The initiative, by students from U. de La Serena and U. de Chile, proposes an innovative solution that advances in decarbonization, reduction of acoustic footprint and optimization of electrical costs.

Three students, from the regions of Atacama and Coquimbo, carried out a special professional internship process at Compañía Minera del Pacífico (CMP), the main iron producer on the American Pacific coast.

This is Benjamin Peralta, student of Mechanical Civil Engineering; and Javiera Vivar, from Industrial Civil Engineering, both from the University of La Serena, together with Felipe Muñoz, from Civil Electrical Engineering from the University of Chile, who developed a project to change the electrical supply of one of CMP's main operations, in its Port of Guayacán in Coquimbo.

The students unified and focused their diverse knowledge and tools, raising a proposal to have a new electrical power system in the port, going from their own generation to the usual supply of an external company. The above required an engineering solution that unified delivery powers with operating powers.

This innovative solution caught the attention of company executives, as it presents robust data and a thorough analysis, ultimately translating into benefits such as cost reduction and acoustic footprint, along with making considerable progress in the decarbonization of the site. The students had the opportunity to present their work to the general manager of CMP, Francisco Carvajal, the Planning and Development manager, Claudia Monreal, and the deputy manager of Elqui Valley Operations, Iván Albie.

In this regard, Matías Canovas, Superintendent of the Port of Guayacán of CMP, explained the birth of the initiative. “We invited engineering students from specific specialties to use their knowledge and translate it into the search for an innovative solution. It was incredible to see how in a short time they were on an equal footing with other company teams and foreign suppliers. We believe that inviting young people to look for real solutions to complex problems enriches the project, since in this way one of our pillars is fulfilled, creating a different mining. Felipe, Benjamín and Javiera devised a solution that today competes for financing with projects generated in formal and long-standing engineering studies, that achievement goes directly to their backpack,” he indicated.

Benjamin Peralta, from the University of La Serena, stated that “it has been a very pleasant experience, both for my colleagues and for the company and the professionals who always supported us. “We are proud to carry out a no small project, which seeks a significant improvement for part of the company's process.”

In turn, Javiera Vivar, who also belongs to the study house of the regional capital of Coquimbo, assured that “they gave us the trust to be able to carry out studies and analyzes that, later, we were able to present as a proposal to modernize food and reduce costs. operational in energy terms.”

For his part, Felipe Muñoz, from the University of Chile, expressed his gratitude for the opportunity provided: “it has been quite a challenge and I never expected that at the end of this internship I would give a presentation to the general manager of the company, being an experience very gratifying". “We are a well-knit team, we get along very well and that was essential to moving the project forward,” he added.

This initiative, promoted and supported by the Elqui Valley Operations deputy management, is in direct line with the purpose of Compañía Minera del Pacífico and its efforts to generate instances that promote the sustainable development of young local talent.