Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María
Encyclopedia
The Federico Santa María Technical University (UTFSM) (colloquially known as Santa Maria University), is a Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

an university
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...

 situated in Valparaíso
Valparaíso
Valparaíso is a city and commune of Chile, center of its third largest conurbation and one of the country's most important seaports and an increasing cultural center in the Southwest Pacific hemisphere. The city is the capital of the Valparaíso Province and the Valparaíso Region...

, Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

. According to some national rankings of quality perception, it is one of the most reputed engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...

 universities in Chile , with special emphasis in technical fields, and a significant research growth in business . The University has campuses in Valparaiso, Viña del Mar, Santiago, Talcahuano and Rancagua, as well as an international campus in Guayaquil, Ecuador. The University is the alma matter of several prominent businessmen, engineers and chilean scientists.
UTFSM was the first Chilean university to confer a Doctorate
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...

 in engineering in 1962 and, with that, the first higher-education institution in Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages  – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...

 to confer this degree. The University offers severals undergraduate and graduate degrees in technical areas. In 2011, UTFSM has been awarded nearly US$ 3 million for research projects, being one of the top technical universities in the country in terms of research funds.

Brief History

The university takes its names from Federico Santa María
Federico Santa María
Federico Santa María Carrera was a Chilean businessman and philanthropist. He was of Basque descent and member of the notable Carrera family....

, a Chilean who lived in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

. He raised a huge fortune as a broker in the sugar market in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

. Before his death, he decided to donate all his fortune to create an University in his hometown, Valparaíso.

In his testament, Santa María donated all his fortune to build in Valparaíso
Valparaíso
Valparaíso is a city and commune of Chile, center of its third largest conurbation and one of the country's most important seaports and an increasing cultural center in the Southwest Pacific hemisphere. The city is the capital of the Valparaíso Province and the Valparaíso Region...

 a high-standard technical and scientific institution. This institution would be dedicated to prepare students from all socioeconomic backgrounds but with great potential, to gain technical and scientific knowledge, and contribute to the progress of the country.

Following his philosophy, on March 31, 1926, an institution was created to develop Santa María's legacy. Finally on 1931 the School of Crafts and Arts and School of Engineering José Miguel Carrera
José Miguel Carrera
José Miguel Carrera Verdugo was a Chilean general, member of the prominent Carrera family, and considered one of the founders of independent Chile. Carrera was the most important leader of the Chilean War of Independence during the period of the Patria Vieja...

 was founded. In 1935 its name changed to Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María.

The condition imposed by Federico Santa María was that, the first 10 years of the University, the professors must be from the best schools of engineering in the world at that time. Following this imperative, the executor of this project, Mr. Agustín Edwards McLure, moved to Germany where made contact with Dr. Karl Laudien, who was the first Rector (Chancellor) of the University. From that moment, the University received strong German influences.

In 1960 the Graduate School was created. In 1962 the university became the first higher-education institution in Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages  – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...

 to confer a doctorate
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...

 in engineering.

Nowadays, Federico Santa María University is one of the top Engineering Schools in Chile. Students come from all over the country and also latin america.

Campus

The university has four campuses and two branch campuses (sedes). These are located in four Chilean cities and Guayaquil, Ecuador. These are:
  • Casa Central, main campus. Inaugurated in 1931, located in Valparaíso
    Valparaíso
    Valparaíso is a city and commune of Chile, center of its third largest conurbation and one of the country's most important seaports and an increasing cultural center in the Southwest Pacific hemisphere. The city is the capital of the Valparaíso Province and the Valparaíso Region...

  • Campus Santiago Vitacura and Campus Santiago San Joaquínhttp://www.santiago.usm.cl, located in the Chilean capital, Santiago
    Santiago, Chile
    Santiago , also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile, and the center of its largest conurbation . It is located in the country's central valley, at an elevation of above mean sea level...

    .
  • Campus Guayaquilhttp://www.usm.edu.ec, located in Guayaquil, Ecuador.
  • Sede José Miguel Carrera
    José Miguel Carrera
    José Miguel Carrera Verdugo was a Chilean general, member of the prominent Carrera family, and considered one of the founders of independent Chile. Carrera was the most important leader of the Chilean War of Independence during the period of the Patria Vieja...

    http://www.jmc.utfsm.cl, located in Viña del Mar.
  • Sede Rey Balduino de Bélgicahttp://www.rbb.utfsm.cl, located in seaport city of Talcahuano.


While the campuses are focused on undergraduate, graduate and university academical activities, sedes are mainly dedicated to technical degrees.

Main Campus, Valparaíso

The main UTFSM campus (or Casa Central) is located in Valparaíso, covering most of the front area of Los Placeres hill. The site directly faces the Pacific
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

 coast and it is visible from many parts of the bay of Valparaíso.

The building was designed by Josué Smith Solar, one of the most respected Chilean architects of the 20th century, and his son José Smith Miller. The American Neo-Gothic style campus is considered one of the foremost works of Chilean architecture. The campus is also recognised for its beautiful gardening
Gardening
Gardening is the practice of growing and cultivating plants. Ornamental plants are normally grown for their flowers, foliage, or overall appearance; useful plants are grown for consumption , for their dyes, or for medicinal or cosmetic use...

, with native and exotic species.

In 2001, the illumination of the university frontis was renewed through a contest organised by the Chilean branch of Philips
Philips
Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. , more commonly known as Philips, is a multinational Dutch electronics company....

.

Organization

Due to the focused nature of the university, its organisation does not include different faculties, only different academic departments.

Within the Chilean campus level, there are 12 departments, which carry out research and graduate/undergraduate educational programs.

UTFSM is the only Chilean engineering school that includes sports as an obligatory course in the curriculum
Curriculum
See also Syllabus.In formal education, a curriculum is the set of courses, and their content, offered at a school or university. As an idea, curriculum stems from the Latin word for race course, referring to the course of deeds and experiences through which children grow to become mature adults...

.

The university offers careers of Commercial Pilot
Aviator
An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...

 and Aeronautical Engineering in its Academia de Ciencias Aeronáuticashttp://www.aca.cl in a joint venture with Chilean airline Lan Chile .

Education

The University offers severals undergraduate and graduate degrees. The undergraduate degrees can be of 12 academic semesters (engineering), 10 academic semesters (engineering, pure sciences and arquitecture), 8 academic semesters (Applied Engineering) and 6 academic semesters (technical careers). The graduate degrees (Masters and Doctorate) have a structure according to the international standards: 2 years for masters of science, and 3 to 5 years for Doctorate degrees.

Engineering of 12 academic semesters.

The engineering degrees at UTFSM, but also throughout Chile, are offered in different degrees of difficulty. The highest degree correspond to the engineering of 12 academic semesters which, in UTFSM, is divided in 4 semester of basic sciences (Mathematics I to IV, Introduction to Physics, Physics I to IV, Chemistry, Thermodynamics, Computer Programming, and several lectures depending on the degree), 4 semesters for lectures in the main area of the degree, and 4 complementary semesters with lectures oriented to production management, quality management, probabilities, stadistics, financial control, operations research, projects evaluation, research laboratory, soft skills, and professional thesis. At the end, the student receive the professional degree of Engineer. In order to differenciate from the engineering studies of 10 semesters, the degree has the suffix of Civil. For example, the degree for chemical engineering studies is, in Spanish, Ingeniero Civil Químico, while the degree of 10 semesters has the title of Ingeniero Químico. The degree of Ingeniero Civil Químico allows to continue doctoral studies.

Graduate programs: Master degree.

The University offers degrees of Master of Science (4 semesters) in:
* Electrical Engineering
* Electronics Engineering
* Computational Engineering
* Civil Engineering
* Chemical Engineering
* Mechanical Engineering
* Physics
* Mathematics
* Chemistry

Also, Master in Asset Management and Maintenance, Master in Information Technology, Master of Networking and Telecommunications and the International Master in Business Administration (MBA) are offered as masters with professional and industrial orientation.

Graduate programs: Doctoral degree.

The Doctoral programs offered by Santa María University are:
* Doctorate in Biotechnology (offered together with Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso)
* Doctorate in Physics.
* Doctorate in Chemistry.
* Doctorate in Electronics Engineering.
* Doctorate in Mechanical Engineering.
* Doctorate in Computational Engineering.
* Doctorate in Chemical Engineering.

Chemical Engineering at Federico Santa María Technical University.

The Chemical Engineering School at UTFSM was founded together with the foundation of the School of Engineers in 1935, being one of the oldest degrees offered by the University. The first Doctorate degree in Chemical Engineering in Chile and Latinoamerica was given to Mr. Walter Gaete Castro in 1962, with a cooperation between UTFSM and University of Pittsburg, USA. Nowadays, the chemical engineering department has the name of Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering (IQA, from Spanish), where Chemical Engineering and Environmental Engineering degrees are offered. The research topics at IQA are:
  • Design of industrial processes
  • Environmental Engineering
  • Food Science and Bioprocesses
  • Minerals Processing
  • Automation and process control


The Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering has 12 Associate Professors, 11 with PhD degrees. The Department offers the graduate programs of Master of Science and PhD in Chemical Engineering.

The degree of Chemical Engineering consist of 12 academic semester to finally receive the degree of Ingeniero Civil Químico. The structure of the undergraduate program can be divided on:

Four semesters of Basic Sciences: Mathematics I to IV, Introduction to Physics (vectors, functions, movement), Physics I (Mechanics), Physics II (Electromagnetism), Physics III (Waves and Heat), Physics IV (Quantum Physics, Relativity, Optics), Computer Programming, Basic Chemistry, Chemistry of Materials, Laboratory of Basic Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Chemistry of Processes, Technical English and Soft Skills I and II.

Four semesters of Basic Sciences of Chemical Engineering: Fluids mechanics, Thermodynamics (First & second law, heat and mass balances, cycles...), Thermodynamics for Chemical Engineers (Raoult Law, Equations of State, Virial Coefficients, Fugacity, Models (Unifac, NRTL, etc)), Reactors Design, Basic Electrical Engineering, Heat Transfer, Biochemistry, Transport Phenomena, Microbiology, Mass Transfer, Instrumental Analysis, Analysis and Design of Industrial Experiments, Metallurgy and Materials, Industrial Automation and Control, Operation research, Chemical synthesis laboratory, Economy I.

Four final semesters: Environmental engineering, Technical draw in engineering, Statistical analysis of Chemical Processes, Optional lecture I to IV, Processes Laboratory, Technical design of equipments, Research laboratory, Business Management, Chemical Processes Design, Projects evaluation, Chemical Projects design, National Chemical Industry, Production management, Staff Supervision, Quality Management, Soft Skill III, and Professional thesis.

Notable alumni and faculty

Robert Breusch
Robert Breusch
Robert Hermann Breusch was a German-American number theorist, the William J. Walker Professor of Mathematics at Amherst College....

, mathematician. Breusch was known for his new proof of the prime number theorem
Prime number theorem
In number theory, the prime number theorem describes the asymptotic distribution of the prime numbers. The prime number theorem gives a general description of how the primes are distributed amongst the positive integers....

 and for the many solutions he provided to problems posed in the American Mathematical Monthly
American Mathematical Monthly
The American Mathematical Monthly is a mathematical journal founded by Benjamin Finkel in 1894. It is currently published 10 times each year by the Mathematical Association of America....

.
Dr. Juan Vera, Alummni. Professor Emeritus, Department of Chemical Engineering, McGill University, Canada. PhD thesis carried out with Professor J.M. Prausnitz in University of California, Berkeley between 1968 and 1970.
Dr. Herbert Appel, National Prize of Science (Organic Chemistry) 1970.
Dr. Juan Garbarino, National Prize of Science (Organic Chemistry) 1998.
Raul Zurita
Raúl Zurita
Raúl Zurita Canessa is a Chilean poet and anthologist. He won the Chilean National Prize for Literature in 2000.-Biography:Raúl Zurita Lastarria studied at the Lyceum...

, Civil Engineer, Poet, National Literature Prize.
Dr. Karl Laudien, first Rector (Chancellor) of the University.
Dr. Arnold Keller, German-Chilean, Nuclear Physicist.
Dr. Ower Villegas, Nuclear Physicist in the IAEA.
Dr. Max Von Brand.
Dr. Ivan Schmidt, chilean physicist. He developed, in cooperation with Dr. Stanley Brodsky from Stanford University, the basic theoretical aspects to create antihydrogen atoms in the Laboratory. Based in this methods, swiss scientists have created the first antimatter atom in the world.
Dr. Carlos Cerutti, the first chilean that received the degree of Doctor Honoris Causa by an international institution. The institution was the University of Pittsburg, USA.
Dr. Daniel Alcalay Lowitt, chilean scientist, he was the founder of the Biotechnology Center of the University. Today the Biotechnology Center bears his name: Centro de Biotecnología Dr. Daniel Alcalay Lowitt.
Dr. Walter Gaete Castro, he was the first student,in Chile and Latin America, to receive the degree of PhD. in Chemical Engineering in 1962.
Homero Cápona, first Engineer graduated from UTFSM, in 1940.
Sergio Contreras
Sergio Contreras
Sergio Alberto Contreras is a minor league outfielder and first baseman who is currently playing in the Mexican Triple-A League for the Quintana Roo Tigres. He is 5'11" tall and he weighs 180 pounds. He throws and bats left-handed...

, Bishop of Temuco.
José Hornauer, founder of RHONA Companies.

Meritorious Professors

The Santa María University, in recognition to the work of remarkable professors who have dedicated his entire life to teach and have formed many generations of engineers, has created the categories of Emeritus Professor and Benefactor Professor.

Benefactor Professors:

1. Curt Finster Hochne, joined in 1934, was awarded in 1974.
2. Herbert Appel Appel, joined in 1937, was awarded in 1963.
3. Wilhelm Feick Lehfeldt, joined in 1937, was awarded in 1974.
4. Julio Hirschmann Reitz, joined in 1937, was awarded in 1965.
5. Oto Klein Schwartz, joined in 1940, was awarded in 1981.
6. Roberto Frucht Werheimer, joined in 1939, was awarded in 1970.
7. Rodolfo Ripa Hutter, joined in 1942, was awarded in 1970.
8. Carlos Gonzáles de la Fuente, joined in 1944, was awarded in 1979.
9. Kurt Schmidt Raschke, joined in 1950, was awarded in 1981.
10. Arnold Keller Kaulfers, joined in 1950, was awarded in 1979.

Emeritus Professors:

1. Juan Hernández Sánchez, joined in 1956, was awarded in 1999.
2. Alejandro Livingston Bianchi, joined in 1969, was awarded in 1999.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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