With the presence of representatives of the academy, the industry and the public sector, the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso launched their 2025 Technology Portfolio, a document that gathers a total of 50 technological developments in areas such as health, environment, education, advanced materials, agroindustry, biotechnology, energy, mining and logistics.
The portfolio was created by the Transference and Licensing Office (OTL for its name in Spanish) of the PUCV and is a strategic tool for the promotion the connection of university research with the needs of the productive sector. The initiative is framed within the context of the progress of the Strategic Development Plan, which includes leading research and promoting creation with impact on society.
For Luis Mercado, Vicerector of Research, Creation and Innovation, this launch reflects the commitment of the University to knowledge transfer.
“For the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso it is key that the research we develop at our university, the creation of knowledge, reaches the community. The way in which this happens is through the development of technologies, this is, how research becomes applied research; how expertise and the research work of our scholars is capable of generating products that can be incorporated in productive processes. Therefore, this is the link that our university can establish with the industry, and said link allows technologies to be applied to different areas of knowledge”, he added.
For its part, the Innovation Director of the PUCV, Macarena Rosenkranz, highlighted the collaborative work behind this initiative. “It is important to highlight from this portfolio the more than 180 researchers that have taken part in the creation of products and services that have an impact on relevant areas for the country and the world. Out of these 180 researchers, it is important to note the participation of researchers and scholars from our university in the creation of knowledge that is transferible to the productive sector and society”.
Agreement with the mining industry
The event also included a relevant milestone, the signing of a collaboration agreement between the PUCV and Keypro Engineering, a mining company. The goal of this agreement is to promote joint innovation and technological development.
José Campos, general manager of Keypro, commented on the agreement stating that “it has always been a challenge for the mining industry to have a closer relationship with universities. I think that innovation, research and technology need to walk hand in hand and this opportunity to join forces that the PUCV gives us, is an achievement that we had been searching for many years now. We are very happy to sign this agreement”.
One of the attendants at the event was the Regional Ministry Secretary of Science of the Central Macrozone, Rodrigo González, who commented that “one of the challenges we have in the Valparaíso region is that the industry understands that they have to open up to innovation alternatives. These encounters generate a virtuous transference between the industry, entrepreneurship, scientific-technological based companies and academia. This allows opening up to understanding that they have innovation challenges that can be addressed from the academia, but also from the various works of researchers”.
Panel on mining and innovation
The activity also included a conversation panel about mining, moderated by the PUCV Innovation director, who was joined by Jaime Morales, scholar from the School of Chemistry Engineering and director of the Mining Center at the PUCV; Paz Fuenzalida, scholar from the School of Chemistry Engineering; Jorge Roco, Business and Transformation Manager at Keypro Engineering; Javiera Casanova, Chief of the People Division at Keypro Engineering.
During the activity, the main challenges and opportunities of the field were addressed from the standpoint of the industry and the academia. In this context, Professor Jaime Morales indicated that “the current importance of transferring innovation from the university to companies is essential, because we must be an example of a model that allows the development of all these innovations for the development of the country. I believe we must be leaders at the regional and national levels in the delivery of innovation to mining companies”.
For the OTL Coordinator, Vania Badilla, the 2025 Technologies Portfolio is “the result of sustained work of the Transference and Licensing Office in the identification, protection and projection of developments with high impact potential. We seek to bring applied research closer to the real needs of the productive sector, generating tangible bridges between the academia and the industry.
“We invite researchers to attend the OTL to create connections with the industry and continue to develop applied I+D and take part in the PUCV Technologies Portfolio. The signing of the agreement with Keypro is a milestone that reasserts our commitment with an active and strategic technological transference that is centered on solving our nation’s conflicts”, she added.
By Antonia Pizarro
Vicerrectory of Research, Creation and Innovation
