Diego Celentano

Faculty Exchange Luksic Grants

Professor and Researcher, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Metallurgy, Universidad Católica de Chile

My professional activities reflect a deep commitment to the academic values that guide the Universidad Católica de Chile (PUC) on its educational mission.

Student development has been one of my main areas of concern, and I have committed considerable efforts and resources to undergraduate mentoring and graduate students supervision at both MS and PhD levels. In many instances, I shared this advisory activity with other academic colleagues to further the level of discussion and study. I have also devoted similar attention to international exchange students.

In Chile, since 1997 I have worked as Principal Researcher, leading projects that received financial support from the Chilean Council for Technological Research (CONICYT) and other institutions. At the same time, I have done research in collaboration with national and international academic colleagues in different areas of Computational Mechanics. In addition, I have been invited several times by international universities as a visiting research professor.

In general terms, my scientific research papers comprise:

• A wide variety of subject matters within Mechanical Engineering.
• Original contributions in modeling, computational analysis, numerical simulation and experimental validation.
• Individual as well as team work with students and colleagues from other schools.
• A multidisciplinary approach for complex and multifaceted problems.

As part of PUC effort to build a global research network, I have participated in many scientific conferences, often as an invited speaker. Simultaneously, I have encouraged and helped students attend meetings to present their own research, thus expanding their educational opportunities.

This will surely be the start of a long-term collaboration between our institutions, and much more productive research can be done thanks to this experience.”

In this context, I was also awarded a Luksic grant through the Faculty Exchange program in partnership with Notre Dame, and it was extremely positive. I had the opportunity to work closely with ND professors and postgraduate students with whom very interesting meetings were held.

The purpose of my work with Notre Dame was to study of the effects of cell populations on the properties of hydrogels and soft matrices. We worked in collaboration with the Harper Cancer Research Institute to study the progression of metastatic cancer to bone. As part of this study, the goal was to assess how bone marrow stromal cells and cancer cells interact in order to understand why breast cancer commonly metastasizes to bone marrow. Hence, it is relevant to determine if these cells behave differently when present together in a tissue. It is possible to mimic a simple tissue using collagen gels, and determine the mechanical behavior of the cells by measuring how they affect the mechanical properties of the gel as they grow on it. With appropriate mathematical models, quantitative measures of the interactions between the cells and the collagen can be obtained.

Key activities carried out during the visit include:

• Obtain experimental measurements of the mechanical behavior of collagen gels alone, and after seeding with combinations of bone marrow stromal cells and a breast cancer cell line with culture periods from a few days up to two weeks. These measurements were done in the Notre Dame material characterization facility using a newly obtained rheometer.
• Identify appropriate theoretical models to describe the behavior, and extend them as appropriate to capture the underlying viscous and fiber-reinforced nature of the gel and adding appropriate mathematical terms that can explain the changes due to the presence of cells.
• Bibliographic search on the subject of this project.

This will surely be the start of a long-term collaboration between our institutions, and much more productive research can be done thanks to this experience.

Nicole Pinaud

Babson Chilean Symposium for Entrepreneurship Educators (SEE), Babson Luksic Fellows

Professor of Business, Universidad de Chile and Partner at Bright Group and Antartys

I have been a professor of business at the Universidad de Chile since 2003. I have always been passionate about transferring new knowledge and theories to students, but in 2011 I was given a new opportunity that changed my career.

The organizers at Babson created a truly unique program. The program allowed me to widen my academic network and to be inspired by other professors that kindly shared their teaching experiences with the rest of us.”

After participating in the Babson Symposium for Entrepreneurship Educators, I was selected for the Luksic Fellows Program and spent an entire semester on campus at Babson. This was a fantastic experience both personal and professional.”The organizers at Babson created a truly unique program. The program allowed me to widen my academic network and to be inspired by other professors that kindly shared their teaching experiences with the rest of us.

The organizers at Babson created a truly unique program. The program allowed me to widen my academic network and to be inspired by other professors that kindly shared their teaching experiences with the rest of us.

Upon my return to Chile, it was nice to see entrepreneurs with similar challenges. As professors, we need to give the best tools to our students and teach them how to use them. This program was a great opportunity to keep me updated and to inspire my teaching.

Hugo Wood

Schwarzman Scholars Luksic Fellowship

Schwarzman Scholar and Global Shaper

Two years ago, I never thought I would be spending one year of my life in China…

I am a lawyer, social entrepreneur and human development advocate. I also served as Public Policy Advisor and Chief Speechwriter to the Vice-President and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Panama and was the Founder and Director of the largest debate student tournament in the history of Panama.

The whole Schwarzman experience will enable me to build a stronger link between China and Latin America, and I am grateful to have been the first Luksic Fellow in this extraordinary program.”

But in 2017, as part of the Panamanian government delegation, I witnessed President Xi Jinping’s first speech at the World Economic Forum Davos Annual Meeting, where I was fascinated by the aspirations of a country that was once isolated, and is now betting on globalization, inclusion and international cooperation. I realized that to truly understand China’s rise, I had to go there, ideally to live an experience that offered me true insights about its expanding role in the world. The only place I could find to achieve this goal was Schwarzman College at Tsinghua University.

Since the moment I arrive to its top-notch facility, with state-of the art- infrastructure, I knew I was in the right place. At Schwarzman College we have access to an unparalleled mix of bright and diverse peers, world-renowned faculty and learning opportunities with leaders from China and the world through high-level interactions at lectures, an internship program, a mentors network, and intensive deep-dive travel seminars.

The whole Schwarzman experience will enable me to build a stronger link between China and Latin America, and I am grateful to have been the first Luksic Fellow in this extraordinary program.

Gavin Wang

Luksic Scholarship for Chile-China Undergraduate Exchange

MBA Student, Peking University

I graduated from Xiamen University and my major was international economics. I worked for AP Moller Maersk for two years in Xiamen, and then moved to Beijing to change my career path to be a marketing professional. I started at domestic branding consulting company, then worked for Cheil group (a Samsung company). I also worked as director of programmatic buying division of GroupM China (a WPP company).

I chose to attend the Peking University MBA program purely to meet more people from different industries, so I can try to learn to see things from their perspective, and there was the exact reason why I applied for the Luksic Scholarship and travel to Chile for a semester.

I actually made a life there: I joined local running club, made both Chilean friends and Chinese friends, had my favorite restaurants, wine and local food, went to football matches, and really took advantage of this opportunity!”

My first experience with Chile was in 2017 when I made a Chilean friend who had been an MBA exchange student from the Universidad Católica to Peking University. I decided to come to Chile the second I was informed there was a new scholarship for an exchange program between Peking University and the Universidad de Chile.

I enjoyed my stay at the Universidad de Chile’s School of Economics and Business and the international office was very helpful. And I did contribute my share as well including a 90 minute talk on China!

I know all the students from the Universidad de Chile who went to China in 2018 and have been happy to build new friendships with them. I personally benefited a lot from this program and I really hope it has a lasting impact.

Chile is isolated but very diversified in many ways. It’s a perfect starting point to get to know Latin America as well. I actually made a life there: I joined local running club, made both Chilean friends and Chinese friends, had my favorite restaurants, wine and local food, went to football matches, and really took advantage of this opportunity!

Daniel Schmidt

Conducting Business in China (CMIX)

Dean of the School of Architecture & Construction, Universidad Autónoma de Chile

The network created with partners from Chile and China during the exchange experience will endure for life and I’m certain I’ll have the ability to use it when needed.”

It was a great opportunity to be chosen as part of the Conducting Business in China exchange program. We had the chance to meet and interact with most experienced business executives and get in touch with an amazing group of friends at Tsinghua university.

I’ve developed my main work experience as an architect in the south of Chile. I see this exchange program as a window to connect with the world from this beautiful corner of South America.

The network created with partners from Chile and China during the exchange experience will endure for life and I’m certain I’ll have the ability to use it when needed.

Camila Ortiz

Luksic Scholarship for Chile-China Undergraduate Exchange

Student of Business Administration, Universidad de Chile

China is definitely something completely new for me and I’m very lucky to have been given this opportunity.”

I am a 24 year old Chilean student who spent a semester in Shanghai in 2018 with the Luksic Scholarship, studying at Fudan University in Shanghai.

My major is Business Administration and I study at Universidad de Chile, which is located in Santiago, the capital of my country. My mother tongue is Spanish, and I’m fluent in English and also studying Chinese thanks to the opportunity I had to study abroad.

To be honest, China can be overwhelming, but at the same time, I don’t think I’ll ever live in a more amazing country and culture. China is definitely something completely new for me and I’m very lucky to have been given this opportunity.

Since my admission in 2014 I have been involved in several areas in my university, from university policy and office work, to the direction of the oldest student organization in the faculty, the social pre-university faculty, PreuFEN.

And those are opportunities that transform us and shape us as future professionals. Understanding that theoretical knowledge is only a small part of the skill mix we should have is the first step. The second is to dare to spread your wings and aim as far as your dreams allow. In this case I take this step a bit literally, when I applied for the Luksic Scholarship in China.

Perhaps that is also the most beautiful aspect of this challenge. Being able to become that professional that we have always read and discussed in class. That manager with a global vision, understanding, ethics and social commitment. We understand and take with great affection the seal of our school and we know what it means to be its representatives in elite universities such as Fudan.

Moving forward I commit myself to my colleagues, to be the faithful reflection of the values ​​we have received since our admission to the Universidad de Chile.