Facultad de Ingeniería

One hundred and thirty thousand years ago, Earth entered a warming transition period, from an ice age to the beginning of the Eemian Interglacial Period. While Neanderthals were recolonizing northern Europe and Homo sapiens were exploring routes beyond the African continent, the planet was home to an impressive megafauna, including mammoths, mastodons, and saber-toothed tigers, during a period when global temperatures were higher than they are today and sea levels were several meters higher than they are now.

The National Agency for Research and Development (ANID) announced the results of the Fondef IDeA R&D 2026 competition, which received a total of 871 applications and awarded funding to 102 projects, representing 11.71% of the initiatives submitted.

The presentation of the scope and expected results marked the launch event for the Fondef project “Scaling Up the Dynamic Vibration Absorber System Applied to the Mitigation of Noise Induced by Railroad Tracks,” which is being developed by the University of Santiago de Chile (Usach).

With their project “Resilient Water Smart Group,” students Catalina Orellana and Alejandro Daza from the Department of Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering emerged as winners of the 2025 edition of AQUA 365. Their innovative proposal exceeded the jury’s expectations, supported by a compelling pitch developed with the guidance and mentorship of the FING Innovation Center team.

The Faculty of Engineering at the University of Santiago de Chile (USACH) excelled in early-stage research, securing 10 Fondecyt Iniciación 2026 grants. This achievement surpasses last year's results and underscores FING's dedication to innovation, technological development, and nurturing young talent in Chilean engineering.

USACH earned a total of 19 Fondecyt projects in this year's call, with more than half, 10, from the Faculty of Engineering. This highlights FING's leadership in supporting emerging researchers tackling national challenges.

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 L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Award highlights the scientific and technological contributions of women globally. Historically, the award has recognized three Chilean women: Gloria Montenegro (1998), Ligia Gargallo (2007), and María Teresa Ruiz (2017).

One of the candidates for the 2026 award is Dr. Andrea Mahn Osses, an academic in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Bioprocesses and Vice-Dean of R&D and Postgraduate Studies at the Faculty of Engineering, whose solid track record in research has led to her nomination in the Health Biotech category.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems are revolutionizing industries and companies, making their operations more efficient, effective, and even more sustainable.

These technologies could help optimize the monitoring of industrial fishing vessels to track bycatch, the practice of throwing non-target species caught incidentally back into the ocean.

Las preferencias alimentarias han evolucionado en los últimos años, reflejándose en una creciente demanda por opciones de platos más saludables, sostenibles y con menor desperdicio de productos. 

En respuesta a esta tendencia, restaurantes, casinos y otros servicios alimentarios han comenzado a diversificar sus preparaciones, pero considerando otras variables como la planificación de las minutas, los costos operacionales y la logística, entre otros. En este contexto, la tecnología se ha convertido en una gran aliada clave para abordar estos desafíos.

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.