SANTO DOMINGO. With the aim of identifying collaboration initiatives to promote the industrial sector of the Dominican Republic, the director of Proindustria, Ulises Rodríguez, visited the rector of the Technological Institute of Santo Domingo (INTEC), Julio Sánchez Maríñez.
As part of the meeting, in which directors of the state institution and the academy participated, a tour was made through some of the more than 40 laboratories that the university has, ending with a meeting between the director of Proindustria and students from various careers that develop high-impact projects at the industry level.
The first stop on this visit was the Rectory’s Meeting Room, where Rodríguez and his companions: Wilfredo Oliver, director of Industry Support Services, and Ilonka Acosta, in charge of the Comprehensive Assistance Department for SMEs, from Proindustria, talked with the Rector; Armando Barrios, Vice President for Research and Outreach; Oresty Valerio, executive director of Consulting and Services; Gregorio Tapia, executive director of Institutional Relations and Alumni; Anny Sosa, Director of Institutional Relations; Heidi Sánchez, coordinator of the Entrepreneurship Center and Manuel Santana, in charge of Project Management, from INTEC.
At the meeting, it was agreed to develop an inter-institutional collaboration framework agreement between INTEC and Proindustria for technology transfer activities, prototype manufacturing and academic training.
“INTEC has been an ally of the productive sectors of the Dominican Republic for almost 50 years, we are always innovating and incorporating undergraduate and postgraduate programs into our academic offer that respond to the needs of a totally globalized, interconnected world that goes at the pace of development of areas such as the internet of things. All the time we seek to be one step ahead of the demands of professionals in society, you challenge us, motivate us and we respond with new programs and initiatives”, said President Julio Sánchez Maríñez.
Meanwhile, Ulises Rodríguez valued the impact of INTEC initiatives at the level of training and creation and innovation in products. “We are facing a university that sets great goals, that innovates and that responds to the demand of professionals from the country and the world, with you the triple helix innovation model is guaranteed,” the official stressed.
With the guidance of Jessica Pamela Féliz, in charge of INTEC laboratories, the directors of Proindustria made a visit to part of the laboratories that the university has, which are used for teaching and also offer services to local and foreign companies. Among them, they visited the Materials Testing laboratories (LEM), the Haas Technical Center and the Analytical and Environmental Services Laboratory.
The tour concluded in the Social Security Auditorium (OSES) where the director of Proindustria met with students from different careers, who lead entrepreneurship and development projects at an industrial level.
The students José Fernández, Hiram Toirac and Sarah Jiménez presented their product “Our Flavour”, which they also developed together with the student Sabrina Jiménez, this consists of the transformation of fruits and vegetables into products with a long shelf life through technology ” freeze-dry” or lyophilization. With this project, the team participated in the Hult Prize OnCampus at INTEC, carried out by the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation of the university, in which they obtained first place, and their pass to the Hult Prize Regionals: Santo Domingo competition, where they qualified for represent the country for five weeks in the world’s largest business accelerator in England.
Carlos Sulbarán, Santiago Ramírez and Ángel Peña, representing the Apollo 27 team, two-time winner of the NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge: first place in the world in the university division of the “Stem Engagement Award”, in 2022, and “System Safety Award”, in 2020, they talked about their achievement and how the work they do positions the Dominican Republic in foreign lands.
Likewise, Carina Sánchez, an Industrial Design student, presented the results of her participation in the “InLocal” exhibition, made up of proposals for new products, developed by the students of the Product Design VI subject, for and with the support of different manufacturing industries. responding to new business opportunities.