Nearly 100 people interested in the topic participated in the activity.

The Meeting was held in the Pentagon Room of the ULS: “Work skills in people with disabilities: challenges in the training of professionals”, organized by the Comprehensive Support Plan for students in a framework of inclusion and universal accessibility - Project ULS1799 , coordinated by professionals in the area.

The objective of the activity was to dialogue with the university communities of the higher education institutions of the Coquimbo Region and regional authorities, regarding the development of work skills of students with disabilities at the university and their transition to life. labor.

Nearly 100 people attended the activity, including students, professionals from different University programs, academics, public and municipal officials, representatives of educational establishments and professionals from other higher education institutions. Representatives of programs from the communes of La Higuera, Ovalle and Río Hurtado were also present.

The meeting had as a speaker the academic from the University of Chile, Dr. Sandra Mella Díaz, an occupational therapist with a recognized career in Inclusion and Disability. Her presentation considered the implementation of Law 21.015, which encourages the inclusion of people with disabilities in the world of work. In addition, she referred to the process of professional adaptation, which she considers the development of generic skills to adapt to the demands of the work environment.

The second part of the day included a workshop, through group work for the analysis of jobs, the characteristics and demands that they have and that people with disabilities will face at some point in their work careers.

Three researchers from the state campus presented and participated in the activities of this scientific event.  

The University of La Serena had an active and important participation in the Future Congress 2019 Coquimbo Region, a scientific dissemination event that was held in La Serena before a large audience and with the presence of prominent international and regional exhibitors, including three representatives of the ULS.

“The Congress of the Future is an activity that highlights 'scientific culture', given that commonly when we refer to culture, it is always about theater, cinema, music, etc., but not science; Knowledge about what is done in the different scientific disciplines, in my opinion, is also part of the culture of a person or society. On the other hand, the congress, in addition to disseminating what humanity has achieved and how our species is thinking about the future, highlights the relevance that the ULS has in the region. When we talk about science, the ULS is today where the largest number of specialists in the Coquimbo Region are concentrated, in different areas of knowledge. The exhibitors from the University of La Serena did excellent, at the same level as the foreign guests, for which I take this opportunity to thank and thank them on behalf of the institution,” said the Vice-Rector for Research and Postgraduate Studies, Dr. Eduardo Notte.

During the morning session and as part of the Astronomy panel in charge of the ULS, the astronomers from the state campus, Dr. José Luis Nilo and Dr. Guillermo Damke, presented: “Take her to the stars for me” and “Astroinformatics: defying the Data Deluge” respectively.

After their presentations, the researchers participated in a panel with Dr. Danielle Wood, from the Media Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who leads the Space Enabled research group. There the astronomers and the American researcher had the opportunity to answer questions from the public present.

“For a long time people have thought that a university is the place where you go to classes, and that is not correct. The university is the knowledge pole of societies, in all countries it works like this. And that knowledge has to be distributed throughout the population. The University has been working intensely on this for some time, and the participation of the ULS in this Congress is the result, precisely, of this work of reaching society with all the knowledge that the institution is generating, in a more directly,” said Dr. José Luis Nilo about the relevance that participating in this event has for the University.

Dr. Guillermo Damke, meanwhile, indicated that “as an astronomer at the AURA observatory in Chile, which includes the Cerro Tololo, Gemini, SOAR and LSST observatories, and the University of La Serena, I greatly appreciate that the country's authorities are interested in generating this type of spaces to link scientists with citizens. “It has been an honor and a great opportunity to be able to represent both institutions in the most important scientific dissemination event in Chile and probably in South America.” And he added that the congress “allowed us to show the community that the ULS is already taking concrete actions to take advantage of the opportunities offered by Astroinformatics, with researchers who are promoting this discipline through the DataScience ULS group.”

In addition, Dr. Damke, Dr. Wood and the Dean of the ULS Faculty of Sciences, Dr. Amelia Ramírez, shared an activity with students from the Pedro Pablo Muñoz School in La Higuera, where they were able to talk about the current panorama of sciences in Chile.

“It is an honor to be here, and to be part of this group of researchers, to have the opportunity to be with the people of this region, mainly with boys and girls of all ages, to think about their future. The future has many opportunities, but also very strong problems and children today have to have the information and knowledge to prepare,” said Dr. Danielle Wood.

During the afternoon, the ULS academic and Director of the Laboratory for Prospecting, Monitoring and Modeling of Agricultural and Environmental Resources, PROMMRA, Dr. Pablo Álvarez, presented: “Water resources and quantitative hydrology of the Coquimbo Region”, as part of the panel Conservation and Sustainability of Natural Resources.

The Future Congress of the Coquimbo Region was held at Gabriela Mistral's Palm House and the Regional Library, and also included a science fair, an exhibition of rocketry and astrotourism within the framework of the 2019 total solar eclipse, guided tours of the Casa de Las Palmeras and the exhibition of documentaries about Gabriela Mistral.

The Regional Mayor, Lucía Pinto, valued the holding of this Congress, also considering that we are already almost 150 days away from the total eclipse of the sun, “and what better than this framework, the Future Congress, to remember this great event that is coming” . In addition, she highlighted this “opportunity to listen to talks by great scientists. As President Sebastián Piñera has said, we must work to have a country with increasingly greater training and knowledge, and bring science closer to the people."

The scientific event was organized at the national level by the Future Challenges Commission of the Senate of the Republic, the Chamber of Deputies and the Government of Chile, and at the regional level by the Regional Government of Coquimbo, the University of La Serena, the Catholic University of Norte, CEAZA, AURA and the Regional Productive Development Corporation.

It was a participatory and dynamic space to celebrate the progress made and imagine our future transition paths.

With the participation of the Executive Director of the Sustainable Campus Network of the Faculty of Economics and Business of the University of Chile, Francisca Sandoval, the Director of Postgraduate and Postgraduate Studies of the ULS and academic of the Department of Biology, Dr. Cristian Ibáñez, and the academic specialized in Education for Sustainable Development of the ULS, Dr. Cecilia Ramos, the School of Design held the discussion called “Sustainable University”, with the aim of talking about environmental education integrating key concepts for the transition of institutions that are on the path of sustainability.

The meeting was organized in the context of the elective “Thinking and Living Sustainability”, led by academic Marco Gutiérrez, and sponsored by Ineergias of the ULS1401 Institutional Improvement Plan.

On the occasion, the attending students had the opportunity to interact with the experts and talk about the importance of developing ideas regarding sustainable campuses, as well as becoming aware of what that means.

For the Director of the Sustainable Campus Network of the FEN University of Chile, Francisca Sandoval, the University of La Serena is very advanced, “I meet academics who are specialized and authorities who are committed to sustainability, research centers that incorporate This concept, and the challenge that comes is to institutionalize what Sustainable Campus, link to the educational community, management in terms of sustainability. There are many things to do, but without a doubt they have already started the path and the invitation I make is to make the ULS a Sustainable Campus,” she emphasized.

All the guests explained from their experience what sustainability means and how it has been established in practice. Likewise, the importance of the Sustainability Network was discussed and it was explained that its mission is to consolidate sustainable practices in all areas of its work, enhancing the efforts of the different higher education institutions.

Even though it was a year that included a student mobilization, the records show a significant increase in compliance with the annual plan.

445 training sessions were carried out for officials of the University of La Serena through the SENCE Tax Franchise, as a result of the efforts of the Internal Training Coordination in conjunction with the Bipartite Training Committee.

This was reported by the president of the ULS Bipartite Training Committee, Pablo Sánchez, who specified that this coordination work between the two organizations of the institution, began its 2018 program with the preparation of a Training Needs Detection Study, which was applied to officials at the beginning of 2018. These results were the input to achieve an annual training plan, which was made up of 29 courses in different areas.

In addition, he pointed out that due to different situations and changes in the Academic Calendar, along with student mobilization, this program was 80% carried out, leaving only 20% remaining, which will be resumed as part of the 2019 Training Plan, in which is already being worked on and will be published in March.

Within the total number of trained officials, the units that stood out most in the number of trained participants were Dentistry, Casino and Department. of Maintenance.

Bipartite ULS Training Committee

It is an organization of the University of La Serena made up of 3 representatives of the institution and 3 representatives of the workers, who seek to promote the development of labor skills and the productivity of workers, along with the quality of processes and products.

The current committee, formed at the beginning of 2018, is made up of officials: Pablo Sánchez (president), Karina Núñez, Luis Carrasco, Patricia Astroza, Domingo Vega and Juan Madariaga.

Through the Regional Government website www.gorecoquimbo.cl you can follow this scientific event, in which the University of La Serena will have a leading role.

This week we started the Future Congress in Santiago, which will also be held in 10 other regions of the country, including Coquimbo, which has prepared a series of scientific and cultural activities that will take place in Gabriela Mistral's Palm House and the Library. Regional.   

Due to the high attendance that the regional event has had, the transmission will be carried out via streaming through the Regional Government website. www.gorecoquimbo.cl

The Regional Mayor, Lucía Pinto, highlighted the opportunity that the region has to be part of the most important scientific event in Latin America to show the work that regional universities are doing, generate links with researchers and institutions from other countries and share with citizens the advances of science.

“This version of the Future Congress takes place in a very special country context since today we have a Ministry of Science and Technology, Knowledge and Innovation, which gives us a new institutional framework to promote this area. At the inauguration of the Future Congress at the national level, our President Sebastián Piñera and our Minister Andrés Couve pointed out that what is sought is to generate scientific activity that impacts the well-being and quality of life of people,” said the highest regional authority.

For the regional event, it was decided to address three themes: Quality of Life and Health, Astronomy, and Conservation and Sustainability of Natural Resources, since they are priority areas on which there is a knowledge capacity installed at the regional level in universities and research centers. investigation.

The CF Coquimbo will be held this Friday, January 18 at the Casa de Las Palmeras de Gabriela Mistral and the Regional Library, and in addition to the central event, a series of activities will take place such as a science fair, a rocketry exhibition and astrotourism within the framework of the 2019 total solar eclipse, guided tours of the Casa de Las Palmeras and exhibition of documentaries about Gabriela Mistral.

Regarding the international guests who will have parallel agendas to the Congress, the meeting that Dr. Danielle Wood, aerospace engineer, will hold with 6 high school students from the La Higuera commune, who will share with the researcher and regional astronomers, stands out.

The event is organized at the national level by the Future Challenges Commission of the Senate of the Republic, the Chamber of Deputies and the Government of Chile, and at the regional level by the Regional Government of Coquimbo, the University of La Serena, the Universidad Católica del Norte , CEAZA, AURA and the Regional Productive Development Corporation.

ULS researcher presentations

It is worth remembering that this year the event in the Coquimbo Region will have the presence of 4 international guests and 7 regional guests, among them, three representatives from the University of La Serena.

After the opening of the Congress, the Astronomy panel led by the ULS will begin. This will begin with the presentation of Dr. Danielle Wood, from the Media Lab of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who leads a research group called Space Enabled, whose mission is to progress justice and the development of complex systems on our planet through of the use of designs developed thanks to the study of space. The talks below will be given by two astronomers and ULS academics: Dr. José Luis Nilo, with “Take her to the stars for me”, and Dr. Guillermo Damke, with “Astroinformatics: Challenging the Data Deluge”.

Additionally, during the afternoon, the ULS academic, Dr. Pablo Álvarez, Director of the Laboratory for Prospecting, Monitoring and Modeling of Agricultural and Environmental Resources, PROMMRA, will have a leading participation in the Conservation and Sustainability of Natural Resources panel, through his talk “Water resources and quantitative hydrology of the Coquimbo Region.”

In total, there were 12 young people from 3 establishments in the Coquimbo Region who had the opportunity to carry out their professional practice at the University of La Serena, thanks to the agreement that the school maintains with MC Inversiones Limitadas, a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Corporation. .

After a month and a half of work and learning in the field, finally a group made up of 12 students from the Pablo Neruda schools (Coquimbo) and Raúl Silva Henríquez (Ovalle) and the Jorge Alessandri Rodríguez high school (La Serena) finished their professional internship as a Technician. in Mining Exploitation.

They had the opportunity to carry out this practice thanks to the collaborative project maintained by the University of La Serena and MC Inversiones Limitadas, a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Corporation, which for the fifth time provides study scholarships to young people from professional technical schools in the Coquimbo Region.

To close this experience in their professional training, a ceremony was held at the “Escuela Mina Brillador” Experimental Center of the ULS, a place where they developed their professional practice, completing a total of 456 hours of training, thus acquiring the knowledge practical and theoretical in prospecting, mining operations, metallurgy and safety, in addition to training in leadership and communication skills.

The ceremony was attended by the Director of the Department of Mining Engineering, Dr. Alberto Cortes, the Deputy Manager of Human Resources of MC Inversiones Limitada, Mireya Núñez, the Director of the project and academic, Luis Eyquem, along with the families of the students who participated in this process.

During the activity, each student was given a certificate of completion of their professional practice. Likewise, the inauguration of the “Octavio Lazo” plaza was held, a space managed and created by the students themselves, where various disused mining pieces stand out that were renovated by them.

For Diego Pizarro, supervisor of the Mitsubishi course students, the experience given to these young people is invaluable, considering that they are given all the necessary practices to work in the mining area, in a real space such as the Mine School. “It has been a rewarding experience, training young people is very important for Chilean mining and I think the University of La Serena is quite clear about it. Thanks to this experience, the students have not only acquired technical knowledge, but have also become aware of their responsibilities in the future world of work,” he said.

On the other hand, Mireya Núñez highlighted how important it is for MC Inversiones Limitadas to be able to collaborate together with the ULS in the training of these students from the region. “For MCI it is very important to be able to carry out these activities, because they are part of the essence of the company as is supporting the growth of communities, and we believe that financially supporting education is delivering not only for today, but also for the future. ”, he pointed out.

After the ceremony, the students presented the work carried out during their professional practice period, where they showed those present the different tasks carried out both on the surface and inside the mine, demonstrating the great knowledge acquired during this experience.

For Hercilia García, guardian of one of the students who benefited from this scholarship, this was a great opportunity for her son, who always showed interest in being part of this opportunity provided by the University and MC Inversiones. “It is a pride that he has remained in this project, his goal was always to be here and that he has achieved it is the greatest, seeing him finishing his internship today is a great happiness and I am very grateful that the University can give us the opportunity to us, a family with limited resources, that our son could complete his studies,” he said.  

The students who benefited from this scholarship were: Javiera Bravo, Diego Vergara, Cristian Aguilera, Daniel Vega, John Rodríguez, Raquel Ávila, Ricardo Jaime, Diego Pérez, Hambar Pizarro, José Galleguillos, Sebastián Collao and Yuyunith Rojas, from the cities from La Serena, Coquimbo and Ovalle.

For Hambar Pizarro, a student at the Pablo Neruda school, this was a great experience, beyond something purely academic, but it helped them grow and mature as people. “For us it was very important to receive this opportunity to learn, and we also want to thank all the people who welcomed us, taught us and took care of us, and helped us improve as people. More than classmates and teachers, we became a family and that remains forever,” said the young woman.

This collaborative work, which is being carried out for the fifth time between the University of La Serena and MC Inversiones Limitadas, a subsidiary of Mitsubishi, not only provides scholarships to high school students, as 2 scholarships are also awarded to students from the Mining Engineering Department of the ULS.