PRODISYS

Mathematics in Colombia

According to the data obtained from the education ministry, in 2016, in Colombia around 283,500 (1) people graduated from the professional university level (including undergraduate, specialization, masters and doctorate). In Germany, a little over 556,800 people graduated that year (2). Germany has approximately twice the population of Colombia, that is to say that one professional graduates for every 145 inhabitants, while in Colombia there are 169 inhabitants per graduate. The data in China is of 200 inhabitants per graduate in local universities (not counting those who graduate outside the country), which correspond to approximately 7 million new professionals per year. The above data show that Colombians have a good educational interest.
In contrast, the percentage of people who graduated in mathematics and basic sciences in Colombia does not reach 4%, in Germany this indicator is 13%, while China doubles Germany. In the same way Colombia obtained 390 points in the PISA mathematics area while Germany obtained a little over 500 points.
t is easy to see that in Colombia at a professional level mathematics has little field of action, how many mathematicians does have the company where you have your job?

Why do China and Germany want to have so many mathematicians?

The answer seems simple, the things they produce require deep knowledge of the pure sciences. Taking into account the present and future relevance of China in the global context, it would be good to pay attention to this data.

For the engineers, if we want to insert ourselves into the world as professionals, it suits us to stay educated, improve our level in mathematics and in everything that is part of the development area that we chose.

Our activity is the development of computational mechanics models to simulate processes, parts or phenomena. To be useful, we need a knowledge in mathematics applied to engineering.

In your activity you may require another type of knowledge in basic sciences such as statistics, physics, chemistry, genetics or you may need another type of new knowledge to start a business or provide professional services internationally. Whatever your case, you can always consider using free online courses where you can find offers from top universities or people who want to share their knowledge. You can see some offers in the following links.

1. https://courses.edx.org/courses/, 2. http://catc.unal.edu.co/cursos/cursos-autoestudio, https://www.coursera.org/ 3. https://www.learnpython.org/es/ 4. ttps://www.nacion321.com/educacion/10-cursos-gratis-que-ofrece-la-unam-en-linea-y-en-el-mes-de-mayo, 5. https://courses.edx.org/courses/, http://catc.unal.edu.co/cursos/cursos-autoestudio

(1) https://www.mineducacion.gov.co/sistemasinfo/Informacion-a-la-mano/212400:Estadisticas
(2) https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Tertiary_education_statistics#Graduates

Linux use in an engineering company

In our company we decided to review the way of doing our job and positively impact our sustainability and that of those around us.

One of the issues that impact the sustainability of our company is the use of software technologies, hardware and virtual tools. The questions of how do we use technology? How far do we profit? and how much do we pay for this? They have been our guide to think about what we should in the future in this regard.

We observe, in the analysis of the answers to these concerns, that training and motivation is required so that people want to use the tools at their disposal. We have seen how the previous paradigm has generated problems with which the people of the organization have had to live together without knowing that different things can be done. Of the cases that we know; in engineering, for example, it is boring and a waste of time to draw the “same” plane, do the “same” calculation or write the “same” document many times; similarly, in construction it is risky to lose control and not have real-time information about the results; Consulting is expensive access to good calculation tools and seasonal use often does not make your purchase profitable.

On the cost side, we have paid many times for licenses of products that we use for a short time and we can not take full advantage of them. In other cases we have to pay for tools that are required all the time, even in times of lean times, and the price of software licenses is almost always high, since this is regulated by the market and not by the cost of production .

Part of the solution has been found by integrating the use of LINUX in our processes. There, you get tools from office applications to powerful simulation programs with open licenses and without cost.

When working with Linux in our processes we have found that there is also a change in the workers who use it, since it makes it necessary to study and have a closer interaction with the programming. We will be attentive to see more consequences, but these first already result in productivity and stimulate creativity, especially in workers in the most technical areas.

These types of decisions always come with their associated costs, to mention some of the ones we have had to assume:

1. Someone had to lead and this person had to get involved by putting their feet in the mud. It required some experience in programming, time reading manuals, understanding what the open software is about, a lot of patience installing new software.
2. To live with the previous systems until getting to the new paradigm.
3. Study and support the work team when things do not work out how they are used to.
4. Look for tools that allow to make transparent the use of a different paradigm for clients, suppliers and third parties.
5. New people should receive training and support so that they can use the tools according to the needs of their position.

It is also good to know that there are consultants who can help in these transitions if the size of the organization so deserves it and that in a single computer two operational systems can coexist at the same time.

With great enthusiasm we are paying the cost that is much less than the benefit.