Universidad de Los Lagos – in its eagerness to innovate in the educational field – held the seventh version of the CDIO Meeting at the Puerto Montt Campus. Leading academics from the American continent attended the meeting, in order to deepen the importance of generating tools to conceive and develop a new vision in engineering education
CDIO means: Conceive, Design, Implement and Operate complex systems of engineering, with added value in modern environments and based in teamwork. It was born as a guide at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and then adopted by countries in Europe, Asia and Latin America.
Luis Muñoz, professor of Engineering and part of the organization of the event, pointed out that the ULagos is at the regional vanguard, when applying this work guide. “There are few institutions at the country level, which are at the forefront of the application of this method-guide, which helps us to face the processes of education. Our students will be much better prepared to face the work world”, said the teacher.
Meanwhile, Manuel Neira, Colombian industrial engineer, in charge of the talk Course Evaluation Methodology using CDIO, indicated that one of the variables to take into account is the evaluation process. “The evaluation part is the most attractive. I feel that it is a great, efficient opportunity to ensure intrinsic learning of soft skills, which is one of the greatest gaps in engineering teaching processes,” said the professional.
Marcos Hernández, director of the ULagos Government and Business department, said that the implementation of this CDIO model is a pillar in the training of students. “As University we are part of this model. Our ULagos engineers, have an approach to training ‘doing engineering’, with courses workshops, working with companies, that is the hallmark of the professionals trained in ULagos,” he emphasized.
Valeria Urbie, a fifth-year student of Civil Engineering in Computer Science, indicated that the methodology expressed in the seminar is a tool to plant oneself in the world of work. “It’s very important because we come out much more prepared to face the hard work in companies, so as not to come out so novice in working with them,” she said. 
The meeting will happen until the 15th of November in the Puerto Montt Campus and It brings together outstanding specialists such as Doris Brouder, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); Messias Borges Silva, from the Paulista University of Brazil and Manuel Neira from Colombia, among others.