Management School strengthens links with partner in Uruguay
Andrea Solari, Director of Operations from the Fundación Julio Ricaldoni School of Engineering at the University of the Republic of Uruguay in Montevideo, is visiting the University of Liverpool as part of a continuing programme to further the collaboration between the two universities.
During her three week stay, Andrea will meet and work with representatives from the University of Liverpool’s Management School, the School of Electrical Engineering and Electronics, PGR Support and Business Gateway. A visit to Daresbury Laboratory is also planned.
Andrea, in partnership with the project stakeholders in Uruguay, is eager to explore how the University of Liverpool develops and manages technology research and innovation that can be transferred to the private and public sector. The Uruguay cohort wishes to devise its own strategy and methodology for technology transfer, thus promoting economic growth and social progress in Uruguay.
Part of this strategy will include the appointment of a dedicated professional specialised in technology transfer as well as creating a robust Alumni network, whose members are closely related to industry.
Following Andrea’s visit, a representative from the University of Liverpool, Chris Unsworth of Business Gateway, will travel to Montevideo to work closely with the stakeholders, helping them implement the strategy.
Both exchange projects were funded by the British Embassy in Uruguay. This current visit for three weeks follows the earlier researcher exchange visit when twelve representatives from Uruguay came over to Liverpool for a week including the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering Professor Maria Simon, a previous Education Minister for Uruguay.
Speaking about the collaboration Andrea said, “Our School of Engineering has over 30 years’ experience of relationships with the social and private sector of our country, but not so much on technology transfer. We're now focussing on providing knowledge in these areas. We want to improve our processes, facilitate the conversion of research results from new products or services that are beneficial to society, and help promote economic development, create jobs and generate additional financial resources for our institution.
"As the results of such research in science and technology are not always immediately recognisable, this kind of cultural change means these processes often take up to ten years to materialise. Supported by the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mining and the Industry Chamber of Uruguay, Uruguay now has a long term industrial policy that aims to make better use of our national capacities."
Dale Heywood, Director of Studies for the University of Liverpool’s MSc Entrepreneurship programme, has led on this project, which builds on the earlier Enterprising Engineers exchange project, which ran from October 2015 to February 2016.
Commenting on the project, Dale said, “The team from Montevideo were so impressed with how they were received by all scholars at the University of Liverpool back in February they immediately started searching for ways to continue this mutual learning opportunity with us.”