The initiative seeks to promote, within the macro-unit, a culture focused on entrepreneurship and innovation as fundamental skills for future professionals.

In the facilities of the Teaching Improvement Unit (UMD) of the University of La Serena, the first stage of the course was developed: “Characteristics of innovation and entrepreneurship as a hallmark of the renewal of ULS Engineering”, which is carried out within the framework of the Curriculum Renewal Process of the courses of said Faculty.

This course, organized by the UMD, had the participation of Dr. Pedro Vera Castillo, director of the Entrepreneurship Promotion and Development Program (EMPRENDO) of the University of Concepción.

The objective is to generate, in a practical and concrete way, a contribution to the curricular renewal process on which the Faculty of Engineering is focused, so that these competencies constitute a hallmark of each of its professionals.

In the opinion of Dr. Vera, course rapporteur, the work of the entire Faculty and especially of the directors is essential, who will be in charge of transmitting the imprint to the rest of the community. “It is vital that managers are convinced of what we want to achieve, so that academics feel free to innovate and promote entrepreneurship among students. Sometimes academics do not take risks or have fears, so we want to generate instances to stimulate these practices that, moreover, should be the hallmark of all the disciplines of the University,” he explained. 

For the professional, it is also necessary to understand that the concepts are not only associated with the creation of companies or entering into sole proprietorships. “From that perspective, it seems to me that a new culture must be generated, what we do at the university is try to make up for how deficient the school system has been in these matters. The decision to create companies is individual, however, today organizations of all types require professionals with these skills, they require a corporate entrepreneur, an entrepreneur within their organization who is capable of generating changes," emphasized Dr. Vera. .

After this workshop, participants will have a guided remote work day with specific topics that they must address in depth and, later, during the month of October, a second stage will be carried out where the work will focus on how to incorporate, in the classroom, entrepreneurship and innovation skills.