Outreach

INAOE and TecNM will train teachers in the area of semiconductors

Santa María Tonantzintla, Puebla, September 14, 2023.- With the aim of collaborating in the training of teachers on the subject of semiconductors in our country, this day directors, directors, teachers and researchers of the National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics (INAOE) and the National Technology of Mexico (TecNM) met in Tonantzintla.

The visitors were received by Dr. Edmundo Antonio Gutiérrez Domínguez, General Director of the INAOE; Dr. Daniel Durini Romero, Director of Research and Technological Development, and Dr. Bertha Patricia Guzmán Velázquez, in charge of Institutional Liaison and Planning.

On behalf of TecNM, the teacher Andrea Yadira Zárate Fuentes, Secretary of Extension and Linkage, was present; from teacher Gaudencio Lucas Bravo, Academic Secretary of Research and Innovation, as well as Marco Antonio Trujillo Martínez, Director of Linkage and Academic Exchange; Rafael Portillo Rosales, Director of Teaching and Educational Innovation, and Jesús Olayo Lortia, Director of Postgraduate Studies, Research and Innovation.

From the National Council of Humanities, Sciences and Technologies (Conahcyt), Dr. José Alejandro Díaz Méndez, head of the Sectoral and Regional Articulation Unit, and Dr. Alejandra Straffon, Director of Energy and Climate Change, attended remotely. Likewise, the meeting was attended by more than 30 managers, researchers and teachers from both institutions.
Dr. Edmundo Antonio Gutiérrez Domínguez welcomed those attending the INAOE, one of the 26 Conahcyt research centers. In turn, Dr. Daniel Durini Romero gave a presentation about the Institute: its history, infrastructure, its laboratories and observatories. He spoke about research work, postgraduate studies and technological development.
Teacher Andrea Yadira Zárate Fuentes, Secretary of Extension and Linkage of TecNM, said that the Tecnológico Nacional of Mexico is the largest system of technological higher education in Mexico and Latin America, with 254 institutes, six research centers and an enrollment of more of 600 thousand students.
She added that one of TecNM's strategic projects is the training of talent specialized in semiconductors. The above is part of the Sonora Sustainable Energy Plan, a project of the Government of Mexico and the Government of the State of Sonora.
On her occasion, teacher Gaudencio Lucas Bravo reported that TecNM began a diploma course in semiconductors in May and that they have 17 schools that started with the Semiconductor Engineering degree, with an enrollment of 1,600 students. He highlighted that they seek to train human talent in this topic and in all those related to national strategic projects. He indicated that there are plans to create a master's degree and a doctorate in semiconductors.
Finally, Dr. Edmundo Antonio Gutiérrez Domínguez highlighted the coincidences between INAOE and TecNM in the areas of semiconductors and photovoltaic agriculture, and expressed that INAOE has developed its own technology for solar cells of a wide variety, ranging from rigid to flexible and transparent, some of which can be applied in photovoltaic agriculture.
In a separate interview, teacher Andrea Yadira Zárate Fuentes, Secretary of Extension and Linkage of TecNM, explained that TecNM's offer in semiconductors is in several ways: “One is the specialty of the Electronics majors that we already have. The other modality is Semiconductor Engineering, and that is what we started this school year.”
He notified that one of the agreements of today's meeting "is that the INAOE will help the TecNM to train the teachers who will teach the special subjects in Engineering and in the postgraduate courses in which we will work, and will support us in the development of the curricular map of the master's and doctorate in semiconductors that we have planned for the future."
In addition to the work session, today's agenda included visits to the Microelectronics and Design laboratories and LIMEMS.
The alliance between the INAOE and the TecNM can be key to consolidating the training of specialized talent in the field of semiconductors at the national level. Both institutions will work to identify opportunities to strengthen academic programs in semiconductors that are currently taught through the development of content, materials, access to facilities, teacher training, among other options. Finally, the point in the value chain of the semiconductor industry will be identified where TecNM graduates must be inserted to generate an industry that produces comprehensive development.