Tec and Ireland meet to promote academic exchanges

Maeve von Heynitz, Ambassador of Ireland to Mexico, visited Tecnológico de Monterrey with the aim of promoting student mobility between Irish universities and the Tec.

La diplomática destacó algunas ventajas de estos intercambios como practicar el idioma inglés, oportunidades laborales y habló de que los estudiantes mexicanos no requieren visa para ingresar a su país. 

“Queremos trabajar con el Tec para que los estudiantes en Irlanda sepan que hay oportunidades aquí en México y que también puedan mandar estudiantes de aquí a Irlanda”,  señaló la Embajadora.

La diplomática estuvo acompañada por Ruth Mac Kenna, cónsul de la Embajada de Irlanda en México; del Tec estuvieron Ignacio de la Vega, vicerrector Ejecutivo de Asuntos Académicos, Facultad e Internacionalización y Nathán Wolf, director de Relaciones Internacionales Estratégicas.

“Ellos (Gobierno de Irlanda) quieren incrementar el intercambio entre sus universidades y el Tec, lo cual es muy bueno para nuestros estudiantes; hay que empezar a ver cómo ponerle acciones concretas a este interés”, mencionó Wolf.

Encouraging student mobility

The ambassador met with vice-rectors from the institution, including Ignacio de la Vega, to whom she explained the opportunities that exist for Mexican students at educational institutions in her country.

Some of the ones she talked about for Mexican students were improving their English and getting full-time jobs in Ireland. She also spoke of the ease of processing exchanges since Mexican students don’t need a visa to enter and live in the country.

Von Heynitz also highlighted the importance of academic exchanges with some of the world-class universities in Ireland, such as Trinity College Dublin and University College Cork, which have stood out for their collaborations with the Tec on research topics.

“We want Irish students to know that there are opportunities here in Mexico that they can explore. We want to collaborate with the Tec to make this possible and also for Mexican students to go to Ireland,” said the ambassador.

Maeve von Heynitz said that she will return to Monterrey in the coming months with the intention of finding greater opportunities for student mobility between universities.

“We’ve come to Monterrey on a trade mission for the coming months, chiefly in terms of recruitment, and the Tec is a central place for that.

“We want to come back with a more strategic focus so that we can explore what we can do at governmental and institutional level to make more exchanges happen, but also to get Irish students to come here and see the opportunities,” she said.

According to Nathán Wolf, the next step in the partnership between Ireland and Tecnológico de Monterrey is to specify these student mobility strategies.

“We’ll be meeting in the future to pursue our mutual interest in offering specific programs,” he said.

“They want to expand the exchange between their universities and the Tec, which is very good for our students.”- Nathán Wolf.

Getting to know the Tec’s emerging technologies

During her visit to the Tec, Maeve von Heynitz learned about the institution’s most recent innovation projects, such as those conducted at the Laboratory of Emerging Educational Technologies (MOSTLA).

The ambassador had the opportunity to learn about the project to put electronic degree certificates on blockchain, which aims to modernize the process of verifying electronic degrees by universities and employers.

She also participated in a virtual reality practical exercise that consisted of observing the human body, which is mainly used at the School of Medicine and Health Sciences.

Lastly, the ambassador had the opportunity to experience gravity acceleration at the Tec Virtual Campus, which is used to maximize student life.

Ignacio de la Vega explained the Tec’s Tec21 Educational Model, as well as topics regarding interculturalization, faculty of impact, entrepreneurship, and international mobility at our institution.

“We want students in Ireland to know that there are opportunities to explore here in Mexico.”- Maeve von Heynitz.

The Tec’s relationship with Ireland

During the meeting, Ignacio de la Vega shared some figures on the Tec’s relationship with Ireland.

He said that of the 838 Tec graduates who are from a member country of the European Union, four are from Ireland.

De la Vega also said that of the 1,690 graduates who reside in a European Union country, 18 are in Ireland.

He concluded by saying that 154 Tec graduates have collaborated in companies of Irish origin and that the Tec has 44 training partners from the European Union.

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