First Corporate-Sponsored IEEE University Consortium
Established in Uruguay
14 March 2008 (Piscataway, NJ, USA)?In a shining example of what can
happen when industry meets academics, four Uruguay universities have come
together to form IEEE?s first corporate-sponsored university consortium.
The consortium, funded by Uruguay?s telecommunications giant ANTEL,
includes four schools, both private and public. ANTEL, which has its own
corporate subscription to IEEE, provided funding for the venture with
hopes of furthering engineering education and technological growth within
the Latin American country and surrounding regions.
A university consortium is a distinct group of universities who subscribe
to a specific library collection in an effort to save money on
subscription costs. IEEE currently works with university consortia in over
25 different countries. First conceived in 2006, the Uruguay Consortium
represents an important partnership between IEEE, private industry and the
academic community in Uruguay. Like most of Latin America, Uruguay has
been experiencing an emigration trend, with a large number of highly
skilled professionals moving to more developed countries, particularly the
United States. This ?brain drain? has recently been the topic of numerous
political and academic discussions throughout Uruguay as the country tries
to create a more globalized society within the technology community.
The IEEE Uruguay Consortium, by bringing together leading universities and
one of the country?s largest companies, is a significant step towards
providing more exciting and positive opportunities for the nation?s
emerging generations within both academia and industry. Enrique E.
Alvarez, IEEE 2008-2009 Region 9 Director expressed his excitement about
the consortium, saying the new endeavor ?Is a clear example of IEEE?s
mission. IEEE's core purpose is to foster technological innovation and
excellence for the benefit of humanity.? The consortium has been made
possible by a number of individuals, including Maria Simon, President of
ANTEL and Past President of the Uruguay IEEE Communications Chapter;
Osvaldo Novoa, Sub Gerente General Comercial at ANTEL; Celia Desmond, IEEE
Director and Secretary; and Gustavo Giannattasio, past IEEE Uruguay Chair
and candidate for Elected Regional Director, IEEE Region 9.
The IEEE/IET Electronic Library (IEL), which the Uruguay Consortium
subscribes to, is one of the most comprehensive and value-driven
literature databases available, delivering nearly a third of the world's
current literature in electrical engineering, communications and computer
science. IEEE offers research that fuels more new patents than any other
publisher at a substantially lower cost than the average electrical
engineering or computer science journals. A faculty member in engineering
at the Universidad de la República expressed excitement about the IEEE
electronic library, saying ?I am so grateful to ANTEL for making the IEEE
subscription available to us. I can assure them that we are going to use
this excellent tool a lot for our work.? The IEEE Uruguay Consortium will
provide the universities full access to more than 1.6 million full-text
searchable conference and journal articles, including articles from the
top-cited journals in a variety of technology fields.
About IEEE
IEEE (www.ieee.org) is the world?s largest technical professional society.
Through its 370,000 members in 160 countries, the society is a leading
authority on a wide variety of areas ranging from aerospace systems,
computers and telecommunications to biomedical engineering, electric power
and consumer electronics. Dedicated to the advancement of technology, IEEE
publishes 30 percent of the world?s literature in the electrical and
electronics engineering and computer science fields, and has developed
more than 900 active industry standards. The organization also sponsors or
co-sponsors over 750 international technical conferences each year.
Media contact:
Michelle Garner
732.981.3449 or [log in to unmask]
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