On December 12th and 13th, a team from the Advanced Center for Electrical and Electronic Engineering, AC3E, composed of the general manager, Oscar Solar, and two members of the Technology Transfer Unit, Javier Robledo and Osvaldo Campos, traveled to Concepción to meet with different institutions and companies with the aim of exploring new possibilities for collaboration.

Firstly, they visited the research center Technological Development Unit (UDT) of the University of Concepción, and met with Alex Berg, executive director of the UDT, with whom they were able to discuss the experience of bringing knowledge from academia to industry with high-impact projects at a national and international level. “They specialize in chemical and thermal processes, basically of wood, plastics, etc., to obtain value-added products that would otherwise be waste,” mentioned Oscar Solar, general manager of AC3E.

Secondly, they visited the facilities of Arauco Bioforest, Arauco’s center of excellence and research, where they met with team representatives, Juan José Moltedo and Rafael Quezada. With this entity, the pEDRO research and development project, an autonomous control system for reversible electrodialysis systems in industrial water desalination processes, is already being carried out, and the visit served to learn about their project portfolio and analyze new opportunities for joint work.

On the other hand, they met with Cristian Lara, director of the Department of Electronics and Informatics, and Luis Muñoz, director of the Department of Electrical Engineering, both from the Concepción campus of the Federico Santa María Technical University, with whom they toured laboratories and other spaces of the institution, to learn about their technological capabilities, the continuity of the teaching projects they develop and their connection with companies from different sectors.

Finally, Javier Robledo, KAM of the Technology Transfer Unit, gave a talk at the first Electromobility Summit in southern Chile, where in addition to highlighting AC3E’s work in the implementation of electromobility in our country, he spoke about the UTFSM project that seeks to implement charging points for electric vehicles, with 100% green energy, in all its campuses and locations, which would allow the institution to position itself as a leader in electromobility at a national level.

The different days were very productive and served to project new collaborations that can enhance the research and development capabilities of each institution and company, and conclude in future projects.