• Among the different speakers that took part in the Colloquium “Water: a renewable resource?”, one of them, Alfredo Zolezzi, founder of the Advanced Innovation Center, considers that the contrast between technology progress and the poverty and shortage of sanitary resources affecting millions of people is “dramatic”. He says that the solution to this problem is to make sure that innovation reaches people who need it.

The recent celebration of the World Water Day brought again to the national and international agenda the importance of promoting sustainable practices for the good use of water resources in the planet. The Colloquium “Water: a renewable resource?” was held in this context and it was led by the Association of Researchers for Development and Interdisciplinarity (INDI, its Spanish acronym), that groups researchers from the different faculties of Universidad de Santiago de Chile.

The activity brought together three speakers that approached the implications and significance of this strategic resource from very different points of view.

Leyla Noriega, journalist of Red Mi Voz*, who has experience in working with indigenous communities in the north of Chile, gave the presentation “Between the Andean world view and the community’s political core”. She explains that “our philosophy understands water like a living being. The resource is distributed according to its ancestral use by common law; that is to say, based on customs or natural rights.”

However, this expert in communications says that this approach is little respected, as a consequence of a series of processes that have affected the native peoples of the north of the country, like “Chileanization and the disassembly of ancestral authorities.”

Then, Alfredo Zolezzi, founder of the Advanced Innovation Center spoke about “Meaningful innovation”, considering it like a concept that has always been present in the history of humankind. “We have never had as much technology available as we do now, but it is dramatic to see this progress without recognizing that there are millions of people living in poverty, without basic sanitary services,” he says.

Effective solutions

In light of this situation that accounts for a complex reality, specific answers are required. According to Zolezzi, the solution lies in changing the way of doing things and he suggests “doing activism with proposals that make sure that innovation will reach people who need it.”
 
In his case, innovation became socially meaningful through the creation of the Plasma Water Sanitation System (PWSS), a water purification system that allows transforming polluted water particles into plasma, making it potable.

This system was implemented in 2011, in Fundo San José, a shanty town in Cerrillos, Santiago, thanks to a partnership with Un Techo Para Mi País**. It is worth to mention that this shanty town’s residents were resettled in June, 2013.

The last presentation was given by Dr. Silvio Montalvo, professor at the Department of Chemistry Engineering of our University, who spoke about his research regarding water resources.

At present, he is working on the treatment of sludge generated at sewage water treatment plants, in order to develop technologies to optimize the anaerobic digestion process that allows breaking down biodegradable material in the absence of oxygen.

“If we are able to preserve the water that we already have and keep it less polluted, we will be contributing to this matter,” the researcher says.

Translator’s notes: *Red Mi Voz is a digital network that promotes the practice of citizen journalism. **Un Techo Para Mi País is a nonprofit organization that mobilizes youth volunteers to fight extreme poverty in Latin America, by constructing transitional housing and implementing social inclusion programs.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

•  The karate teams of Universidad de Santiago won the first places in women and men categories in the championship coordinated by the University National Federation of Sports, a sports organization that depends on the Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities.
• The complete victory of the students who competed became an unprecedented milestone in this type of sports competition, as this is the sixth consecutive time that Universidad de Santiago wins the first place, something that no other higher education institution has done before.
• The karatekas accomplished this unprecedented feat after prevailing over renowned institutions with a strong tradition in sports, like Universidad de Chile, Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María and Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, among others.
• According to Mario González, the coach of the karate branch of Universidad de Santiago, the key is the excellence of those who make up the team. “They are strong-willed. They are 100% Universidad de Santiago.”

On October 11^th, the University National Championship of Karate for women and men, FENAUDE 2015, took place at Universidad Católica de Valparaíso. The best specialists in this sporting discipline representing the universities of the National Council of Rectors (Cruch), gathered together at this competition.

The women and men teams of Universidad de Santiago won eight gold medals, two silver medals and two bronze ones, showing their excellence and the importance of sports as part of student training.

In the men category, the team of Universidad de Santiago got 40 points, far from the closest competitor, Universidad de Chile, on 26 points.

Women, for their part, won the first place with 44 points, with a difference of 29 points over Universidad de Chile.

Besides, our university won the team women and team men categories for the sixth consecutive time, something completely unprecedented in this type of competition.

According to Mario González Faúndez, coach of the karate branch of the university, these results are “extremely positive”. He explains that, although the group of sport men and women wanted to continue with the triumphs that the university enjoyed the previous years, “This year the competition was much harder and they had to win all the matches.”

González adds that one of the merits of the group is that they have learned to adapt themselves to the changes every year, when some of the members of the team leave because they complete their academic training in our institution.

“We have won a university national championship for the sixth consecutive year, with six different teams, because they change every year,” Gonzáles says.

He says that, in this regard, their success has been based on the policies that our university has on sport matters, like the outstanding sportsmen/women special admission.

“The university showed that it has the talents and the ‘raw material’ required because of the good selection of sports talents at this special type of admission. First, they are students, and then, sportspeople, so they are even better. Their commitment is the hallmark of the team. They are strong-willed; they are 100% Universidad de Santiago.”

Fair play

Javiera González, a student at the Bachelor’s Program in Physical Activity Sciences, and Jorge Acevedo, a student at the Master’s program in Management and Public Policies of the Faculty of Administration and Economics, were awarded as the best sportsman/woman of the competition, for their uprightness and “fair play” at fighting.

Mario González highlights that “Both of them were impartially chosen by the referees. In the case of women competitors, although there were girls of Universidad de Chile and Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María who are part of the national team (of karate), Javiera stood out for her ability to apologize to others when she committed a foul.”

In the case of Jorge, “There were bouts that he won after 20 seconds, just by scoring points and without needing to hit or harm the opponent,” he added.

This way of behaving during competitions is “What happens everyday in the karate branch,” González says. “There are many youngsters who start from scratch and begin to train and to compete representing the university, and others who have a karate background, since their dojos, and know what it is about.” Therefore, “During training sessions, there is a mixture; there is a mystical relation between those who know and those who are learning.”

For example, Alejandro Mellado, a bronze medal winner in the past Santiago 2014 South American Games, is part of the university’s men team and he trains together with the new members of the karate branch and helps them to improve every day.

“Alejandro Mellado practices together with youngsters who do not know much about karate, because they have just started with this sport and he is interested in teaching them when they make mistakes,” González concluded.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• In its third public account, the ESUS Solar Energy Team referred to the big challenges that they faced during 2016: the Atacama Solar Challenge and the high possibility that the team has of winning the Construye Solar 2017 contest with the Casa Temperie. Among the challenges for 2017, they mentioned the initiative to build solar modules in the campus and their participation in the Sasol Solar Challenge 2018, in South Africa.

   

  In its public account after almost six years of its creation, the Universidad de Santiago’s Solar Energy Team (ESUS) highlighted the big challenges that they faced during 2016: the Atacama Solar Challenge and the high possibilities that the team has of winning the Construye Solar 2017 contest with the Casa Temperie, the sustainable social housing project developed in partnership with the School of Architecture of Universidad de Santiago. The team members also referred to their initiative to build solar modules in the campus through their Sustenta ESUS Division.

  The ESUS Team is currently made up of more than 50 students at the Faculties of Engineering, Humanities, Administration and Economics, the Technological Faculty, and the School of Architecture. They have worked with more than 15 business partners during this period that have contributed with more than 125 million pesos, a 594% more than the previous year.

  Since its foundation in 2011, the projects of ESUS promote the use of solar energy as a solution to the constant energy problems that affect our country, through research and by implementing different technological developments.

  Dr Claudio Martínez Fernández, Vice President of Research, Development and Innovation said that he was very proud of this young team that works for Universidad de Santiago.

  “The way in which they have approached their work -constantly looking for innovation and new projects, one of the focuses of the university- confirms that, in spite of the fact that they are undergraduate students, they can make a big difference,” he says.

  Vice President Martínez adds that “Universidad de Santiago is historically known for contributing to the knowledge and development of the country and ESUS is a clear example of this.”

  Challenges for 2017

  For next year, the Solar Energy Team highlighted three big challenges that they will face. First, The Apolo Team will build a new solar vehicle, the Apolo IV, a lighter version of the Apolo III, to compete in the Sasol Solar Challenge, South Africa, in September 2018. They are also evaluating the possibility of competing in the Atacama Solar Challenge 2017.

  Second, the Construye Team is ready to start building the Casa Temperie, (Temperie House), a project that was started in March by the School of Architecture. The team is among the 10 finalists in the Construye Solar 2017 contest organized by the NGO La Ruta Solar.

  The project is a new concept of social housing that involves a habitable environment in a greenhouse with renewable energies. With this project, the ESUS Team thinks that they have possibilities of winning.

  And finally, the Sustenta ESUS division has the goal of building solar modules in the campus to provide free power to charge batteries for laptops, cellphones and other electronic devices. In this way, the university community will have access to a real sustainable initiative.

  Translated by Marcela Contreras

• Patricio Flores, PhD in Biotechnology, and Yu-Wen Tang, student at the Master´s program in Technology Management- Major in Biotechnology, both from the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology, were awarded a grant to develop a strategy for marketing an enzyme that has multiple benefits for diagnosing diseases.

As a result of the work they did for a doctoral dissertation and after being granted funds through the “Go To Market, de la Idea al Mercado” Contest organized by Corfo (the Chilean Economic Development Agency), the researchers will get trained in Silicon Valley, in the context of the third stage of the project “Developing a strategy for marketing a highly stable glutamate dehydrogenase (GLDH) enzyme.”

The project, which was developed under the guidance of Dr. Jenny Blamey, associate professor at Universidad de Santiago, proposes replacing the bovine GLDH enzyme with one from an Antarctic extremophilic microorganism (capable of resisting extreme conditions of temperature, pH, pressure, salinity, among others), which does not have the deficiencies of its predecessor. Its most common application is in the area of clinical laboratories where it is used for diagnosing hepatic and renal diseases

According to researcher Patricio Flores, “having discovered this new enzyme, glutamate dehydrogenase (GLDH), improves the half-life of five different types of diagnostic kits, as its thermal stability is higher than the one of the enzyme used today.” The academic stresses that “what is most important is that it also solves the problem of low half-life of the “old” diagnostic kits, preventing from discarding expired kits that have not been used, improving result reliability, lowering costs, reducing losses for companies and enabling a stock available to give a quick answer to market requirements.”

“The new enzyme is much more stable. It can be stored at room temperature, keeping more than 85% of its activity for 50 days. On the other hand, the bovine enzyme completely loses its activity under the same conditions,” Dr. Flores explains, regarding the results of this project that involves Universidad de Santiago and Fundación Científica y Cultural Biocencia.

Go To Market

“Go To Market, de la Idea al Mercado” is an initiative that seeks to identify research studies conducted at universities, technological centers and Chilean companies that have generated technologies that could potentially benefit the global market.

“The application process for the Corfo’s Go to Market Contest coincided with the last steps to finish my doctoral dissertation in which I developed the product prototype, that is to say, the GLDH enzyme from an Antarctic thermophilic microorganism,” Dr, Flores says.

At present, the project is at its third stage, which involves getting training at the Standford Research Institute (SRI), scheduling meetings with investors and interested clients and developing a marketing strategy to position the product in the market. These will be the activities that the two researchers will have while they stay in USA.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• “With this vehicle, we expect to win the 2016 Atacama Solar Challenge,” said Martín Catalán, general director of the Solar Car Team (ESUS) of Universidad de Santiago de Chile, after the presentation of the Apolo III. Claudio Murúa, mechanical director of the team said that the new car can achieve 140 kilometers per hour using as little energy as a hair dryer.

“With this vehicle we expect to win the 2016 Atacama Solar Challenge. Not the second or the third, but the first place. The cars competing are very similar so the possibility of winning is very high,” said Martín Catalán, general director of the Solar Car Team (ESUS) of Universidad de Santiago de Chile, after the presentation of the Apolo III.

Among the most remarkable features of the new model that will compete in the Evolution category (high-range cars that are only fed with solar energy), the car stands out for its low weight, 190 kilos, what makes it very competitive not only in Chile, but also at an international level.

Martín Catalán will be the team captain during the race and their goal is to have a better performance in comparison to the past challenge, where they reached the fourth place in general and the third place nationwide. This left them in the 17^th place of the International Solar Car Federation global championship table.

The ceremony

The Apolo III presentation ceremony was attended by Universidad de Santiago’s authorities, students and external guests. Dr Juan Manuel Zolezzi, President of Universidad de Santiago, and the ESUS team members unveiled the new car. 

Dr Zolezzi said that he appreciates the links with the private sector to develop these projects. “We expect the business world to really trust universities and contribute with resources to achieve what they want: To produce more cheaply and with better quality. In turn, this will allow us to develop science and technology.”

The car

The car is 4 and a half meters long, 1.8 meters wide and one meter high; its advanced control system allows to adapt speed to the weather conditions in route; and its flexible solar panels weigh 80% less than conventional ones to make it more competitive.

Claudio Murúa, mechanical director of the team said that the new car can achieve 140 kilometers per hour using as little energy as a hair dryer.

He highlighted that the Apolo III body shell is completely made up of carbon fiber. It took them three months to assemble it and they worked together with several companies.

“It is a very strong and reliable car that should not have any problem in completing the 2,550 kilometers of the race. This time, we have focused on the use of energy,” he added.

The group that developed the project is formed by 50 people from different programs at the university, mainly from the Faculty of Engineering.

An example in energy matters

The general director of ESUS said that his team does not only work on the car, but it also seeks to disseminate knowledge and show new technologies.

“In a few years, we would like our work to be an example in the university and position ourselves at a national level in the context of renewable energies,” he said.

During the presentation, Leandro Valencia, general director of the NGO Ruta Solar, highlighted the work done by the team of Universidad de Santiago by saying: “The ESUS team is very active in outreach activities. We are very proud of this, because the team contributes to our mission of making Chile the world capital of solar energy.”

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• The activity will gather more than 5,000 university students from all over the world to replicate the debate model of the committees of diplomats from the 193 UN member states.

Twenty-two students of Universidad de Santiago are finishing their training to participate in the National Model United Nations (NMUN NY 2017) Conference that will be held between March 19^th- 23^rd at the UN headquarters, New York, USA.

For the fourth consecutive year, Universidad de Santiago will be the only Chilean institution to participate in the conference, an activity that gathers more than 5,000 university students from all over the world. During the activity, the students represent different states and simulate the debate model of the committees of diplomats from the 193 UN member states.

On this occasion, the students at Universidad de Santiago will represent Ukraine at the Security Council and Greece at the other UN organs like the General Assembly, UNESCO, UNICEF, UNEP, UNHCR, WHO, and others.

In this context, Alexandra Cabrera, student at the Translation program, and Sebastián Astudillo, student at the Public Administration program, met with the Honorary Consul of Ukraine in Santiago, Alex Thiermann, to get a better understanding of the foreign policy of that country, and they also expect to meet with a representative of the Embassy of Greece.

The other members of the group are the chief delegates Javiera Díaz (Translation program) and Emanuel Arias (International Studies program) and the students Paulina Caroca, Johann Golsworthy, Kimberly Robles, Yanira Díaz, and Erika Celsi (Public Administration program); Pablo Maturana, Militza González, Daniela Campos, Antonia Soto, Gabriela Correa, and Ángela Núñez (Translation program), Federico Izaguirre, Bárbara Góngora, Florencia Vega, Fabiana Guerrero, Catalina Solar, Daniela Peñaloza, and María Paz Pardo (International Studies program). Professor Sofía Schuster, of the Department of History, will accompany the group.

“The training workshop enables students to develop academic and professional skills, like the ability for critical analysis, for research, for data collection, for identifying reliable sources and also the ability to speak English at an academic level,” professor Schuster says.

Good diplomats

Javiera Díaz, graduate in English-Portuguese Translation, says that one of the main goals of the workshop is that students behave as “good diplomats”. “A good diplomat stands before everybody, persuades and negotiates, as he/her needs to get a solution to a conflict. The most important thing at the conference is the ability to convince, to persuade,” she says.

It is worth mentioning that the only Latin American institutions participating are Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Universidad Central de Venezuela and Universidad Nacional Autónoma and Anáhuac Mayab of Mexico.

Invitation to Kobe

The participation of the students at Universidad de Santiago in the former National Model United Nations Conferences has been outstanding. Since 2013, they have received 8 awards in the categories of Outstanding Position Paper and Honorable Mention Delegation.

For receiving the Honorable Mention Delegation award in the last conference, students were invited to participate in the NMUN Japan 2016, in Kobe, to commemorate the 60 years since that country’s accession to the UN. This activity was held between November 20^th and 26^th, 2016.

A group of 14 students at the programs of Translation, International Studies and Commercial Engineering travelled to Kobe: Daniela Toledo, Diego Vidal, Arlette Leal, Marcia Pérez, Paulette Reyes, Catalina Rodríguez, Patricia González, Gabriela Albornoz, Nadine Givovich, Javiera Villarroel, Karla Acuña, Jhonatan Díaz, Marcia Muñoz, and Edgar Rodas. They were accompanied by Professor Sofía Schuster.

Since this conference, the Department of International and Inter-University Relations (DRII, in Spanish) of Universidad de Santiago included the NMUN Conference as part of its student exchange program. 

In January, the students will continue their preparation to improve their English level, develop their personal skills and get a better knowledge of the Greek and Ukrainian cultures, to travel to New York on March 15^th. 

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• Universidad de Santiago’s interdisciplinary research team, led by Dr. Silvia Matiacevich from the Technological Faculty, is focused on developing an edible film that could increase the shelf life of fresh foods by 30%.

Improving the way of preserving foods has been a permanent concern in food industry. This is the reason why packaging is essential for the quality and shelf life of the product. But this packaging should be in harmony with the environment.

In light of this situation, a sustainable alternative for food packaging has been developed: food covering edible films, which are being widely used and have become a world trend nowadays. At Universidad de Santiago, an interdisciplinary research team is trying to replicate this development, giving value added to different national byproducts.

This initiative will be viable thanks to the Associative Dicyt Project called “Bioactive Coatings for Foods”, which gathers together experts from different faculties of the University.

“We will use food industry byproducts which are considered as dispensable or waste material. We are going to give them a value added by adding antioxidant and antimicrobial components to them in order to increase the shelf life of fresh food products,” Dr. Daniel López says.

Academics from three different faculties gathered for this purpose: Dr. Rubén Bustos, from the Faculty of Engineering (Department of Chemical Engineering); Dr. Diego Venegas and Dr. Marlén Gutiérrez, from the Faculty of Chemistry and Biology (Department of Materials Chemistry); and Dr. Daniel López and Dr. Silvia Matiacevich, from the Technological Faculty (Department of Food Science and Technology), being Dr. Matiacevich the leader of the project.

During the two years scheduled for the project, the researchers plan to study the synergistic effect of this combination of products and they expect to increase food shelf life by over 30%.

Interdisciplinarity

Most of the academics related to this project are part of a larger group created by the end of 2013 called Indi, Asociación de Investigadores por el Desarrollo e Interdisciplinariedad of Universidad de Santiago de Chile, a group of researchers that promotes development and interdisciplinarity at the university.

“All of us have participated in some of these initiatives at some point, seeking for this interdisciplinarity. This is how we have met other people and created contacts. What is good is that more than just admiring the work of others, we have the real possibility of conducting studies together. For this reason, we value this type of projects, as they promote the integration and interdisciplinarity that define a university,” Dr. Matiacevich says.

Translated by Marcela Contreras
 

• Universidad de Santiago’s representatives won one gold medal, one silver medal and four bronze medals in the US Open in Las Vegas, USA. They are part of the karate national team and have participated in different international competitions.

The members of the karate branch of Universidad de Santiago won one gold medal, one silver medal and four bronze medals in the US Open in Las Vegas, USA. They are part of the Chilean national team of karate and have participated in different competitions worldwide.

Javiera González, Paola Arias and Alejandro Mellado, the three of them students at the School of Health, Sports and Physical Activity Sciences, and Jorge Acevedo, a student at the Faculty of Administration and Economics, participated in the US Open in Las Vegas, an international competition held in USA between March 23^rd and 27^th this year. 

Javiera González won one gold two bronze medals; Jorge Acevedo won a silver medal; and Paola Arias and Alejandro Mellado won a bronze medal each.

This international competition brought together delegations from different countries in the world, like India, Japan, Brazil, Canada, Italy, Ukraine and USA, among others

“It was a fulfilling experience as we met competitors from all over the world,” said Alejandro Mellado. He added that six former world champions participated on this occasion.

“This experience will help us to achieve our ultimate goal: the Pan American Championships (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). It is part of our preparation to evaluate what we need to improve and to have a competitive pace,” he said

According to Javiera González, the results they obtained are the fruit of the rigorous and serious attitude that they have when facing competitions and representing Universidad de Santiago and the country.

The Karate branch of Universidad de Santiago

 “We are more than a team: we are a family. Sports performance is important, but the members of the team are important too. That is the key to the success of the Karate branch of Universidad de Santiago,” Paola Arias said, adding that the branch is made up of fifty students who train four hours every day in search of sports excellence.

The team members said that Universidad de Santiago has encouraged both their academic and sports performance and has given them support so that they can combine both areas.

For them, the support of Manuel Arrieta, Vice President for Student Support, and Professor Mario González, leader of the Karate branch, has been essential.

Future competitions

Although they acknowledge that the results they obtained in the US Open are good, they feel that the most important challenge is to come: The Pan American Championships in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (May 26^th-28^th, 2016). 

“We expect to win medals there, because our previous results were good,” Javiera González said, adding that 2016 will be a year full of competitions.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• The National Institute of Industrial Property recognized Universidad de Santiago as the third Chilean university with the highest number of invention patent requests that seek to contribute to the country development in fields like chemistry and biology, engineering and technology. Maximiliano Santa Cruz, Inapi’s National Director and Óscar Bustos, Vice President of Research, Development and Innovation of Universidad de Santiago,   encouraged the University community to continue constantly producing industrial innovations to contribute to society.

On April 25th, in the context of the World Intellectual Property Day, our University was recognized as the third best national institution in requesting invention patents during 2013.

The National Institute of Industrial Property (Inapi, in Spanish)- an agency responsible to the Ministry of Economy in charge of registering, managing and promoting industrial property rights in Chile- granted our University an award in a ceremony led by Maximiliano Santa Cruz, Inapi´s National Director.

During the activity that took place at Inapi’s building, Santa Cruz highlighted the important role played by our University in producing creative innovations that contribute to our country’s development.

“Universidad de Santiago de Chile is absolutely essential to our patenting system. It has always been in the highest positions at the patent request ranking and this is not a coincidence: it is the result of serious intellectual property policies,” Inapi’s director said.

For Maximiliano Santa Cruz, our University’s interest in industrial property “is a powerful signal to its researchers, professors and innovators, in general.”

“I ask Universidad de Santiago’s innovators to continue creating new things and using the patenting system for it is a powerful tool to protect intellectual property,” he added.

Dr. Óscar Bustos, Vice President of Research, Development and Innovation (Vridei, in Spanish) of our University, who received Inapi´s award, showed himself very pleased with the position in the ranking at a national level.

“We are very satisfied with our exceptional position among the institutions that request for invention patents (…) We would have been happy to keep the second place like we did last year, but being among the main institutions that file patents requests in Chile is excellent news indeed,” Dr. Bustos said.

Pontifica Universidad Católica was at the first place in the patent request ranking while Universidad de Concepción was at the second place.

Finally, Vice President Bustos said that the high position of our University in the ranking reflects that “our researchers have become aware that not only scientific publications are important for our country: developing specific technological projects in key areas for Chile is important too.”

According to data provided by the Department of Technology Transfer of our University, during 2013, this state and public institution filed 11 invention patent requests in Chile, and at the same time, it filed other 42 requests with foreign agencies in charge of registering industrial inventions.

Translated by Marcela Contreras
 

• Camilo González Vargas, Chemistry PhD student at Universidad de Santiago de Chile, was awarded the Best Poster Prize at the 19th Topical Meeting of the International Society of Electrochemistry (ISE) held a few days ago in Auckland, New Zealand.

Camilo González Vargas, Chemistry PhD student at Universidad de Santiago de Chile, was awarded the Best Poster Prize at the 19th Topical Meeting of the International Society of Electrochemistry (ISE) held in Auckland, New Zealand, a few days ago.

This is the first time that a Chilean is honored at a meeting of this renowned society that gathers together electrochemical associations from all over the world. 

Camilo González expressed his gratitude for the scholarship that the Vice Presidency of Research, Development and Innovation awarded him to show his work about carbon electrodes in this important academic meeting.

Regarding his prize, the student emphasized that his work was chosen for being innovative.

The meeting

“During the meeting, I realized that there was not any other work related to modification of electrode surfaces through electropolymerization. Besides, the quality and applications of my proposal were key to being awarded the prize.

His study is called “Electropolymerization of L- and D- glutamic acids on glassy carbon electrodes. Determination of Hydrochlorothiazide” and it is being conducted at the Laboratory of Environmental Electrochemistry.

He explains that the study is based on the modification of glassy carbon electrodes through an electrochemical technique called electropolymerization. In simple words, it consists in plunging the glassy carbon electrode in a solution that contains glutamic acid monomer.”

“Then, consecutive potential sweeps are applied, forming the polymer over the electrode’s surface. After obtaining the modified electrode, I studied the electrochemical response of the antihypertensive drug on the electrode, being able to develop a new electroanalytical method for its determination and quantification, which is much simpler, faster and cheaper than conventional techniques currently in use,” he says.

With regard to his plans, he says that he intends to participate in the yearly meeting of ISE in The Hague (the Netherlands) this year and do a doctoral internship during the second semester in Barcelona (Spain).

“Regarding my doctoral dissertation, I am still working on it, optimizing new methodologies to modify glassy carbon electrodes with other glutamic acid derivatives and studying the determination and quantification of other drugs in aqueous solution by using my modified electrodes,” he says.

Camilo González says that the possibility of participating in such an activity was very important, as he was able to collect the opinions of “important researchers in this field that will allow me to have new ideas to continue with my doctoral dissertation.”

Translated by Marcela Contreras