• The contest organized by the Ministry of Energy seeks to generate efficient solutions for households and neighborhoods and improve the access and use of renewable energies in micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. Dr Juan Manuel Zolezzi, President of Universidad de Santiago de Chile, will be part of the contest jury.

The “Impacta Energía” contest, organized by the Chilean Ministry of Energy and supported by the Laboratorio de Gobierno, seeks to generate innovations in the field of energy by attracting and encouraging talented entrepreneurs and innovators, and inviting them to get involved in the public challenges of the country with ideas, technologies, products or services.

“Impacta Energía” is an open contest for public innovation that seeks to find efficient energy solutions for households and neighborhoods and improve the access and use of renewable energies in micro, small and medium-sized enterprises to enhance their productivity.

The call includes a Bootcamp stage or accelerated incubation process, where the selected teams will have the possibility of co-creating, improving and modifying their projects with the mentoring of representatives of the Government and the support of real users.

The four winners- who will be announced in November this year- will receive 75 million pesos each for piloting their ideas. They will have six months to implement their projects and will have the support of the Ministry of Energy in order that their ideas can become public policies.

Applications can be submitted in the link www.impactaenergia.cl, until August 23^rd. Both Chilean and foreign applicants can participate, as well as small, medium and large-sized companies from Chile or abroad.

Partnership between universities and companies

As one of the 16 members of the jury that will select the winning projects, Dr Juan Manuel Zolezzi, President of Universidad de Santiago de Chile, highlighted that innovation is an essential matter in this public and state university. 

He invited “students and young people in general to face these problems and propose ideas to progress in this challenge.”

For his part, Máximo Pacheco, Minister of Energy, said that he was proud to have President Zolezzi in the jury and also of the relation with Universidad de Santiago de Chile.

Asimismo, destacó la relación entre la academia, el Estado, la sociedad civil y el mundo empresarial para trabajar en conjunto y enfrentar los desafíos en el ámbito de la energía. “Tenemos la convicción de que la energía no es solamente algo estratégico, sino que es a partir de ella que se construyen las civilizaciones”, expresó el ministro.

He also stressed the importance of the relation among the State, universities, civil society and business world as partners to face energy challenges. “We are certain that energy is not only a strategic issue: it is the base on which civilizations are built,” the Minister said.

“Companies need to work in partnership with universities like Universidad de Santiago de Chile,” he concluded, insisting on the importance of committing to innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• At the meeting, the first lady Akie Abe, wife of the Japan´s Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, talked in her own language with the young participants and gave each of them a gift. “I hope you visit Japan soon. Let me know in advance so that you can visit my house,” she said.

 

On August 31st, students of the Linguistics Applied to Translation Program, major in English- Japanese given by the Faculty of Humanities of Universidad de Santiago, had the unprecedented opportunity of meeting with Mrs. Akie Abe -the wife of the Japan´s Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe- who started her official visit to Chile with this activity.

During the ceremony headed by the Academic Vice President, Dr. Fernanda Kri, the dignitary conversed with the young participants in Japanese. Each of them explained to her why they decided to learn the Japanese language and she showed herself very interested in their stories, paying attention to the language level that they have reached, especially in those students who have been in Japan, thanks to the scholarships awarded by the Japanese government.

Together with valuing the work done by Universidad de Santiago at teaching the Japanese language in Chile, Mrs. Abe donated more than 50 books to the University.

Mrs. Abe expressed her “deep gratitude for being received with such a kind hospitality.” And she gave the students a message: “I am sure that, with the visit of mi husband to Chile, we are strengthening our bilateral relations and I would like to ask you to be like bridges between the two countries.”

“I hope that you visit Japan soon and let me know in advance so that you can visit my house,” she said.

 
Strong links with Japan

In 1995, the University created the Linguistics Applied to Translation Program, major in English- Japanese. Universidad de Santiago is the only university that gives this program in Latin America, and since its beggining, it has built and strengthened links with Japan.

Examples of the importance that Universidad de Santiago has had in spreading the culture of that oriental country are the visit of Her Imperial Highness of Japan, Akiko de Mikasa, in September 2013, and the appointment of Universidad de Santiago as the only Chilean institution in charge of the administration of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT).

Also the students of this program organize every year the Japanese traditional culture festival, Nihon Matsuri, where they show the traditions of that oriental country.

The Chief of the Linguistics Applied to Translation Program, Marcela Contreras, said that “the Embassy of Japan has always supported the University in the different activities that we organize, since the program was created.”

“At this moment we have more than 200 students in the program and many of them apply for scholarships in Japan. And the Embassy of Japan receives our students for internships. So, we can see that both parties are interested in keep working together much longer, and this is confirmed by the visit of the wife of the Prime Minister to our University,” Contreras said.

 

Watch the video of the activity

 

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Translated by Marcela Contreras

• Varua Touch is a wireless touch device that allows to move a cursor on a computer screen, tablet or smartphone by moving the hands, feet or as best suitable for each user.

In a couple of weeks, Álvaro Monserrat Aguirre, a student at the Electrical Civil Engineering program of Universidad de Santiago de Chile will present his degree examination. In his thesis project, he has been working on designing the prototype of a device for people with mild motor impairment. “I have always liked the mix of disciplines, like engineering and health care; for this reason, my idea is to develop a universal product for disabled people,” Álvaro Monserrat says, regarding the Varua Touch, a wireless touch device that allows to move a cursor on a computer screen, tablet or smartphone by moving the hands, feet or as best suitable for each user.

In 2011, Álvaro Monserrat entered Universidad de Santiago de Chile and two years later, his inquisitiveness led him to become part of “Open Cree” a group of engineering students for project development.

In 2015, a new opportunity was offered to him by the first version of the Despega USACH contest. He already had an idea to apply for the contest: the “Nurse Eye” project. This initiative arose from the need that he and a kinesiologist friend detected in a hospital. “By using digital cameras, we captured photos of people´s injuries in order to monitor their evolution, considering different variables,” he explains. 

The Director of the Chilean National Institute of Injuries invited them to the institute and gave them the possibility of working with patients and equipment to develop their idea. “It was a commercial validation,” Álvaro says. As his project was one of the five that won the Despega Usach contest, he had the opportunity of travelling to San Francisco, USA, and work at the Stanford Research Institute for two weeks.

“Technological innovation means to create something new using existing resources in order to benefit someone,” he explains. “It is a creative process beyond technical knowledge, with a mixture of inspiration, paying attention to problems, seeking solutions and being inquisitive.”

Sustainable social venture

Together with a multidisciplinary team of students, they began to visit people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. “We made both a medical and technical evaluation and helped them to install the application in their cell phones. The app allowed them to write, push a key and communicate their needs,” he remembers. The idea for his thesis project arose from this experience.

“The Varua Touch should be accompanied by a medical evaluation conducted by a kinesiologist or a speech therapist who can detect the communication needs of each patient,” he explains. He highlights that the device offers the possibility of setting its level of sensitivity. “In some cases, getting closer to the sensor would be enough to move the cursor, to click or select a letter,” he adds.

“My idea is to develop a universal product for disabled people as a sustainable social venture, because in our country, disability does not mix with technology. There are many challenges, but more resources are required,” he says. My goal is to help a specific segment of society, by improving their quality of life,” he concludes.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• María Soledad Gallardo, Ahinoam Fuentes y Sylvia Huenchufil, students of the program “New Hope, Better Future”, together with participants of the PACE Program, met with the President at La Moneda, occasion on which she congratulated the young students “for their talent and perseverance.”

On August 27th, María Soledad Gallardo, Ahinoam Fuentes y Sylvia Huenchufil, students of the Propedéutico Program of Universidad de Santiago, met for breakfast at Palacio La Moneda with President Michelle Bachelet and the Minister of Education Nicolás Eyzaguirre.

On the occasion, President Bachelet congratulated the 11th-grade students who are recipients of the Program for Accompaniment and Effective Access to Higher Education, (PACE, in Spanish) and the students who are currently studying at universities thanks to the Propedéutico Program, the University Preparatory Program.

President Bachelet explained that the PACE Program- inspired by the Propedéutico Program of our University- “intends to tackle the inequality in the access to higher education and, at the same time, reward youngsters like the ones who are here today for their merits and efforts.”

“It is a work model that supports students with best school performance, prepares them for entering higher education and, most importantly, it is a model that not only levels up knowledge but also helps students with their socio-emotional skills and provides them with vocational counseling,” President Bachelet said.

“I would like to thank this group of youngsters, many of whom were part of the Propedéutico Program of Universidad de Santiago and Universidad Federico Santa María last year, and also thank the group of students who are or will be part of a program (PACE Program) that started from and followed that initial experience,” President Bachelet said, according to the Presidency’s web site.

At the end of the meeting, President Bachelet said a few words to the students: “Thank you for your advice and your experience. Congratulations for your talent, perseverance and for not giving up in spite of all the difficulties that you faced. We will do our best to continue supporting you.”

The USACH-UNESCO Propedéutico Program, an initiative related to the University’s Social responsibility Program (RSU, in Spanish), is a pioneering selection system- an alternative to the PSU Test- that gives access to higher education to talented students who obtained the best grades in high school, in spite of their vulnerable condition.

The first version of this Preparatory Program was developed in 2007 at Universidad de Santiago and the students were the ones who named it Propedéutico-Usach “New Hope, New Future”. Currently, it has been replicated as a public policy in 18 universities of the country, from Arica to Punta Arenas.


Translated by Marcela Contreras

• Six representatives of Universidad de Santiago were part of the Chilean national team that travelled to Guayaquil, Ecuador, to compete in the PKF Championship.

On August 27th, the karate branch of Universidad de Santiago, led by their coach Mario González, showed a high performance in the Pan-American Karate Federation Championship.

The following students competed in Ecuador: Christian Cid (84 k), student at the Industrial Control Technology program; Matías Rodríguez (75 k), student at the Business Engineering program; Alison Muñoz (55 k), student at the Occupational Therapy program; Matías Quijada (60 k), students at the Obstetrics program, and Nicolás Flores (67 k) and Javiera González (61 k), both students at the Physical Education Pedagogy Program. 

In the team women category, Javiera González and Alison Muñoz won the gold medal, while in the team men category, Matías Quijada and Matías Rodríguez won the bronze medal. In the individual male categories, Nicolás Flores got the fifth place in his category. Once again, Universidad de Santiago was represented abroad by its sport ambassadors.

The karatekas now will participate in the II Tournament organized by the University National Federation of Karate, on September 08th, at the Universidad Tecnológica Metropolitana (UTEM), in Santiago.


Translated by Marcela Contreras

• Rodrigo Vargas Vergara, a sixth year student at the School of Architecture of Universidad de Santiago de Chile designed a concert hall for the South Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, in the context of an international architectural competition, in which he was awarded the first prize.

Rodrigo Alexis Vargas Vergara, a sixth year student at the School of Architecture of Universidad de Santiago de Chile, won the first place in the ModulArch 2016 competition. The challenge was to design a concert hall with a capacity of up to 1,000 seats for the South Czech Philharmonic Orchestra in the city of České Budějovice, 120 kms south from the Prague, the capital city.

The Orchestra was founded in 1981, and together with performing music by classical composers and pieces suitable for small places, it also devotes time to contemporary music of different genres. 

In the competition, Rodrigo’s design was the best out of 30 proposals presented by young architects from countries all over the world, like France, Czech Republic and Japan. The design is part of Rodrigo’s degree project, so he will have to continue improving it until the end of this year, when he completes his program.

“Although I was confident in my proposal, winning was actually surprising. This cheers me up, because receiving an award like this is very flattering,” the 25-year-old student said. 

The first prize offered by the competition was 2,500 euros, but Rodrigo said that he decided to participate for his taste for good music.

“It was the music that called my attention. It is an element that is part of our daily lives and that can be addressed from an architectural point of view,” he said.

The jury was made up of international architects and musicians, headed by the Italian architect Joseph di Pasquale. They said Rodrigo’s design was a very good proposal and appreciated that he considered České Budějovice’s historical layout. The city’s surrounding walls in the medieval period were Rodrigo’s inspiration.

“Using modular structures and containers, I proposed a sort of wall alongside the concert hall, where notice boards with information about all complementary activities can be displayed. At the same time, this wall protects the hall,” he said. 

The competition was organized by Koma Modular, a Czech company specialized in containers and modular structures for architectural uses.

The awarding ceremony will be held at the end of July. To make Rodrigo’s proposal a reality, Koma will have to raise funds to construct the building.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• In order to meet the goals set by Universidad de Santiago in the context of the “Sustainable Campus” Clean Production Agreement, the University Social Responsibility program developed the first training workshop on this matter, oriented to students, academics and administrative staff.
• The initiative is one of the institutional actions to promote the knowledge on sustainability and to meet the goal of reducing the use of energy by 5% in the campus before March 2015, according to Santiago Peredo, RSU program’s alternate Director.
• The next workshop- on composting and vegetable gardens management- is scheduled for August. Also, the RSU program will hold seminars on the topics stemmed from the Institutional Sustainability Reports: human rights, decent work conditions, universal access to people with different skills, healthy eating and energy efficiency.

“People have become aware of environmental or sustainability matters. What we must manage now is to change some behaviors and develop some habits to be consistent with this already existing awareness,” Santiago Peredo, alternate Director of the University Social Responsibility (RSU, in Spanish) program said at the end of the first training workshop, “Self-diagnosis of energy use in buildings”, that was held by academics of Universidad de Santiago, on Friday 11th.

The workshop is part of the institutional actions to meet the goals set in the “Sustainable Campus” Clean Production Agreement (APL, in Spanish) of 2013, that seek to "promote training in this matter for professionals, students and academics of the University, and, in turn, to meet the goal of reducing the use of energy by 5% in the campus, before March 2015,” the RSU program’s alternate Director explained.

The workshop included two talks about energy efficiency. The first one was given by Professor Juan Araya, of the Bachillerato program, and the second one, by Professor Fernando Corvalán, of the Department of Geographical Engineering.

Professor Araya referred to the concept of sustainability in three interrelated aspects: environment, society and economy. The balance among the three of them becomes the sustainability equation. Professor Corvalán talked about energy efficiency in buildings, stressing the current actions taken in the building sector to save energy and the analysis of important supplementary aspects like heating, refrigeration and supply systems.

Regarding the campus, Dr. Corvalán explained that it was built according to standards that were not concerned for energy saving, such as the former EAO building and the buildings around the Planetarium. However, he emphasized that the new buildings mean an opportunity for energy sustainability.

Students, academics, professionals and administrative staff from the five units that voluntarily signed the University’s APL took part in the workshop: the Department of Geographical Engineering, the Technological Faculty, the Faculty of Administration and Economics, the Bachillerato program and the School of Architecture.

Waste management and vegetable gardens

“We prepared this series of workshops to meet the goals of training in sustainability and reducing the use of energy at the University, among others,” the RSU program’s alternate Director reiterated, as this is one of the actions established in the “Sustainable Campus” Clean Production Agreement.

The next workshop is scheduled for August and it will be about composting and vegetable gardens management, “because another goal is to reduce the solid waste produced at the University and this action could lead to new recycling processes that are not implemented now.”

“There are some initiatives to collect paper and glass in some recycling spots. We still have pending the organic waste treatment, as it is collected by an external service. The idea is that the University takes charge of the organic waste management and one way to do it is composting and the use of vegetable gardens,” Santiago Peredo added.

Pending tasks

Together with the sustainability workshops, the RSU program is planning continuous seminars that will include presentations and debates on five of the topics stemmed from the Institutional Sustainability Reports (2008-2012): human rights, decent work conditions, universal access to people with different skills, healthy eating and energy efficiency.

These five aspects are the ones that the reports have shown as weaknesses or needs. In these seminars open to the community that the RSU program plans to give every first Tuesday of the month (from August to December), the participants will evaluate the aspects that could be addressed in the workshops, according to the interests of the community.

 

Translated by Marcela Contreras

•  Judoka Thomas Briceño, a student at the Mechanical Civil Engineering program of Universidad de Santiago, is ready to compete in the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games.

When Thomas Briceño Gonzáles was seven, he was 150 cm tall and weighed 80 kg. Being overweight was the reason why he started practicing judo. His first club was the Escuela de Carabineros Club, until 2009. “At first, I could not understand the rules or the Japanese terms used during the combats, so I lost several times. This is why the first medal I got was a gift from my father and it was for my effort,” Briceño says.

In 2005, when he was 11, he participated in his first South American championship for children, where he won a silver medal. His family had to cover all his expenses. Since then, he was constantly part of the judo national team.

In 2013, he faced a new challenge: he had to prepare himself for the PSU, the university selection test. It was then when he was offered the possibility of entering the university by means of an athletic scholarship. “I discussed this with my family and I chose Universidad de Santiago de Chile, not only for the full scholarship but also for its academic quality,” he says. He decided to enter the Mechanical Civil Engineering program.

“My professors and classmates have really supported me, so I have been able to focus on judo. I am proud of having represented the university in national and Latin American competitions,” he says.

First Chilean judoka to win a medal in Europe

22-year-old Thomas remembers that he has participated in championships almost in every country of the Americas and also in Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. He has been South American and Pan American champion and runner-up. “I was the first Chilean (judoka) to win a medal in a world-class European championship. It was in Bulgaria, where I got the third place out of 56 competitors,” he says.

Besides being part of the Chilean team, he is a member of DAR Chile, the Chilean association of top-class athletes.

His training and preparation in Chile has already finished and today he is in Brazil, ready to be an Olympian in Rio 2016, on August 10^th. “My goal in Rio is to be placed among the first seven competitors in my category and I am planning to win a medal in Tokyo 2020,” Thomas says.

He also says that he will come back to the university to continue his studies in March 2017. “Maybe completing my program will take me longer, but judo will not last forever,” he concludes.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• Five innovative projects led by students at Universidad de Santiago provide answers to different problems in the areas of health, earthquake engineering, environment protection and food. Now these projects will be developed at the Stanford Research Institute, USA, where the students will travel for an internship period.

​

The Despega Usach contest is an initiative led by the Vice Presidency of Research, Development and Innovation of Universidad de Santiago de Chile with the purpose of promoting a science-and-technology-basedentrepreneurial culture among graduate and undergraduate students at Universidad de Santiago.

Dr Claudio Martínez Fernández, Vice President of Research, Development and Innovation said, “Our students are very talented and many times, all what they learned while they studied, remains on paper only; however, through this initiative, we have invited them to have an active role in the search of solutions to problems that affect people and the productive sector.”

According to Dr Martínez, the University’s responsibility is not only to guarantee the good academic quality of curricula, but also to give the students the tools they require at an international context. “We think that, in this way, we can bring research closer to society, as this allows them to understand science from daily life,” he said.

For her part, Dr Karina Arias Yurisch, Vice President of Outreach and Engagement, highlighted that by means of this initiative and other institutional programs, “we contribute a little to the Government’s Productivity, Innovation and Development Agenda, making a series of commitments to the development of our country and society.”

In her opinion, the five winning projects deserve to be at this stage of the contest. Now, the Stanford Research Institute “will provide them with a series of additional tools to turn them into real entrepreneurs with the ability of placing their initiatives in the market.”

Winning projects

One of the winning projects is an answer to the natural features of our country as a highly seismic territory. The application is a seismic alert and it has the purpose of warning people in case of an earthquake, so that they can protect themselves. The project was developed by Ariel Césped and Javier Césped, both students at the Faculty of Engineering.

Two of the winning projects are related to health care. One of them, Homexam, is an application for smartphones that allows keeping records of the cardiac status of the mother and the baby in order to improve the follow up of gestational diseases in real time. It was developed by José Ignacio Cárdenas Lattus, Jean Pierre Lattus Sanhueza, Patricio Rodríguez Videla and Roberto Brito Álvarez.

The other is a vaccine based on nanoparticles of a natural polymer that can contribute to cancer treatment in domestic animals. This proposal was developed by Claudio Acuña-Castillo, Claudia Robles Planells and Giselle Sánchez Guerrero.

In the area of food, Bárbara León and Paulina Esponda propose a vegetal sausage with a high nutritional value based on native seeds and legumes as an alternative to animal-based products.

Finally, the Company Ecoliner, led by Daphne Moreno, Camila Pereira and Antonio Quilaqueo, presented a sustainable water repellent spray based on recycled silicone from liner rolls.

During the award ceremony, the Assistant Manager of Early Funding of the Chilean Economic Development Agency (CORFO, in Spanish), Tadashi Takaoka, gave a presentation in which he explained the key factors to get funds for startups.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• The contest organized by the Ministry of Energy seeks to generate efficient solutions for households and neighborhoods and improve the access and use of renewable energies in micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. Dr Juan Manuel Zolezzi, President of Universidad de Santiago de Chile, will be part of the contest jury.

The “Impacta Energía” contest, organized by the Chilean Ministry of Energy and supported by the Laboratorio de Gobierno, seeks to generate innovations in the field of energy by attracting and encouraging talented entrepreneurs and innovators, and inviting them to get involved in the public challenges of the country with ideas, technologies, products or services.

“Impacta Energía” is an open contest for public innovation that seeks to find efficient energy solutions for households and neighborhoods and improve the access and use of renewable energies in micro, small and medium-sized enterprises to enhance their productivity.

The call includes a Bootcamp stage or accelerated incubation process, where the selected teams will have the possibility of co-creating, improving and modifying their projects with the mentoring of representatives of the Government and the support of real users.

The four winners- who will be announced in November this year- will receive 75 million pesos each for piloting their ideas. They will have six months to implement their projects and will have the support of the Ministry of Energy in order that their ideas can become public policies.

Applications can be submitted in the link www.impactaenergia.cl, until August 23^rd. Both Chilean and foreign applicants can participate, as well as small, medium and large-sized companies from Chile or abroad.

Partnership between universities and companies

As one of the 16 members of the jury that will select the winning projects, Dr Juan Manuel Zolezzi, President of Universidad de Santiago de Chile, highlighted that innovation is an essential matter in this public and state university. 

He invited “students and young people in general to face these problems and propose ideas to progress in this challenge.”

For his part, Máximo Pacheco, Minister of Energy, said that he was proud to have President Zolezzi in the jury and also of the relation with Universidad de Santiago de Chile.

Asimismo, destacó la relación entre la academia, el Estado, la sociedad civil y el mundo empresarial para trabajar en conjunto y enfrentar los desafíos en el ámbito de la energía. “Tenemos la convicción de que la energía no es solamente algo estratégico, sino que es a partir de ella que se construyen las civilizaciones”, expresó el ministro.

He also stressed the importance of the relation among the State, universities, civil society and business world as partners to face energy challenges. “We are certain that energy is not only a strategic issue: it is the base on which civilizations are built,” the Minister said.

“Companies need to work in partnership with universities like Universidad de Santiago de Chile,” he concluded, insisting on the importance of committing to innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship.

Translated by Marcela Contreras