Bill Gates: Tec produces world-class engineers

Using Tec de Monterrey as an example, Bill Gates, philanthropist and founder of Microsoft, suggested that Mexico should focus on education as the key to its future development.

“Undoubtedly, education is the first step towards developing a country. Mexico has places like Tecnológico de Monterrey, which produces world-class engineers“, said Gates in an interview with journalist Andrés Oppenheimer.

Gates said this when asked directly what advice he would give to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on how to make Mexico grow if he had the opportunity.

The co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation believes that education should be prioritized over oil extraction.

“The educational system in Mexico is very weak. Having a good educational system is much more important than getting oil out of the ground.”

“Mexico can have a very bright future.”

Gates said that although hydrocarbons are very important to the country’s economy, education can provide Mexico with a bright future.

“A good educational system allows you to have informed citizens, with full lives. Education represents more than money.

“Mexico can have a very bright future without oil, because its main resource is its people.”
 

“Mexico has places like Tecnológico de Monterrey, which produces world-class engineers.”

He said that countries will have to move away from the expectation of making money through the sale of oil or natural gas.

“It will be an environmental challenge for Russia, for Nigeria, for Mexico,” said Gates.

The interview with the journalist from CNN en Español took place on February 14, shortly after Gates published the book “How to Avoid a Climate Disaster”, in which he explains the importance of using renewable energy sources.

Rethinking society

In August 2020, Gates had a virtual chat with José Antonio Fernández, chairman of the Tec de Monterrey Board of Directors.

In the “Rethinking Society” conversation, Fernández highlighted that Gates had shown himself to be “a true visionary” by predicting for quite some time that the world needed to prepare for a possible pandemic.

“We have to identify where the risks are. There are some, like pandemics or climate change, where we don’t know exactly how bad they can get or when they might happen. That is why we have to invest in the future,” said Gates.

During the talk, which was watched by around 14,000 members of the Tec community, he also reiterated the importance of education for a better future.

“It’s a great moment for progress and education. In a couple of years, we’ll have passed through this and we’ll use all this innovation to rebuild something better in areas such as medicines and online education,” he shared.
 

Here’s Gates’ conversation with the Tec Community:
 

Gates, now 65, founded technology company Microsoft in 1975. He is believed to be one of the richest men in the world, according to Forbes.

Through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, he has worked on various projects in recent years, such as the eradication of polio and the search for vaccines against malaria or HIV.

He is also leader of the Breakthrough Energy initiative, focusing on the commercialization of clean energy and technologies related to the environment.

For Juan Pablo Murra, Rector of Undergraduate and Graduate Studies at the Tec, it was important that students had the opportunity to ask Gates for his advice to them about facing global challenges.

“He spoke to our young people about supporting or joining institutions, governments, or philanthropic causes that have a long-term vision,” the rector shared on his social media.
 

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