Dr. Juan Carlos Carrasco Moraga assumed this new position in September, after being the head of the Environment Area of the unit.
The Rector of the University of Concepción (UdeC), Dr. Carlos Saavedra Rubilar, received Dr. Juan Carlos Carrasco Moraga, who took over in September as the new Executive Director of the Technological Development Unit (UDT) of the University.
The protocol greeting, which took place in the Rector’s Office, was also attended by the Vice-Rector for Research and Development of the University of Concepción, Dr. Andrea Rodríguez Tastets, and the Director of Development and Innovation, Dr. Jorge Carpinelli Pavisich.
In this regard, Rector Dr. Carlos Saavedra noted that ‘we met with the new Executive Director of the Technological Development Unit of the UDT, Dr. Juan Carlos Carrasco, who joined us on the first of September as a result of a competition process that was carried out by the Vice Rector’s Office for Research and Development with a team in which members of the UDT board of directors participated’.
Juan Carlos Carrasco holds a PhD in Chemistry from West Virginia University and has more than two decades of experience in research and development, focusing on leading innovative initiatives in areas such as environmental technologies and bioenergy. Previously, he served as Head of the Environmental Area at UDT and has collaborated with various industries on process optimisation and sustainability.
‘It is very pleasing to meet the new Director, as well as the challenges he envisions for UDT, which will be refined in conjunction with the work plan that is already established, to know the possible new directions, the collaborative work with the academic units of the University and to see how to strengthen those academic ties that already exist and that have been developed during all the years of existence of UDT’.
In this line, Dr. Juan Carlos Carrasco relieved that ‘I see many opportunities with the Faculties that are part of the Board and in particular with the Faculty of Engineering, even so our fundamental role is to catalyse even more with new development options, we have had a closer relationship with the Department of Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering also to see new materials and we have also worked with Metallurgical Engineering, Civil Engineering of Materials and we must continue to explore collaborations with other academic units’.
The meeting also highlighted the administration of Dr. Alex Berg Gebert, who for 30 years directed the Technological Development Unit, which is the only one of its kind in Chile. ‘We shared the vision of the contribution of the former director, Dr. Alex Berg, in his management role and how he allowed the growth of this unit and the opportunities that are now generated from that collaboration and the support he has provided in this transition with the new Director who took over,’ said the Rector.
Projections for the UDT
Regarding the roadmap for the coming years, the new Director Dr. Juan Carlos Carrasco detailed that ‘there are different challenges and opportunities, there are relevant issues in the country associated with decarbonisation and everything that is the bioeconomy and circular economy, in which the UDT has been working for many years, both with licensing and also from the point of view of seeking greater relationship with the University, particularly from research and development to visualise new lines of opportunities’.
During the same day, a meeting was also held between university authorities and the UDT Board of Directors, in particular: Dr. Eduardo Pereira Ulloa, Dean of the Faculty of Chemical Sciences; Dr. Margarita Marchant San Martín, Dean of the Faculty of Natural and Oceanographic Sciences; Dr. Eugenio Sanfuentes Von Stowasser, Dean of the Faculty of Forestry Sciences; and Dr. Claudia Mardones Peña, Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy.
Source: UdeC News