Creation of Professional Certificates for the Automotive Industry

One of the greatest challenges in the educational world of the 21st century is to achieve the transition from a traditional memoristic-cognitive model to a teaching-learning model, which contributes to strengthening the training of new generations in accordance with different work scenarios in the near future. As a result, the Office of the Vice-Rector for Strategic Evolution at the University of Monterrey decided to start working on a redesign of the curricular structure that promotes interdisciplinarity, mobility, internationalization and links with companies, through the use of agile frameworks and methodologies.

Using the functional structure of this method - planning, sprints, refinement, review, retrospective, among others. - and various design thinking techniques - crazy eights, insights, empathy processes - innovative ideas were generated. Through research of cutting-edge educational models and the best training methods worldwide, as well as interviews and validations with industry representatives, professors and students from different universities, a prototype of an academic program was created and further developed. It is important to note that as a result, it takes into account innovation and flexibility in duration, modality, delivery, own university degrees, etc, in order to acquire the competencies, i.e. the knowledge and habilities, to enter the labor market.

It was decided to carry out an experiment in the School of Engineering and Technologies of the university, considering the context of smart mobility and the operation of electric vehicles of the upcoming and highly anticipated arrival of TESLA in Nuevo Leon, Mexico, that is meant to open in 2024. This experiment consists of the creation of professional certificates based on the subjects of the current academic program, which favors the personal and professional growth of students and promotes the differentiation of specific graduate profiles.

These certificates are scheduled to start being offered in the semester of fall 2023. In the initial communication phase, students have shown great interest, and there has also been an extraordinary response from the academic and business sector.

Keywords: Innovation, experiment, smart mobility, electric vehicles and certificates.

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Dr. Hiram Cantú