ASCENT, the new project in South America with EDO’s Group collaboration

“ASCENT - Competence centres for automotive engineering and sales management to increase the positive impact on regional economic development in Argentina, Brazil and Mexico”.

The ASCENT project was born from a current need between the developments in the automotive industry in Latin America. Argentina and Mexico are two growing countries in this market, while in Brazilian’s industry is currently stagnant due to the lack of capacity to react to the new market’s demands. However, the three countries are the most important for the automotive industry in Latin America, with a strong focus on production. Although, these countries and the companies working in the territory share the same aim: the increase of experts in automotive engineering to increase both development capabilities and production. In other words, this project seeks the formation of highly qualified engineers.

For this reason, the project will seek to close the current gap between labor market needs and educational offerings by supporting HEIs in advancing their knowledge in automotive engineering and sales. This will qualify students to increase the number of graduates who can contribute to research and development within the automotive industry in Argentina, Mexico and Brazil, while at the same time reducing unemployment in the regions where the project will work. In this sense, the objectives of the project aim, on the one hand, to increase the positive impact of the automotive industry due to the focus on the development of engineering on the national economy, the environment and the social development of the study countries. It will also focus on improving the quality of teaching and the employability of students through a regional network that will lead to a strengthening of the capacity for international collaboration with all partners.

ASCENT will be funded by the Erasmus + Capacity Building program of the European Union, with an overall budget of € 992,525, coordinated by FH Joanneum, participating as partners the following universities:

· FH Joanneum (Austria); Hochschule Aalen (Germany); Universidad Nacional Sur and National University of La Plata (Argentina); University of São Paulo - Polytechnic School and Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil); ITESM Monterrey - Saltillo Campus and Universidad Iberoamericana Mexico City (Mexico); AVL List Gmbh and the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.

EDO-UAB members’ directly involved in the project are Joaquín Gairín, Aleix Barrera, Diego Castro, Anna Díaz, and will collaborate with Gabriel Izard (Department d’Empresa, UAB) and David Vázquez (Centre de Visió per Computadors, UAB). In addition to collaborating in the overall development of the entire project, EDO-UAB will be responsible for 2 of the 7 work packages within 9 months:

- 1º. Promote the training plan to impart and monitor their development in the different venues of participating Latin American universities;

- 2º. Develop the project quality plan, with collaboration with external experts, as a mechanism to obtain constant feedback that allows the monitoring of the project and the application of corrective measures when necessary.