The event presented the FIC-r projects developed by the ULS, in order to promote initiatives in innovation and creation.

Project directors of the Innovation Fund for Competitiveness, FIC-r, announced the progress of their research with an important social impact, at the "FIC-Day" event organized by the Research and Development Directorate, and the ULS Project Management and Entrepreneurship Office.

The event presented the FIC-r initiatives developed by the University, both those that have been completed and those that are currently being implemented, in order to promote the development of activities in matters of innovation and creation. The above is part of the strengthening of the research-promoting ecosystem at the institution.

In the context of the activities of the MINEDUC Innovation in Higher Education Performance Agreement, called “Implementation of a Competitive Model of Innovation and Creation: Preparing the University of La Serena for 2030”, the online event sought to stimulate multi- and interdisciplinary collaborative work of the different units of the University.

The Director of Research and Development of the ULS, Dr. Sergio Torres Flores, stated that "this initiative sought to highlight and present to the university community the enormous work done in research matters that impact our environment. There is certainly enormous work done by the academics of the institution, and these types of conferences are ideal to motivate the establishment of new collaborations between ULS academics, as well as being conducive spaces to think about new challenges in research matters with social impact.

Presentation of projects

Eight investigations with high social impact were presented by their project directors: "Virtual Reality to reinvent Astro tourism", Mti. Humberto Farías, in charge of the Distance Education Office; "Functional prospection of regional olive oil", Msc. Fabiola Jamett, academic at the Department of Chemistry; "Solar Cooling for agriculture and aquaculture", Dr. Danilo Carvajal, researcher at the Multidisciplinary Institute of Science and Technology; "Good Practices for Organizational Water Management", Dr. Héctor Reyes, academic of the Department of Agronomy; "Investment Planning in Water Coatings", Dr. Pablo Álvarez, academic of the Department of Agronomy; "Development of giant squid bioproducts in Region IV", Dr. Ronny Martínez, academic at the Department of Food Engineering; "TEC solutions for rural drinking water distribution", Msc. Oscar Contreras, academic from the Department of Industrial Engineering; and “Improving management in small mining”, Edson Ramírez, academic at the Department of Mining Engineering.

Dr. Danilo Carvajal, researcher at the Multidisciplinary Institute of Science and Technology, who presented at the conference, noted that the activity meant “an excellent opportunity to share with the ULS community, the progress in the different FIC projects executed by it. Also to meet the people involved in the projects and interact with them, and the university community. In my opinion, these types of instances generate positive synergies between the different initiatives that can potentially lead to future collaborations and projects with a positive impact on the community.”

For his part, Msc. Fabiola Jamett, academic from the Department of Chemistry, who was also part of the presentations, commented that these dissemination instances are “very valuable to promote, because they show the tremendous work that many academics/researchers carry out, sometimes so silently that they are not known.” , nor recognized by the university community itself. I feel pleasantly surprised by the level achieved in the projects presented and their contributions to the region. My most sincere congratulations to all of them.”

Written by Sergio Muñoz, Office of Dissemination and Dissemination of Science and Technology