UNAM-TEC Consortium includes 16 technological and sustainable projects

The progress reported by the UNAM-TEC Consortium included more than 60 researchers from Tec de Monterrey and UNAM working on 16 technological and sustainable projects.

Two and a half years after forming this alliance, both educational institutions also created alliances with the private sector, working together with FEMSA, CEMEX, and BBVA.

This was announced at the most recent UNAM-TEC Consortium meeting, which took place on April 5 at the Tec’s Monterrey campus.

David Garza, Rector and Executive President of Tec de Monterrey, reaffirmed its commitment to research and highlighted the importance of collaboration between universities and the private sector to promote research that will bring about transformations in the country.

“This collaboration is a great opportunity to continue advancing innovation and productivity, and business involvement is key to this. In Mexico, the percentage of investment in research by the private sector is 19%, far below Chile, for example, at 35% and, of course, countries such as the United States at 68%.

“In this consortium, academia and businesses work together to promote projects that generate positive impacts in our country,” he pointed out.

Leonardo Lomelí, Rector of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), highlighted the importance of academic institutions in creating strategic alliances with the private sector.

“Our immersion in such a complex international economic context, in which knowledge is a factor of competitiveness, makes it necessary for us to look for more ways to strengthen this relationship for the benefit of our country,” said Lomelí.

“We believe that this collaboration is a great opportunity to continue advancing innovation and productivity.” – David Garza

The consortium’s social enterprises

Some of the ventures currently underway that aim to provide solutions to high-impact challenges are:

• Innovative uses of industrial CO2: Reuse of CO2 captured during cement production to put it toward a new use.
• Polyurethane foam circularity models: A new technology –still under development– that recycles up to 30% of polyurethane recovered from production, benefiting the environment.
• Water recovery and circularity: A project promoted by Coca Cola-FEMSA that seeks to return part of the wastewater that can be improved and reused in its processes.
• Containment and use of sargassum in the Mexican Caribbean: The objective is to take sargassum from the sea and generate by-products to solve this ecological challenge.

Praise for the Tec-UNAM alliance

One of the qualities highlighted by executives from FEMSA, CEMEX, and BBVA was the sum of experiences and capabilities of academics that strengthen the collaboration between the Tec and UNAM universities.

“By participating in the consortium, we’ve seen how both institutions have collaborated to work in a coordinated and efficient manner.

“It was very easy for us to see how the capabilities and potentials of the groups were identified, which has been very positive for achieving results,” said Victor Treviño, FEMSA’s Director of Energy and Environment.

Fernando González, CEO of CEMEX, said that fostering innovation demonstrates the company’s commitment to its customers and the communities where it operates.

“The consortium has the potential to develop new technologies, new production processes, and new materials that help us continue generating value for society,” González said.

At the end of the UNAM-TEC Consortium meeting, a working session on nearshoring was held to explore potential avenues for collaboration between Tecnológico de Monterrey, the National Autonomous University of Mexico, the Autonomous University of Nuevo León, and the government of Nuevo León.

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