- This collaboration will create a synergy of the highest level that will allow the creation of new and better work schemes.
- The Consortium will have an initial capital of 20 million pesos, which will be used to promote the first projects.
Mexico City, August 18, 2021.– Enrique Graue Wiechers, rector of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), and David Garza Salazar, rector and executive president of Tecnologico de Monterrey, led the ceremony for the Renewal of the Collaboration Agreement and Launch of the UNAM – TEC Consortium for Research, Technology Transfer and Entrepreneurship, to strengthen the country’s scientific and technological ecosystem.
The Consortium, considered in the renewal of the Marco Collaboration Agreement signed by both institutions in May 2016, is created to solve the main social and business challenges. This alliance will also create agile and joint strategies for investment in the maturation of high-impact technological developments and their different outlets in the communities. Both institutions will contribute an initial capital of 10 million pesos each.
Thanks to this new figure, these universities will strengthen their ties and create a synergy of the highest level between the research teams and students from the two houses of study. In turn, this will allow the creation of new and better work schemes, and progress in issues related to science and technology at the service of society, through joint work and the integration of university binomials of the UNAM-TEC communities.
“Let’s stop talking about the triple propeller models, – certainly necessary – let’s put the jet fuel and turn on the jet propulsion. Mexico cannot wait to theorize more and that is why we are here with the presence of the representatives of FEMSA and CEMEX, business groups of great relevance that, together with all the innovative private initiative, will be the key catalysts for the success of this project”, he said the rector Enrique Graue Wiechers.
He highlighted that since 1943 TEC and the UNAM have had a fruitful and growing academic and institutional collaboration that has been consolidated in the last five years for the benefit of both institutions and the Mexican society, and that today it expands with the creation of the Consortium, which will have as core axes the creation of patents, the development of prototypes, the generation of business models and stimulating innovation based on advanced scientific and technological knowledge in order to transfer and license products that add value and thus strengthen the economic and social development of our nation.
David Garza Salazar stated that this day represents an important milestone, as this agreement will help the country move towards a knowledge economy, something that has been in discussion for more than a decade, but where progress has not yet been made enough.
“The renewal of our commitment to collaboration alongside the launch of this Consortium is undoubtedly a step forward that puts our creativity and talent at the service of society. It is our duty to use our abilities in all areas so that more actors from research, education, the economy and the government areas join in to help our country’s positive evolution towards a knowledge economy”, added Garza Salazar.
At the event, it was highlighted that the first projects will be financed with the initial capital of 20 million pesos contributed by UNAM and Tec de Monterrey. Also, Mexican companies FEMSA and CEMEX signed the Memorandums of Understanding to be the first two companies to join the Consortium.
“For FEMSA it is essential to see beyond our own limits, which is why we work to promote an open innovation model through which we seek to use both internal and external resources, with the aim of accelerating and boosting corporate innovation capabilities.
“By collaborating with UNAM and Tecnologico de Monterrey, we are opening the flow of challenges, needs, knowledge and opportunities that will lead us to live in a true community of innovation,” said Víctor Treviño Vargas, Director of Energy and Sustainability at FEMSA.
Ricardo Naya, president of CEMEX Mexico, pointed out: “This synergy between CEMEX, UNAM and Tec is unique in bringing together the best Research and Development talent from the three institutions. With the Consortium, we seek to accelerate our innovation projects in order to solve current challenges that address the needs of our clients and stakeholders, such as innovating in operations, products and services that are part of our Future in Action Program, through which we seek to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. That is why we are very excited to be an initial part of the Consortium and we hope that this will promote more projects between companies and academia in Mexico”.
Also at this ceremony, Tecnologico de Monterrey Campus Mexico City premiered its new facilities called “Campus of the Future”, as it has classrooms and spaces equipped with the latest technology to maximize the experience of the Tec21 Model.
The event also featured authorities from both institutions, such as Jorge Vázquez Ramos, Coordinator of the Technology Transfer and Linking Department at UNAM; Hugo Garza Medina, Vice President of Strategic Projects at Tec de Monterrey, and representatives of FEMSA and CEMEX.
In this way, the National Autonomous University of Mexico and Tecnologico de Monterrey will promote agendas that allow the growth of the research and technological entrepreneurship ecosystem in the country. Thanks to this initiative, the two best-ranked universities in Mexico will set a historical precedent so that in the future there will be more and better alliances between academia and industries.
To see more pictures of the event, visit: https://tinyurl.com/ConsorcioUNAM-TEC2021
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About The National Autonomous University of Mexico
The National Autonomous University of Mexico was founded on September 21, 1551 under the name of the Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico. It is the largest and most important university in Mexico and Latin America. Its primary purpose is to serve the country and humanity, train professionals that are useful to society, organize and conduct research mainly about national conditions and problems, and extend the benefits of culture as widely as possible.
The National Autonomous University of Mexico has played a leading role in the history of our country. The substantive tasks of this public, autonomous and secular institution are teaching, research and the dissemination of culture. In the academic world it is recognized as a university of excellence. UNAM responds to the present and looks to the future as the most important cultural project in Mexico.
UNAM is a space of freedom. Respect, tolerance and dialogue are practiced daily. The plurality of ideas and thought is appreciated as a sign of its wealth and never as a factor of weakness.
About Tecnologico de Monterrey
Tecnologico de Monterrey (http://www.tec.mx) is a private non-profit university with presence in 29 cities in Mexico that was founded in 1943, with the vision to train leaders with an entrepreneurial spirit, a human sense and who are internationally competitive. TEC de Monterrey has an enrollment of more than 65 thousand students of professional and postgraduate level and almost 7 thousand professors; it also has more than 27 thousand high school students and more than 2,500 teachers in that level. Since 1950, the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools accredits the institution. According to the 2022 QS World University Rankings, it ranks in the position 161, and in the 2020 QS Graduate Employability Rankings, its employers’ opinion indicator, it is placed as number 1 in Mexico and as 40th in the world. According to the 2021 Times Higher Education Latin America University Rankings, it is ranked number 1 in Mexico and 4th in Latin America; and it is the only Latin American university in Princeton Review’s 2022 Top Schools for Entrepreneurship, ranking 5th place in entrepreneurship undergraduate programs. It is the only educational institution in Mexico with the Best LGBT Workplaces 2021 certification granted by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation (HRC); and it is number 1 in the Education Sector in the MERCO Enterprises Ranking, which measures corporate reputation in Mexico.