On June 8th and 9th, students, professors and officials celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Environmental engineering undergraduate program by holding several academic and cultural activities. 

The celebration began with mass which was celebrated by Father Javier Herran, UPS President. They then inaugurated the event, the officials who attended the ceremony were: the university president Javier Herran; facult director karina Pazmiño; professors Cecilia Barba and Edwin Arias, and Ivan Bastidas, representative of the students federation.

During her speech, Dr. Pazmiño said that "between 2011 and 2012 we had our first graduates; there are 183 environmental engineers who work in the field of consulting, management of safety risks and environmental remediation. Some of our alumni work in companies, some work for the state, others have started their own business of environmental consulting. But not only our former students have reached great achievements, our current students and professors have achieved awards in the fields of research and innovation". 

In his speech Javier Herran said that this program has had to create its academic proposal from the transversality of life sciences and civil engineering, seeking to announce new foundations of life.

Ivan Bastidas, from FEUPS, spoke about former directors: "How can we forget professor Arias, his patience and kindness with which he gained affection and confidence of his students, Dr. Barba who, with his warmth, made us feel that UPS was our second home, or Dr. Pazmiño, an excellent professional in the field of Organic Chemistry that made us feel like Tom Cruise in the movie Mission Impossible where the challenges were to decipher the nomenclature of a set of lines and hydrogens scattered everywhere."

Then, a recognition was given to those who received prizes, among them the recognition of the Secretariat of Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation (SENESCYT) and the UNESCO Office "Students Building Equality and Environment in Higher Education", obtained by students Ronal Correa, Maritza Chiluisa, Juan Morales, Robert Tomalá, Katy Alvear and Madison Herrera, with the guidance of Professor Ronnie Lizado, in the category "Sustainable life promotion and care of nature with their project  "Alimentación consciente, salud y economía social y solidaria mediante un huerto - jardín ecológico"

In that same competition, Sandra Pino and César Piguave, students,  and Professors César Álvarez and Richard Vilchez received an honorable mention for the "Urban Sustainability Plan and Adaptation to Climate Change of the UPS, using integral geoenvironmental and Use of drones. "

Also in the "III Ibero-American Conference in Salute to World Environment Day, Ecuador 2017", which was held at Universidad Estatal Amazónica del Puyo, the student Ingrid Pinzón and professor Lenin Ramírez were recognized for the project ""Estimación de las huellas hídrica y de carbono de los cultivos de Quínoa en la sierra centro ecuatoriana". "Diana Toaquisa and Professor Carlos Ulloa were awarded for their " Evaluación de la capacidad de absorción de potasio y cobre en dos tipos de suelos quemados experimentalmente en laboratorio simulando incendios forestales".   

Finally, in the Latin American Green Awards (Premios Latinoamérica Verde) , which included 2,409 projects from 36 countries and 679 cities, UPS's Ecostation tm project was placed 216. This proposal was led by Dr. Cecilia Barba. Subsequently, a series of conferences was held by university teachers and representatives of the Ministry of the Environment, the State Bank, and others.

Students and professors received the four volumes that make up the collection "Cities of People" of the Abya Yala University Publishing House - UPS and an institutional button.

Inauguration of the new laboratory of treatment and water quality

In the context of this celebration, the new laboratory for water treatment and water quality was inaugurated, a space to extend practical knowledge in the field and the environmental impact, whether chemical, physical or microbiological, supporting the determination of the efficiency of a treatment. The inauguration was attended by Fr. Javier Herrán, Dr. Karina Pazmiño, professors and students.