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Annual Activities Report Summary 2014 Science, technology and innovation for development

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This document is a summary of the Annual Report 2014 that is available at http://annualreport2014.fumec.org/

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Page 1: FUMEC Annual Report 2014

Annual Activities ReportSummary

2014

Science, technology and innovation for development

Page 2: FUMEC Annual Report 2014

2

The United States-Mexico Foundation for Science (FUMEC) is a non-govern-mental organization created in 1992, during the preparatory stage for sign-ing of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Our mission is to foster binational cooperation in science and technology and innovation, in order to contribute to problem solving in areas of mutual concern, especially those that support economic and social development in Mexico and the United States. With this goal, we work to identify the best national and international experiences, organize solution mechanisms and work to give them a life of their own.

The FUMEC Board of Governors, comprised of 17 members from the academic, business and government sectors from Mexico and from the United States, directs and oversees its mandate.

FUMEC: More than 20 years fostering innovation for development

“I believe that our countries have a common destiny and that scientific cooperation is part of that destiny.” Congressman George E. Brown Jr.

George E. Brown Jr. A Key Figure in Binational CollaborationU.S. Congressman George E. Brown, Jr. (1920-1999) played a key role in found-ing FUMEC. When he was the Chair-man of the Science and Technology Committee for the United States House of Representatives, Brown worked to strengthen binational exchanges in ar-eas of science and technology, and took steps in the United States that even-tually released an initial contribution of nearly 11 million dollars to start the FUMEC Endowment Fund.

Congressman Brown was a tireless promoter of science and technology. Af-ter his death in 1999, he left an impor-tant legacy that is reflected in impro-vements to the science and technology programs in the United States, and in collaboration with other countries.

Page 3: FUMEC Annual Report 2014

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Chairman of the Board of Governors

Collaboration between Mexico and the United States has grown increasingly relevant following the establishment of the High Level Economic Dialogue be-tween President Enrique Peña Nieto and President Barack Obama in May 2013. The Dialogue acknowledges that the economies of both countries may experi-ence accelerated growth working together as strategic allies and key economic partners.

FUMEC has sought to establish new binational initiatives to meet the high expectations set forth in the binational Dialogue. The members of the FUMEC Governing Board view the organization with great potential to generate valuable initiatives, which benefit both countries. I am certain that it will be able to leve-rage current interest so that the partnerships flourish and their benefits reach growing numbers of people in both countries.

Sincerely,Juan Silanes

Messages from our Leadership

Chief Executive Officer

In 2014, we continued our efforts to boost innovation in both classrooms and companies through a series of programs that harness the collaboration between Mexico and the United States, while enriching them through our proposals based on the needs that we have identified in both countries.

FUMEC’s participation in MUSEIC and FOBESII has opened the door for the Foundation to promote three new binational initiatives: the Innovation Corps, the Intelligent Manufacturing Initiative for the Border, and the Industry-University Consortia. We have described their progress in this report.

The Foundation is fortunate to have a Board of Governors with members who have the vision and the enthusiasm to guide our labor; I offer my heartfelt thanks for all of their valuable guidance and support. I am also grateful for the work of the entire FUMEC team, because their drive and expertise have made the achieve-ments presented below possible.

Sincerely,Guillermo Fernández de la Garza

This is a summary of the Report. To read the entire document, please go to: http://annualreport2014.fumec.org

Page 4: FUMEC Annual Report 2014

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The creation of the Mexico-United States Entrepreneurship and Innovation Council (MUSEIC) and the Bilateral Forum for Higher Education, Research and Innovation (FOBESII) has strength-ened cooperative ties between Mexico and the United States. FUMEC has contributed to these programs through the following three initiatives.

Innovation Corps (I-Corps)The Innovation Corps was developed by the National Science Foundation (NSF) so that the research generated by scien-tists and engineers could have greater impact and application in society by generating new businesses.

As part of the activities governed by the MUSEIC Subcommittee for Tech-nology Commercialization, the Foun-dation proposed sharing the I-Corps experience with Mexico. CONACYT and the United States Embassy in Mexico were very receptive to the proposal; they have since supported the model’s implementation in Mexico.

In August 2014, six I-Corps experts traveled to Mexico to meet with more than 50 researchers, academics and investors and to share with them how the program operates.

Three months later, 90 participants from academic institutions, technology

transfer offices, investment funds and government institutions attended the first Workshop for Researchers, Men-tors and Entrepreneurs for the I-Corps program in Mexico.

At the beginning of 2015, a call for proposals was issued to form the first 15 I-Corps work teams in Mexico and to launch a Pilot Program that will start in March 2015.

Intelligent Manufacturing Initiative for the Border (IMI)The border between Mexico and the United States is home to more than 2,000 manufacturing companies, many of which are among the most competitive in the world.

FUMEC submitted a proposal to the MUSEIC Subcommittee for Technology Commercialization to support an Inte-lligent Manufacturing Initiative for the Border (IMI), designed to increase the productivity of manufacturing compa-nies and make the region more attracti-ve to new investment.

In November of 2014, more than 90 leaders from industry, academic orga-nizations, public sector and non-gover-nmental organizations from the United States and Mexico met in San Diego, Ca-lifornia, to participate in the Intelligent Manufacturing Initiative Symposium.

New Binational Initiatives

The purpose of the IMI Symposium was to generate a panoramic view of the needs, challenges and opportunities in manufacturing, and to create an action plan that would allow the companies to integrate advances in intelligent manufacturing to form binational work networks, generate innovation, and boost their competitiveness.

One of the most important agree-ments arose from this meeting was to establish a Binational Intelligent Manufacturing Institute (BIMI), which will coordinate the IMI efforts to meet the companies’ needs and to leverage and develop capacities and specialized services companies in both countries.

Industry-University Cooperative Research Consortia (I/UCRC)The NSF created the Industry/University Cooperative Research Centers (I/UCRC) to boost cooperation between academia and industry in joint projects for mutual enrichment. There are 77 consortia in the United States that have become an annual collaborative space for 900 professors and 1,500 graduate students from across the entire range of existing technology sectors.

In 2012, FUMEC submitted a propo-sal to CONACYT for a project in which Mexico could harness I/UCRC expe-rience and in 2013, began to facilitate the integration of Mexican companies into certain I/UCRC from the United States, and work proceeded on identi-fying areas with the potential to create consortia of this type in Mexico.

In 2014, there was progress in orga-nizing three I/UCRC Consortia in Mexi-co: Logistics and Distribution, led by the National Laboratory for Advanced Computer Science (LANIA), Intelligent and Preventive Maintenance, also under the leadership of LANIA, and Advanced Non-Ferrous Structural Alloys, led by FUMEC.

Members of the NSF’s I-Corps program during a workshop in Mexico City.

Page 5: FUMEC Annual Report 2014

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In 2014, our TechPYME accelerator collaborated with CONACYT in an unprecedented process in Mexico to generate 32 State Innovation Agendas, while it continued its task to strengthen and accelerate innovative companies and ecosystems.

State and Regional Innovative AgendasThis project sought to generate a shared vision between government, academia, industry and society, to define strate-gic sectors and areas of specialization in which each state must focus and to identify and suggest mechanisms for implementing the strategies.

FUMEC served as a general coordi-nator of this project, while organizing the formulation of ten Agendas, one in collaboration with Indra. The organiza-tion of the remaining 22 Agendas was under the guidance of Idom Consulting, Indra and CambioTec.

Throughout 2014, organized wor-king groups prepared the Agendas, which were first presented in January 2015. This project has generated the following results:

• 32 State Agendas• 3 Regional Agendas• 495 strategic projects identified• 1,651 participating institutions

Each Agenda contains a map of the economic sectors that represent a development opportunity. The Agen-das identified 495 projects related to 18 productive sectors. Starting in 2015, or-ganizers expect to establish a follow-up process to implement the portfolio of identified projects. Some examples of the expected impact include:

The development of functional foods based on primary products typical of states such as Sinaloa, Michoacán, Chiapas, and State of Mexico, since the functional foods market is growing at an annual rate of 8% worldwide.

The creation of logistics laboratories to optimize packaging, storage, trans-port and control operations, in order to reduce costs which currently vacillate between 18% and 35% of the value of the products.

Supporting Innovative Companies In 2014, we developed two projects to support the growth of food companies. In the first we worked with 110 compa-nies in Sinaloa, and in the second, we worked with 50 companies in the State of Mexico. In both cases, we offered tailored services depending on the companies’ needs and worked with specific groups of companies to offer joint services.

In the State of Mexico, we worked with a group of bakeries to whom we

have given the tools to formalize their business operations. We also supported a group of agricultural producers by organizing training on semi-hydropo-nic strawberry cultivation techniques, to help the producers become more competitive.

In Sinaloa, we organized the work with 110 companies based on each company’s maturity level. The compa-nies were divided into three levels: 1) Induction, 2) Strengthening and Conso-lidation and 3) Penetrating National or International Markets.

Another project focused on deve-loping 12 companies with the goal of turning them into suppliers of Petróleos Mexicanos. We mentored them in eva-luating their Business Model, Structure and Human Capital, and Plant and Productivity. This generated an impro-vement plan for each company.

To read the succes stories of the TechPYME companies, go to http://annualreport2014.fumec.org

TechPYME: National Accelerator

A group of experts and part of the TechPYME staff after an evaluation meeting for the state innovation agendas.

Page 6: FUMEC Annual Report 2014

6

Presence in 11 statesin Mexico.

Work withInnovation Ecosystems

Support for InnovativeCompanies

FUMEC: Results Summary 2014

Inquiry-based science education with

INNOVEC

Primary Education:IBSE Programs

5,378teachers trained

in 2014.

176educational advisors working.

More than420,000studentsreached.

State and RegionalInnovation Agendas

1,651participatinginstitutions.

111 companies weresupported outside of Mexico.

178 companies were supported within Mexico.

3,000 youth were trained.

53 companies were supported.

Motivating students of CECYTEQ to pursue

engineering degrees

High School: Principles of

Engineering Program

868 studentsregistered in the program.

196 youth whograduated in 2014.

84% of thegraduates are enrolled in engineering degree programs.

495strategic projects were identified.

New BinationalInitiatives

I/UCRC:Creation of

3 Industry-UniversityConsortia.

IntelligentManufacturing for

the Border:More than

90 sector leadersparticipating.

I-Corps:Creation of

the foundationsfor the pilot

program in 2015.

Innovation in the Classrooms and in the Companies

3 Regional Innovation Agendas.

32 StateInnovation Agendas.

Page 7: FUMEC Annual Report 2014

7

Presence in 11 statesin Mexico.

Work withInnovation Ecosystems

Support for InnovativeCompanies

FUMEC: Results Summary 2014

Inquiry-based science education with

INNOVEC

Primary Education:IBSE Programs

5,378teachers trained

in 2014.

176educational advisors working.

More than420,000studentsreached.

State and RegionalInnovation Agendas

1,651participatinginstitutions.

111 companies weresupported outside of Mexico.

178 companies were supported within Mexico.

3,000 youth were trained.

53 companies were supported.

Motivating students of CECYTEQ to pursue

engineering degrees

High School: Principles of

Engineering Program

868 studentsregistered in the program.

196 youth whograduated in 2014.

84% of thegraduates are enrolled in engineering degree programs.

495strategic projects were identified.

New BinationalInitiatives

I/UCRC:Creation of

3 Industry-UniversityConsortia.

IntelligentManufacturing for

the Border:More than

90 sector leadersparticipating.

I-Corps:Creation of

the foundationsfor the pilot

program in 2015.

Innovation in the Classrooms and in the Companies

3 Regional Innovation Agendas.

32 StateInnovation Agendas.

Page 8: FUMEC Annual Report 2014

8

Our International Accelerator contin-ued supporting tech companies in its offices located in Arizona, Austin, Mich-igan, Seattle, Silicon Valley, Montreal, Vancouver and Madrid. It supported 111 companies, many of whom ob-tained exceptional results; to read more about them, visit http://annualreport2014.fumec.org

The following projects were highli-ghts from the TechBA program in 2014.

Market Validation Program with CONACYTIn July 2014, TechBA signed a collab-orative agreement with CONACYT to support 20 Mexican companies with an innovative value offering in order to evaluate whether or not they may successfully market their tech products or services in global markets.

To this end, TechBA identified a group of entrepreneurs with an innovative pro-posal among the beneficiaries of the Te-chnological Innovation Fund, as well as among the companies who are recipients of the National Technology Prize.

This validation program involved an intensive process lasting three months, during which entrepreneurs built and fi-ne-tuned the business elements required to present their value offering to a group

of international experts, receive feedback and make direct market validations.

The experience began with an intro-ductory workshop in Mexico City, and continued with remote consulting with TechBA experts. In February 2015, the participants traveled to TechBA in Sili-con Valley where they received informa-tion about the innovation ecosystem, attended networking events, visited regional companies and participated in sessions with international evaluators in order to determine the potential for their products or services.

After this work, the 20 participating companies were equipped with greater certainty with regard to their aspiration to penetrate global markets.

TechBA: International Accelerator

Collaboration with Mujeres Empresarias from Chile In 2014, TechBA worked with Mujeres Empresarias (Women Entrepreneurs), a Chilean organization, to establish the basis for a plan designed to promote a culture of creativity and development of women entrepreneurs with a global vision in Latin America. The plan has received support from the Chilean Economic Development Agency (CORFO).

Mujeres Empresarias, through its Link business accelerator, seeks to contribute to the creation and accelera-tion of sustainable companies who add economic and social value, focusing on women-led entrepreneurship.

Based on the TechBA agreement, Mujeres Empresarias wants their Link accelerator to become the first to inte-grate an international component in its processes and to have an impact in helping women entrepreneurs to think globally.

“In Latin America there are many women who are well-educated; we must have the capacity to direct their efforts. With TechBA, we expect that within a few years we will have women entrepreneurs who are successful in the international market,” said Francisca Valdés, CEO of Mujeres Empresarias.

A session of the TechBA-CONACYT validation program.

Entrepreneurs during INADEM Director, Enrique Jacob’s visit to TechBA Austin.

Page 9: FUMEC Annual Report 2014

9

Incubator for Food Companies and Agribusinesses

Our Incubator for Food Companies and Agribusinesses reinforced the support that it offers to entrepreneurs who are just starting out and continued to develop the various projects that it has been working on in the past. We have included some notable achievements from the Incubator below.

Entrepreneurship Support in Five States in MexicoIn 2014, our Incubator helped more than 73 entrepreneurs from the states of Tlaxcala, Oaxaca, Puebla, the State of Mexico and Veracruz, by providing them with training and counseling to develop their business models. The support used resources from the National Microenterprise Financing Program (PRONAFIM).

From this group, the Incubator selected 40 projects for incubation and worked with them over a 12-month period to go in-depth on the details of their business plan, validate their mar-ket offering, and prepare the compa-nies for a formal start to their business operations.

Entrepreneurship Training for 3,000 YouthDuring the last quarter of 2014, the FU-MEC Incubator and PRONAFIM issued a call for proposals to grant 3,000 training scholarships for youth who wanted to start their own company in three states in Mexico: 2,000 in Tlaxcala, 500 in Jalis-co and 500 in the State of Mexico.

This project focused on fostering a culture of entrepreneurship among Mexican youth through intensive works-hops, in which the youth could develop their ideas and acquire the tools they need to start a company.

Mexican Microsystems Consortium (CMM)In 2014, the Mexican Microsystems Consortium (CMM) worked with nine information technology and industrial automation companies to help them find funding to develop their innovation projects. The CMM provided consulting for seven companies to submit projects to the CONACYT Innovation Stimulus Program and provided support for two companies with electronic projects so that they could obtain INADEM funding and carry out their innovation projects.

Binational Health PartnershipsThis program channels funds from the United States to Mexico to coordinate various efforts to prevent or effectively fight any outbreak of infectious diseases that would put the health of our populations at risk.

In 2014, funds from the Uni-ted States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Center for Disease Control (CDC) were directed to help build the new facility for the Epidemio-logical Diagnostic and Reference Institute (InDRE), managed by the Ministry of Health, whose mission is to strengthen monito-ring for the detection and control of seasonal and pandemic influenza.

These new facilities qualify the InDRE as a biosecurity level three laboratory, which gua-rantees the efficacy of the work performed there.

Entrepreneurs from Veracruz during a training organized by the FUMEC Incubator.

This is a summary of the Report. To read the entire document, please go to:

http://annualreport2014.fumec.org

A visit to the new InDRE facilities, before its openning.

Page 10: FUMEC Annual Report 2014

10

Mexico faces the challenge of providing its children and youth with the tools to become innovative and competitive adults. To this end, FUMEC created INNOVEC more than ten years ago and continues to collaborate with this insti-tution to bring primary schools the best educational practices through Inqui-ry-Based Science Education Programs (IBSE).

Available evidence shows that the use of IBSE in classrooms stimulates the development of the intellectual and reflective abilities that children need to continue learning throughout their life, in addition to strengthening teaching practices. Inquiry-based teaching sys-tems are currently being implemented in 11 states in Mexico, including: Cam-peche, State of Mexico, Hidalgo, Nuevo León, Querétaro, Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Yucatán, Zacatecas, Michoacán and Tlaxcala.

To continue promoting these sys-tems, in 2014 INNOVEC worked along-side the Ministry of Public Education in the areas described below.

Strengthening Science Education in Mexico INNOVEC has created and maintained partnerships with organizations such as the Smithsonian Science Education Center in the United States, which has

been a constant support for imple-menting and strengthening IBSE pro-grams in Mexico.

Thanks to this collaboration, in December 2014 we held a National Wor-kshop for Leadership Development and Strategic Planning in Science Education.

The workshop was to give Mexican teams an intensive immersion experien-ce in the inquiry-based teaching model, in addition to helping them with the program’s strategic planning that would include goals for the next five years. Teams from Hidalgo, Veracruz, Yucatán, State of Mexico, Zacatecas, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas and the Federal District attended the workshop.

Training for Teachers, Educational Advisors and AuthoritiesIn awareness of the need to provide ongoing training for educators who apply the IBSE programs, INNOVEC devoted a large part of its resources in 2014 to teacher training, training for educational advisors who are already collaborating in IBSE programs, and to raising awareness among educational authorities at the local level.

In order to train new teachers in inquiry-based programs, INNOVEC organized ten training days attended by 5,378 teachers who received a founda-tion for implementing IBSE programs with their students.

In terms of the training for the edu-cational advisors, ten workshops took place with 176 advisors who are already part of the IBSE programs and provide follow-up at the local level.

To create awareness about the ad-vantages of adopting these systems and turning them into partnerships with the IBSE programs, INNOVEC organized 14 workshops targeted at 458 educational authorities to involve the entire chain, including supervisors, sector leaders and regional leaders.

INNOVEC: Innovative Methods of Science Education

Teachers from the science education program in Querétaro.

A seven year old girl learning about the life cycle of butterflies.

Page 11: FUMEC Annual Report 2014

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Principles of Engineering: Training the Engineers of the Future

There is an enormous, unmet demand for engineers worldwide and, according to the Kelly Services consultants, this demand will increase by 11% each year for the next ten years. Like the rest of the world, the North American economy re-quired a great deal of engineering talent.

The Principles of Engineering in Higher Middle Education program focuses on producing more and better candidates for engineering programs. For the past six years, it has worked with students from the College of Scientific and Technological Studies of the State of Querétaro (CECYTEQ) to give them a solid foundation and the necessary mo-tivation to study degrees in engineering or related subject area.

The program takes the best practi-ces from Project Lead the Way (PLTW), which runs throughout the United States and is comprised of a course of study with real projects in companies, practical experience and solid academic foundations. Principles of Engineering is offered as an option that supplements the CECYTEQ training, and is given to a select group of students chosen based on their academic capacity and perso-nal motivation.

A Guaranteed Success for High-School Students In 2014, the third class of Principles of Engineering students graduated with 196 youth, which was an enrollment increase of 45% from the previous year. Of this group, 84% continued their education

in engineering and science. Currently, 868 students enrolled in the program and each available spot receives three applications, because it has become a guarantee of success among those stu-dents who hope to continue their studies in different areas of engineering.

Each year, the Principles of Enginee-ring students participate in a fair that hi-ghlights research projects, technological development and innovation. In 2014, they presented more than 40 student projects, and three research centers attended the fair: the Electrochemical and Physics Institutes from the UNAM, and the Center for Technology from the National Polytechnic Institute.

In another important highlight from this program, in September 2014, stu-dents from the Principles of Engineering program, Adolfo Álvarez Blanco and José Ángel Soto, received a scholarship to participate in the Freshman Program at the University of Aachen in Germany.

They will stay for nine months and, when they have successfully completed the program, may continue their uni-versity studies. The Freshman Program is a pioneer in preparing students to develop successfully and obtain the opportunity to win a spot in one of its partner universities.

The Governor of Querétaro congratulates Adolfo Álvarez and José Ángel Soto on the scholarships they earned to study in Germany.

A scene from the Technological Development and Innovation Fair where CECYTEQ students participate each year.

Page 12: FUMEC Annual Report 2014

Our Offices

Mexico, D.F.San Francisco 1626, Despacho 205,Del Valle, C.P. 03100, Mexico, D.F.Tel. (+52 55) 52 00 05 60

Washington D.C.The National Academies of Science500 5th Street NW, Washington D.C. 20001, U.S.A.Tel. (+202) 334 25 22

TechBA Arizona4600 E Washington St, Suite 300Phoenix, AZ, 85034, U.S.A.Tel. (+602) 772 4980

TechBA Austin3925 West Braker LaneAustin, TX, 78759, U.S.A.Tel. (+512) 305 0974

TechBA MadridArbea Campus EmpresarialEdificio 2, 2da. PlantaCarretera Fuencarral a Alcobendas km. 3.828108 Alcobendas, Madrid, EspañaTel. (+34) 91 806 4442

TechBA Michigan26200 Lahser Rd. Suite 170Southfield, MI, U.S.A.Tel. (+248) 233 6404

TechBA Montreal550, Sherbrooke St. WestSuite 200 Montreal,Québec H3A 1B9, CanadaTel. (+514) 987 9550

TechBA Seattle999 Third Avenue, Suite 700Seattle, WA 98104, U.S.A.Tel. (+425) 647 3767

TechBA Silicon Valley1737 N First Street Suite 230San José, CA, 95112, U.S.A.Tel. (+408) 806 0290

TechBA VancouverDiscovery Parks150-887 Great Northern WayVancouver, BC, Canada, V5T 4T5Tel. (+604) 637 5200

w w w . f u m e c . o r g

Annual ActivitiesReport 2014

This is a summary of the Report.To read the entire document,

please scan the QR or go to:http://annualreport2014.fumec.org