening speech.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• Between August 30^th and September 04^th, 2015, internationally renowned researchers, and professors and students in the field of microbiology, molecular biology, biochemistry, genetics, biocatalysis and biotechnology, will meet at Universidad de Santiago to discuss the importance, developments and potential applications of extremophile microorganisms, which are able to thrive in extreme conditions. The Thermophiles 2015 Meeting is a world conference held every two years. For the first time, it will take place in South America and Universidad de Santiago will host its 13^th version. 

Between August 30^th and September 04^th, 2015, world-class scientists and students of the field of microbiology, molecular biology, biochemistry, genetics, biocatalysis and biotechnology will meet at Universidad de Santiago for the 13^th International Thermophiles Meeting 2015, a multidisciplinary forum held every two years to discuss the latest scientific developments, applications and importance of these microorganisms that live in different extreme environments of the world.

The purpose of this conference is to increase the knowledge of scientists and students in this research field and, at the same time, to invite them to explore its importance for biological sciences and industrial biotechnology.

“This is an excellent opportunity not only to expose our scientists and students to world-class science and scientists in this field, but also to propose new approaches and views to contribute to science in our country and Latin America,” Dr Jenny Blamey said. Dr Blamey is a professor at the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology of Universidad de Santiago and is in charge of the forum organization.

“It is important to mention that Chile is considered one of the six geographic areas with the most diverse extreme environments in the planet; therefore, the scientific matters that will be discussed during this conference are very relevant to the future scientific and technological development in this field in our country,” she added.

Scientists invited

Dr Karl Stetter is one of the scientists who will give a presentation during the activity. He is from Germany, a pioneer in the field of biological sciences and the discoverer of the microorganism Pyroccocus furiosus. The DNA polymerase from Pyroccocus furiosus is currently used for gene amplification and genome elucidation.

Another participant in the forum will be Dr Juergen Wiegel. He is from Germany too and is one of the most renowned microbiologists in the world and recipient of the Bergey’s Award.  

Dr Michael W. Adams, a British professor with many publications on this research field who leads the most important laboratory of structural genomics of extremophile microorganisms, will open the conference.

For further information, go to the meeting official web page: http://www.thermophiles2015.cl

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• In a seminar that gathered renowned researchers from USA, Spain and Chile, the Department of Linguistics and Literature commemorated the centenary of this work by Ferdinand de Saussure, which is essential for the study of language.

The Department of Linguistics and Literature of Universidad de Santiago de Chile celebrated with a seminar the 100 years of the Course in General Linguistics, by Ferdinand de Saussure, a book that professors at Chilean, American and Spanish universities consider as the starting point for the construction of the science that studies human language and languages.

Dr Domingo Román Montes de Oca, Head of the program of Pedagogy in Spanish Language and co-organizer of the activity, said that the seminar provided a space for academic discussion and conclusions that could lead to changes in curricula.

Students, professors and researchers at Universidad Metropolitana de Ciencias de la Educación, Universidad Arturo Prat, Universidad de Concepción, Universidad Austral de Chile, Universidad Católica, Universidad de Chile, University of Maryland, Universitat de Barcelona and Universidad de Santiago, participated in the seminar.

An opportunity for academic discussion

The seminar was held at the auditorium of the Department of Mathematics and the opening ceremony was headed by Dr Marcelo Mella, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Dr Roxana Orrego, Head of the Department of Linguistics and Literature. On the occasion, the Academia Chilena de la Lengua introduced the book “El legado de Saussure” (Saussure’s legacy) by the renowned linguist and novelist of Universidad de Concepción, Dr Andrés Gallardo, who recently passed away.

According to Dr Orrego, the seminar met their expectations, “because it gathered together professors and specialists form several Chilean and foreign universities to analyze the importance of this course for the development of Linguistics as a science. This academic activity was of benefit to our students and professors and it contributes to the positioning of our Department and our Faculty in the academic community,” she said.

During the activity, Dr Manuel Rubio Manríquez (Universidad de Santiago), Dr Silvana Guerrero González (Universidad de Chile), Dr Teresa Oteíza Silva (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile) and Dr Bernardo Riffo (Universidad de Concepción), participated in the round table talk “La enseñanza de la Lingüística” (Teaching Linguistics).

Ferdinand de Saussure’s legacy

One of the special guests to the seminar was Dr Germán F. Westphal, professor at the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics, University of Maryland, Baltimore, USA, who has worked with Noam Chomsky as a direct collaborator. During his speech “Convergencias y divergencias: Saussure y Chomsky” (Convergence and Divergence: Saussure and Chomsky), he highlighted the stance of each of these renowned linguistic theorists.

For Dr Westphal, the activity was “an excellent celebration, because it has gathered people with different points of view with regard to the different approaches and problems that language poses. This commemoration is important, because Saussure definitely changed the field of Linguistics in his time and many of the things that he said have had an impact on the development and study of human language in the past 100 years,” he said.

The closing lecture was given by Dr Estrella Montolío Durán, professor of Spanish Linguistics at Universitat de Barcelona, who presented his work “Lingüística, comunicación y transferencia del conocimiento a la sociedad. Un reto para el siglo XXI,” (Linguistics, communication and transfer of knowledge to society: a challenge for the 21^st century) in which she highlighted how important is that teachers are able to explain their knowledge to society.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• In order to analyze the Cumulative Trauma Disorders (CTDs) that affect thousands of people as a result of long working days using unsuitable furniture, national and international experts gathered together at the “Pensamiento Complejo, Ergonomía de Concepción y Creatividad” conference that was held at Universidad de Santiago.

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National and international experts gathered together at the “Pensamiento Complejo, Ergonomía de Concepción y Creatividad” conference held at Universidad de Santiago. Its purpose was to analyze the Cumulative Trauma Disorders (CTDs) that affect many people as a result of long working days using unsuitable furniture.

The activity was organized by the Industrial Design Technology program and the National Chair in Ergonomics of the Department of Industrial Engineering of Universidad de Santiago.

Ergonomics

Thousands of people work every day in poorly furnished physical spaces that are not always the best in relation to the number of working hours. Most of the time, they are using computers.

In the activity, the relation between furniture and physical postures was analyzed. Cumulative Trauma Disorders (CTDs)- which involve muscle and bone problems- were the focus of the conference and the experts showed the contribution of ergonomics to designing suitable environments for people.

Poor postures while sitting on a chair, the constant contact with some tools, the effort to lift weight or repeated actions (like typing on the computer) can cause these disorders.

María José Araya, architect, ergonomist and professor at the Department of Management Technologies, explained that this is a very important matter, as “long working hours demand the use of ‘neuro-sensory motor’ energy and usually some tolerance thresholds are crossed for the lack of spaces for resting and for leisure and recuperation activities, causing CTDs, with different levels of severity.”

With this activity, “we would like to strengthen international networks with other higher education centers, like Elisava, to address disability and socio-labor inclusion issues from the “Design for all” concept in the National Chair in Ergonomics of the Department of Industrial Engineering of Universidad de Santiago.

Lecturers

In the activity, Giselle Golcovic, who is a graphic designer of Universidad de Chile and has a Master’s degree in Education from Universidad UCINF, gave the presentation “Pensamiento Complejo y Creatividad en Leonardo da Vinci”.

The architect Antonio Bustamante, ergonomist and professor at the Barcelona School of Design and Engineering (Elisava, in Spanish), the first school of design founded in Spain, presented “El hombre de Vitruvio, el de Leonardo y el de Castaño”. In his conclusions, he referred to the importance of understanding users in movement, a viewpoint that differs from conventional anthropometry, which approaches humans as static beings.

José Miguel Araya, industrial civil engineer, ergonomist and professor at Universidad de Santiago analyzed the works presented from an ergonomics point of view 

It is important to understand ergonomics as a key element at designing office and home furniture in order to help people to prevent posture-related diseases

Professor María José Araya said that this type of activity gives students at programs like Industrial Engineering, Design and Architecture the possibility of learning about these matters before they leave the university.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• To contribute with a cleaner and safer energy source and help our country to achieve energy independence, the “Hydrogen Economy and Sustainable Development” Seminar was held at our university. The activity was organized by the Faculty of Engineering, in the context of its 100^th anniversary and it gathered national experts from the public and the academic sectors. The key lecture was delivered by the international speaker Dr Walter Theodor Czarnetzki, Vice President of Research and Technological Transfer of the Esslingen University of Applied Sciences, Germany.

To contribute with a cleaner and safer energy source and help Chile to achieve energy independence from other countries, the “Hydrogen Economy and Sustainable Development” Seminar was held at the Enrique Froemel Auditorium of Universidad de Santiago. The activity was organized by the Faculty of Engineering, in the context of its 100^th anniversary.

The activity was headed by Dr Juan Manuel Zolezzi, President of Universidad de Santiago, who said that universities, as dynamic centers for knowledge building, cannot keep out of the important sustainability processes that our countries are undergoing today, as they are the best tool to develop the foundations for a good future for our societies.

“Hydrogen produced in a clean and economical way could be used to compensate most of the energy insufficiency that we have,” he stressed.

“Our corporation, true to its public service tradition, has committed its best research and teaching resources and infrastructure to contribute with professionals, research and developments that help in policy making and at implementing a “Hydrogen Economy” in Chile,” he said. 

“A scientific work commitment made among universities, state-run bodies and the private sector will allow to find a sustainable energy alternative to reduce the current dependence on hydrocarbons and greenhouse gas emissions,” Dr Zolezzi said.

For his part, Juan Carlos Espinoza, the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering said that the activity “is an example of the constant interest that this academic unit has in the field of energy, what facilitates the reflection on the need to progress in generating technological innovations that contribute to this area.”

The seminar

The seminar was introduced by Andrés Romero Celedón, Executive Secretary of the National Energy Commission, who said, “To address climate change, we shall change from a hydrocarbon-based civilization to a hydrogen-based one. Besides, this seminar is relevant, as in Chile we are trying to make a long-term energy policy for 2050, to overcome the energy problems that our country constantly faces.”

He added that all initiatives aimed to this goal should be supported by universities and professionals of all over the country, to have more security, sustainability and independence in this matter.

Presentations and speakers

During the activity, Dr Walter Theodor Czarnetzki, Vice President of Research and Technological Transfer of the Esslingen University of Applied Sciences, Germany, gave the key lecture “Hydrogen Economy for a Sustainable Future.” Patricio Rousseau, Electrical Engineer of Universidad Católica de Chile, and Dr José Zagal Moya, professor at the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology of our university gave presentations too.

The participants in the “Hydrogen Economy in Chile” panel discussion were Dr Walter Theodor Czarnetzki; Anselmo Peiñan, representative of the Chilean Economic Development Agency (Corfo, in Spanish); José Miguel Arriaza, Regional Secretary of the Ministry of Energy, and Professors Dr Fernando Corvalán and Patricio Rousseau. The discussion was moderated by the lawyer Gonzalo Salgado, an expert in energy regulations.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

Universidad de Santiago was awarded 900 million Chilean pesos in the V version of the Contest Anillos Research Projects in Science and Technology. The contest was announced by the National Commission for Scientific and Technological Research.

Universidad de Santiago was awarded 900 million Chilean pesos for the execution of two projects in the context of the V version of the Contest Anillos Research project in Science and Technology 2014.

Thanks to the Associative Research Program (PIA, in Spanish), 17 projects will be funded nationwide, all of them top-class studies with international scope.

Dr Óscar Bustos Castillo, Vice President of Research, Development and Innovation, said that he was very pleased with the results, adding that “this type of project allows developing cutting-edge research that goes beyond our borders, and this is highly significant to contribute to our university’s internationalization.”

Dr Bustos highlighted that two of the projects that were awarded funding belong to consolidated research groups that, in the short term, could become research centers.

“These study projects will be executed over three years and will allow us to face issues of national interest and global challenges, restating the role we play as a state and public university,” he said.

The projects

One of the projects is led by Dr Maritza Páez and Dr María Victoria Encinas, researchers at the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology, and Dr Jenny Blamey, researcher at Fundación Biociencia, who will address the problems generated by the spontaneous and undesirable damage of materials, known as corrosion or biocorrosion. The name of the study is “Functionalized surfaces: protection against corrosion and biocorrosion.”

They have the goal of replacing the anti corrosion procedures that involve chemical compounds of high toxicity, like chromates, and provide effective and eco-friendly solutions.

Dr Francisco Melo (surface mechanics), Dr José Zagal (electrochemistry) and Dr Manuel Azocar (bioinorganic chemistry) will participate in the project.

Dr Marcela Urzúa (polymers) and Dr Marco Flores (surface physics), both researchers at Universidad de Chile, will take part in the project too, as well as Dr Jenny Blamey and Dr Freddy Boehmwald (microbiology), of Fundación Biociencia, and Dr Mamie Sancy (corrosion-electrochemistry), of the Chilean Air Force.

The second project is led by Dr Raúl Cordero, researcher at the Department of Physics. This is the second time that he leads an Anillo Project (the first time was in 2010). This time, he seeks to better understand the effects of black carbon at the Andean cryosphere. 

Black carbon or soot is a pollutant generated by the use of fossil fuels in the cities that is carried by the wind over the Andean snow, changing its reflectivity and its melting speed. 

According to Dr Cordero, the study “is mainly focused on measuring the content of black carbon in the snow on the west side of the Andes.” For this purpose, they will conduct campaigns to collect samples and analyze their carbon content across the country, from Putre to the Patagonia.

With this data, “we expect to generate a map that shows the black-carbon content in the Andean cryosphere, highlighting the areas of impact. This information will be useful to evaluate the effect of black carbon on glaciers melting,” the researcher explained.

The project is really important, because the country’s long-term sustainability depends on the availability of water resources coming from the Andean snows. However, just like many cold regions of the planet, the Andean cryosphere has doubled the global warming rate. “Although green-house gas emissions seem to be the main cause of this problem, black carbon may be playing a role too,” he added.

“Universidad de Santiago is a leader in interdisciplinary studies that address different aspects of sustainability, what largely explains the successful results of our applications. This project involves an interdisciplinary team of physicists, chemists, glaciologists and engineers of six renowned Chilean universities. Besides, ten international institutions will collaborate with the project, like the German Aerospace Center (DLR, in German) and the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC),” Dr Cordero concluded.

Nationwide results

The other 15 projects that were awarded funds belong to the following universities: five to Universidad Católica de Chile; four to Universidad de Chile; two to Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María and one to Universidad de La Frontera, one to Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, one to Universidad Andrés Bello and one to Universidad Autónoma de Chile.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

•  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

• 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

• 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