Merida, Yucatan, Mexico – During the Opening Ceremony for the Engineering Learning Community Introduction to Research Program (ELCIR), the Yucatan Goverment welcomes 46 TAMU Engineering students  to conduct research in engineering. The hosting institution for the program this year is Universidad Marista, as well as other five participating institutions members of the System of Research, Innovation, and Technological Development of the State of Yucatan (SIIDETEY): UADY, CICY, CINVESTAV, UAS UNAM, and CIATEJ.

The ceremony took place at the Triangular Patio of the Grand Museum of the Mayan World, which counted with the participation of the 46 TAMU students and their 46 hosting families, as well as personnel from the General Principal Office of Higher Education (DGES), and a presidium comprised by:

  • Dr. Raúl Godoy Montañéz, Secretary of Research, Innovation, and Higher Education of Yucatan
  • David Micó, Consul General of the United States in Yucatan
  • Dr. Zenón Medina Cetina, Director of the Yucatan Initiative in TAMU
  • Ricardo Bello Bolio, Director-General of Higher Education
  • P. Miguel Baquedano Pérez, President of Marista University
  • Romeo de Coss Gómez, CINVESTAV Director
  • Javier Rivera Ramírez, CIATEJ Director
  • Xavier Chiappa Carrara, General Coordinator of the Academic Unit of UNAM in Sisal
  • Hugo Delfín González, Head of the Research Unit at UADY.
  • Marco Antonio Torres León, Director of the Medicine and Veterinary Faculty at UADY
  • Dr. Marcela Zamudio Maya, Director of the Chemical Engineering Faculty at UADY

Dr. Medina Cetina, Researcher in TAMU and Director of the Yucatan Initiative, thank the hosting families and the SIIDETEY for supporting the Yucatan Initiative in its objective towards strengthening the academic community for research. Dr. Raul Godoy Montañéz, Secretary of Research, Innovation, and Higher Education of Yucatan, also shared a message to welcome the ELCIR 2016 students, and to farewell the third group of  CANIETI students completing a summer internship in TAMU to receive preparation for their graduate studies.

To conclude the ceremony, a light and sound show was performed at the Grand Museum of the Mayan World, “YUCAMA’YA’AB”.

raul godoy siies elcir:tamu director of the yucatan initiative