Macarena Polanco Gálvez

The Atacama Goat Program, a major Usach-INDAP initiative, is designed to enable Atacama goat milk producers to significantly maintain or increase their productive activity, remain in the territory, and boost their gross margin. This is achieved by strengthening the production and commercial aspects of their systems through the incorporation of practices and management techniques linked to sustainability and value addition.

The Agricultural Development Institute (Indap) has provided $5.25 billion pesos in funding to the Department of Industrial Engineering for a new program: the “Technology Transfer and Productive Investment Program for Peasant and Indigenous Family Farming (AFCI)” in the Atacama Region.

More than 800 small-scale farmers will directly benefit from this 18-month initiative. It uses a comprehensive model that integrates technical advice, productive investment, specialized training, and technology transfer to promote sustainable and equitable practices with local relevance.

Driven by the concerning number of marine species illegally discarded at sea, Dr. Chang’s proposal seeks to develop an Artificial Intelligence solution to tackle pressing challenges such as overfishing, pollution, and climate change.

The ESUS team was founded 15 years ago by former student Gonzalo Pacheco, who had the foresight to create a solar car when discussions about new energy matrices were just beginning. From that initial model, four more were developed until 2018. Then, new generations embraced the challenge, adapting to the evolving needs of the industry by designing electric cars, which opened the door to participating in "Formula SAE." In this new context, the ESUS team took on the demanding task of designing a racecar, complete with all the intricate mechanical and electrical components involved.

Driven by the expanding clean energy and advanced electronics sectors, the sustained increase in global demand for rare earth elements (REEs) necessitates more sustainable extraction methods. Studies indicate that mining tailings in north-central Chile represent a promising alternative source, containing significant concentrations of REEs like neodymium (Nd) and dysprosium (Dy). 

Crucial to Chile’s innovation landscape, the Fund for the Promotion of Scientific and Technological Development (Fondef) finances applied research, technological development, and innovation in strategic economic sectors. It actively promotes collaboration among academia, business, and government. In the highly competitive 2025 Fondef competition, Dr. Andrea Mahn Osses’s project stood out and received an award.

The project aims to validate the microencapsulation of sulforaphane, creating a functional ingredient with proven efficacy for the food industry.

During the end of the last ice age, vast quantities of CO2, previously sequestered deep within the ocean, surged to the Southern Ocean’s surface and were released into the atmosphere, significantly contributing to global warming. However, it was theorized that some of this stored oceanic carbon might have been swept up and transported directly northward to the eastern equatorial Pacific upwelling region by Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW) and Subantarctic Modal Water (SAMW).

The revaluation, understood as the net increase in the monetary value of a property in a given period of time, is mainly driven by two factors: a significant increase in demand over the existing supply and the characteristics of the environment of the property.

The results of Fondecyt Initiation 2025 were the best for the Faculty of Engineering. This award confirms the level of excellence of fundamental research at FING and represents a continued high performance in the award rate, exceeding the historical rate of the Faculty (19%). “These figures are evidence of the significant improvement in research we are doing, due to high standards of the academics who have been hired in recent years and the current policies of the Faculty regarding Research and Development,” said the Vice-Dean of R&D and Graduate Studies, Dr. Andrea Mahn Osses.

The promising results obtained by the research team of the Metallurgical Engineering Department led them to apply for a patent for a “Method for extraction of copper in solution from concentrates, with retention of iron in solids.”