For a week they have known the different pillars of the Science Park and the University of Valencia in the field of knowledge transfer and innovation
The University of Valencia Science Park (FPCUV) has given a training program to three universities in Quito (Ecuador) to guide them in the management of the innovation hub that they constituted legally six months ago together with two other academic institutions.
Specifically, for five days the heads of the Escuela Politécnica Nacional, la Universidad Central de Ecuador and the Universidad Politécnica Salesiana "have been able to learn about our innovation ecosystem in order to experience other realities that can help them define their own model", explained Fernando Mª. Zárraga, manager of the foundation.
"The park is articulated as one piece of knowledge transfer gear of the University of Valencia. And with this training program they have seen closely the different mechanisms that allow the institution to fulfill its third mission: the research institutes, the innovative companies and the research and innovation service", has detailed Vicent Clemente, responsible for Operations of the FPCUV.
After the training, Nelson Alomoto, Dean of the Faculty of Administrative Sciences of the Escuela Politécnica Nacional, underlined "the learning obtained on how to do technology transfer; it will be very useful to know what they did right and what they were wrong about. We are now in the hardest part, in the rough road of building it."
For his part, Humberto Robespierre, Dean of the Faculty of Chemical Engineering of the Universidad Central de Ecuador, said: "A fabulous idea has impacted to me, how to integrate companies in university coexistence to achieve a synergy that allows developing the country."
"Real" technology-based companies
Along with them, the biotechnologist Paula Elizabeth Salazar, from the Universidad Politécnica Salesiana, has been surprised to learn about the biotechnological cluster based in the University of Valencia Science Park: "Unfortunately in my country the degree in Biotechnology is new, but in the future I hope we will be able to generate real technology-based companies, like the ones we've seen here."
Finally, Antonio Franco, sub-dean of the Faculty of Administrative Sciences of the Escuela Politécnica Nacional explained that "what has caught my attention the most is the connection of doctoral students to innovative projects. We have PhD students for a very short time and we are attracted by the possibility of linking them with specific support for companies", explains Franco.