The Chair of Ethics and Values in Engineering (EVI) was created on June 14, 2006 at the Polytechnic University of Madrid, on the initiative of the Gómez Pardo Foundation and attached to the ETSI of Mines and Energy.
In the 2010-2011 academic year, the EVI Chair becomes the Unit of Social Entrepreneurship, Ethics and Values in Engineering (UESEVI).
Background and justification of the UESEVI
Technology, in connection with scientific progress, is the main force that produces change in humanity. Engineers develop this technology in the field of industry, agriculture or fishing, which implicitly leads to the generation of economic, social and environmental impacts in the exercise of their profession, impacts that do not always have a positive impact on sustainability. of resources and the quality of the environment, with effects on the air, water and land and on the socio-economics of the affected population.
The need that arises to develop a program that introduces ethical dimensions in the training of engineers in general, and mining engineers in particular, is based on the consequences that arise from the management of any technology if it is not done taking into account taking into account certain criteria. This need becomes more evident every day since the main innovative agents, companies, are leaning towards adopting the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility.
The engineering student, the main protagonist of the development of the immediate future, has certain limitations when it comes to integrating the incorporation of said ethical criteria into his “doing” given the distance of his technical training with respect to these topics.
In this context The Chair of Ethics and Values in Engineering was created on June 14, 2006, at the Polytechnic University of Madrid, at the initiative of the Gómez Pardo Foundation and attached to the Higher Technical School of Mining and Energy Engineers.
The mission of the Chair, thus created, was stated in the collaboration agreement signed between the Rector of the UPM. Javier Uceda and Alfonso Maldonado as President of the Gómez Pardo Foundation, such as promoting the teaching of ethical values through conferences, seminars and free elective subjects in the careers taken at the School of Mines and Energy leading at that time to the titles of Mining Engineer, Geological Engineer and Technical Mining Engineer.
The first two years were dedicated, thanks to the efforts of Ángel Vega and the support of F. Javier Elorza, to the configuration of a free-choice subject and the attribution of credits to it.
The replacement of Alfonso Maldonado, when he ceased as director of the School, by Benjamín Calvo did not represent any break in the project; but there was decisive support from the new Director based on his deep conviction that the humanistic aspect had to penetrate and cross the training of engineers. This support was manifested in reinforcing the management of the Chair in the areas of dissemination and recruitment of students and in the creation of projects that could generate resources for the future of the initiative and was formalized with the incorporation of Belén Flor Ortiz who assumed the tasks of head of the Chair.
This incorporation represented an important step for the revitalization of the EVI Chair project and for the configuration of a team that was completed with the incorporation of a scholarship recipient, Yves Kahasha Kulimushi.
This modest, but valuable and active team, began to reap fruits, helping to increase the number of students interested in teaching ethics and values, to energize the life of the EVI Chair within the School of Mines and Energy and to detect interests and needs of students, both real and potential.
From the Chair of Ethics and Values in Engineering (EVI Chair) to the Unit of Social Entrepreneurship, Ethics and Values in Engineering (ESEVI Unit)
When the EVI initiative was reaching notable cruising speed, the economic crisis occurred when the funds initially planned for the development of the EVI project ran out, a crisis coinciding with the Spanish and global economic crisis.
This fascinating adventure was found when facing the 2010-2011 academic year with a conflictive situation. On the one hand, a notable increase in interest in the topics covered by the Chair at the School had been achieved with the extension of activities and an increase in credits and programs with the consolidation of a cycle of conferences co-organized with the Department of Energy Systems. and the Department of Exploitation of Mineral Resources and Underground Works and the development of new programs, while an increase in interest among students was detected, reflected in enrollment. However, the absence of financial resources put at risk the continuation of the adventure and the maintenance of the team, which with the departure of Yves, was enriched with the incorporation of another of us, Ana García Laso.
In those critical moments, the decision of the director of the School, Benjamín Calvo, to face as an emergency solution the financing of the equipment with the School's own funds was fundamental and furthermore, when the Chair label disappeared due to not having external funds, place the group under the dependence of the Quality and Social Responsibility Subdirectorate for which Domingo A. Martín Sánchez is responsible, who took on this challenge with enthusiasm within the Social Responsibility activities.
As a result of this process, the EVI Chair became the Unit of Social Entrepreneurship, Ethics and Values in Engineering (UESEVI).
