• Universidad de Santiago will be part of the conference that will gather international renowned experts from NGOs, governments, academic institutions and business organizations. The main goal of the meeting is to promote the exchange of ideas and experiences that could become effective solutions to different issues which are relevant to Chile and the world.

More than a hundred participants- business owners, investors, researchers and different authorities- will meet on October 26^th, 27^th and 28^th at the Historical Building of Universitat de Barcelona, Spain, for the 10^th version of the Encuentros Conference. The annual meeting of this network gathers students, researchers and entrepreneurs from Chile or related to Chile, for scientific and professional collaboration.

During three days, the participants will meet with international renowned experts from NGOs, governments, academic institutions and business organizations to discuss different issues which are relevant to Chile. The core idea of this year is “Knowledge for social equity,” one of the main challenges in Chile and the world nowadays.

The main goal of the Encuentros Barcelona 2016 Conference is to promote the exchange of ideas and experiences that could become new projects and effective solutions to the social challenges shared by Chile, Catalonia, Spain and Europe in general. During the meeting, the participants will cover issues like education, sustainability, agriculture, economy, women and science, infrastructure and health.

The Encuentros network started in 2006, in Dresde, Germany. It was organized by a group of Chilean doctoral students. Up to now, the meeting has been held in Milan, Gottingen, Cambridge, Berkeley, Paris, Boston, Santiago and Rotterdam.

This is the first time that Universidad de Santiago will participate in the Encuentros Conference and it has organized a session called “The challenges of the new social market economy,” in which the participants will analyze and evaluate the economic policies implemented in Chile in the past 25 years, particularly those which have affected fundamental rights like education and health.

Dr Gabriel Palma, professor at the Faculty of Administration and Economics of Universidad de Santiago and professor at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Cambridge will be one of the speakers, and Jorge Friedman, the dean of the Faculty of Administration and Economics will be in charge of moderating the session.

Participants

The following experts will participate in the conference: Ei-ichi Negishi, chemist, recipient of the Chemistry Nobel Prize (2010); Gino Casassa, glaciologist, member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that was awarded the Peace Nobel Prize in 2007; Alain Touraine, sociologist. recipient of the Prince of Asturias Award (2010) and founder of the Centro de Análisis y de Intervención Sociológicos(CADIS); Cecilia Hidalgo, recipient of the Chilean National Science Award (2006), and Cristóbal Cobo, specialist in educational technologies and Director of the CEIBAL Foundation Study Center. Other lecturers will be Adriana Delpiano, Chilean Minister of Education; Claudia Serrano, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Chile at the OECD, and Christian Nicolai, Executive Director of CONICYT Chile.

Universidad de Santiago will provide scholarships to students who send their proposals. Those who are selected will have the possibility of presenting their works in Barcelona.

Links:

http://redencuentros.org/encuentros-barcelona-2016/

http://www.ub.edu/web/ub/es/menu_eines/noticies/2016/07/001.html

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• During the 3rd Latin-American Conference on Higher Education Withdrawal held in Mexico, a team of professionals from Universidad de Santiago led by Manuel Arrieta, Vice-President of Student Support Services, shared about the different support programs promoted by the University, with great interest from peer institutions of the continent.

On November 13th, 14th and 15th the 3rd Latin-American Conference on Higher Education Withdrawal (III Clabes) was held in Mexico City, where Manuel Arrieta, Vice-President of Student Support Services, together with other six professionals from Universidad de Santiago presented the different initiatives developed by Universidad de Santiago in order to support and promote students’ permanence.
 
The five topics presented by our University in this international meeting called the attention of the foreign universities represented on that occasion.
 
One of the topics presented was related to the experience and positive results of the Program for Inclusive Access, Equity and Permanence (Paiep, in Spanish) of Universidad de Santiago. This presentation was given by Rafael Miranda, Coordinator of the Subprogram “Developing Your Talents” (“Desarrollando Tus Talentos”).
 
Also, Beatriz Painepán, a professional of the University’s Health Promotion Department gave the presentation “Academic Integration of Engineering First-Year Students with the support of a course on study methods.”
 
The Vice-President of Student Support Services, Manuel Arrieta, expressed his satisfaction before the University’s presentations given at the Latin-American Conference and he stressed the significant role of Universidad de Santiago in promoting students’ permanence.
 
“Our representatives had an excellent participation in the meeting and they were able to catch the interest of other institutions’ representatives,” he said.
 
“In comparison with other higher education institutions, we were able to see that our University is very well positioned regarding matters like permanence promotion. Now, the challenge that we face is to put these initiatives together under a criterion of systematic team work,” he added.
 
According to Manuel Arrieta, it is also worth to mention the fact that Universidad de Santiago is the only institution that this year, in the context of the International Conference, conducted a survey of 375 former students who dropped out their studies for different reasons, in order to find what these reasons were and create then mechanisms to prevent this situation.
 
Teaching Actions to Promote Students’ Permanence
 
Alicia Pérez, Teaching Quality and Management Coordinator of the Teaching Innovation Unit (UNIE, in Spanish), participated in the meeting in Mexico and shared her reflection “on university teachers’ practices as mechanisms to reduce students’ dropout rates.”
 
She said that her presentation caught the audience’s attention “because none of the other presentations addressed the students’ dropout from the teaching- practice point of view.”
 
Most of the speakers approached students’ drop out from the point of view of leveling or tutorial courses; however, if we consider that students’ dropout has multiple causes, we see teaching practice as one of them,” she added.
 
“If teachers are not able to deal with a varied student audience using motivating strategies to achieve a participative learning, students’ dropout will continue,” Alicia Pérez concluded.
 
Alfa-GUIA Project
 
The 3rd Latin-American Conference on Higher Education Withdrawal is an international activity organized by the Alfa-GUIA (Integral University Management of Dropout) project, co-funded by the European Union, which gathers together higher education institutions from 16 countries (12 from Latin-America and 4 from Europe), among which Universidad de Talca and Universidad de Santiago are the Chilean representatives.
 
“Our University has promoted this initiative from the beginning (2011), and due to the fact that the project concludes next year and there is still much work to do, we would like to continue with it, although this time we will not be co-funded by the European Union,” Vice-President Arrieta said.
 
The 4th Conference has been scheduled for next year in Medellín, Colombia. Meanwhile, the work published on the program web page http://www.alfaguia.org will be continued.

Translated by Marcela Contreras

• 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.

​

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

• The implementation of this new research instance was announced by the University’s President, Juan Manuel Zolezzi, on December 3rd, during the launching of a Program for Institutional Improvement (PMI, in Spanish), funded by the Ministry of Education. The purpose of this new Information Technology Innovation Center for Social Applications (Citiaps, in Spanish) is to be an intermediary between research and its viability as software products that could be commercially developed, based on the premise of integrating innovation and science.

The PMI was created by this Corporation as a strategy to achieve world-class excellence in an innovative way, integrating three research areas to develop science- based innovation: Information technology, psychology and neuroscience. The University was awarded a grant from the Ministry of Education’s contestable fund to finance the program through a performance agreement.

“With this project we intend to improve our international competitiveness, increase the University’s scientific productivity in a significant way, and reach higher levels of teaching and scientific discoveries. All this will be done through the highly specialized and interdisciplinary research centers that we already have and through others that we are committed to create,” said President Zolezzi.

In the program’s launching ceremony, held on December 3rd in the University’s Salón de Honor, the University’s President said that the PMI will outline the future of applied research and that a significant share of this goal will lie on this new Information Technology Innovation Center for Social Applications.

Applied innovation for society

“The Citiaps will integrate the work done until now and it also considers the technological origins of this University and the great development of social sciences during the last years,” President Zolezzi said, emphasizing at the same time the center’s efforts to develop strategic partnerships among researchers, entrepreneurs and companies, doing a state-of-the-art interdisciplinary work.

“The PMI will strengthen the Vice Presidency of Investigation, Development and Innovation (Vridei, in Spanish) and to consolidate a technology transfer platform to do research in association with companies and to transfer and commercialize the R+D results,” the President added.

Oscar Bustos, Vice President of Investigation, Development and Innovation said that, although the Citiaps will be focused on three main areas (Information technology, psychology and neuroscience), its goal will be to cover all disciplines. “We want our students- who are very creative- to channel their ideas through the center, so that researchers develop these ideas and create products which are useful to society.”

“The idea is to generate innovation based on high-impact science. We have set ambitious but real goals,” the Vice President said.

Contributing to the country

Alberto Vásquez, Head of the Ministry of Education’s Higher Education Division, referred to the excellent assessment that the PMI had during the contest, which meant being granted the funds, and to the significance of contributing with new knowledge for Chile. “We would like to congratulate and support this initiative and say that for our country is good, important and relevant to award this performance agreement to Universidad de Santiago.”

John Fraser, American expert and professor at the Florida State University, who was a special guest at the ceremony, valued this interdisciplinary initiative from an international point of view saying that this was the best moment to invest in knowledge and to promote creativity, considering the economic success of the country.

Finally, Luis Magne, Head of the Vridei’s Technological Management Department awarded the winners of the First Patent Contest for Students: Roberto Santiago, from the Department of Chemical Engineering; Jaime Lagos and Álvaro Espejo, from the Department of Physics; Camila Manfredi, from the School of Architecture, and Loreto Acevedo, from the Department of Food Science and Technology.

Fernando Vial, Head of the Ministry of Education’s Institutional Financing Department; Mauricio Marín, PMI and Citiaps’ Scientific Director; Pablo Vera, Citiaps’ Deputy Scientific Director; Ramón Blasco, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering; Rafael Labarca, Dean of the Faculty of Science, Augusto Samaniego, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, and other authorities, also attended the ceremony.

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

• 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

• The “Second LASER-TO-BIM Conference 2015” organized by the School of Architecture of Universidad de Santiago was positively evaluated. It aimed to promote among academics and business people the use of digital representations of objects by means of laser and BIM technology. The software scans the object by means of a laser and creates a scale model, what allows seeing its details in 3D on a computer.

With the purpose of bringing together all the initiatives related to the use of laser scanning tools and their application in BIM (Building Information Modelling) software environments,  the “Second LASER-TO-BIM Conference 2015” was held at the MIDA’s Room at the School of Architecture of Universidad de Santiago.

The activity was organized by the School of Architecture and it intended to promote the massive use of this technology in the engineering, architecture and building industry and its inclusion in the curricula of university programs.

BIM GROUP

The founder of the BIM Group of Universidad de Santiago, the architect Gastón Herrera, explained that this activity was oriented to company representatives and people related to the academia.

He added that “the BIM Group of Universidad de Santiago is an initiative of the School of Architecture, which has been working with this software program for more than 10 years. For this reason, the idea is to contact other professionals from different fields, like topography and mechanics, to allow information transfer among different areas and transform this integrated work of the BIM Group in a model for the country.”

He explained that they have signed several information transfer agreements and have given several courses for a variety of programs, to generate products and a common language for different disciplines.

BIM-Chile and MOP

For his part, Danny Lobos, a member of BIM-Chile, said that the activity brought the industry, the academia and customers together to learn how this technology works. For this purpose, some companies were invited to present examples where laser had been used to generate 3D models with BIM technology.

Lobos said that some remarkable aspects of this conference were “the willingness of the industry to show its models, which are not many, as this an area that is recently developing in Chile, and the interest of the academics, mainly from Universidad de Santiago, who have included this technology in the curriculum so that students learn to use the system before they graduate.”

Alejandro Gómez Grandón, consultant to the Roads Unit of the Ministry of Public Works (MOP, in Spanish) invited software and hardware companies to work with universities, so that students become familiar with this technology and know how to use it when they enter the labour market.

The system

The Building Information Modelling (BIM) technology uses files of intelligent and parametric objects; it interprets them logically and then stores them.

This is the difference with CAD, the other software used to generate objects scale representations, which only uses 2D or 3D, without differentiating elements.

The filed data is obtained through a laser that scans the object and generates points. The BIM system stores them and transforms them in a 3D image on the computer.

The focus of the BIM Group of Universidad de Santiago- made up of professors Gastón Herrera, Marta Baeza, Erik Parraguez y Luis Vallejo- is the interdisciplinary BIM training that will allow to strengthen the digital curriculum of the university, and to connect the university with cutting-edge technology and productive sectors of the country.

BIM-Chile is made up of professionals from different universities who collaborate with different higher education institutions.

Representatives of the Ministry of Public Works, the School of Architecture of Universidad de Santiago, BIM-Chile, Microgeo, BDL Group, the School of Civil Construction of Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, GEPUC UC, Construsoft, Pixis, POINT CLOUD+EBIM, RE-Studio, Bentley and Autodesk, also participated in the activity.

Translated by Marcela Contreras