President and other members of the Board of Regents
Distinguished guest speaker, Juana Barceló 
Vice-Rectors, Deans and other members of the Academic Council
Directors, coordinators, teachers and collaborators all
Special guests
Representatives of universities and other HEIs
Friends of the media
Dear graduates, dear graduates and their families

Friends all, very good morning.

Today we deliver 769 graduates: 61% undergraduate and 39% at the postgraduate level, and of all of them 60% are women. 

As in any graduation ceremony, in this one we have some distinctive notes to highlight. We graduated our first graduate with a degree in Biochemistry, María Alejandra Peña Ramírez, who did so with summa cum laude honor. And also to the first graduate of the doctorate in environmental sciences, Yvelisse Antonia Pérez. Today we also have two new graduates of the doctorate in energy management for sustainable development: Carlos Pereyra Mariñez and Jarrison Quevedo Núñez.

Today, 20 INTEC employees graduate, completing their professional studies with institutional moral and financial support, because this is a community in which we all come to contribute and also with opportunities to grow and develop. My congratulations for your achievements that enhance our hive.

Of our 466 graduates at the undergraduate level, 18% do so in the area of ​​health sciences, 16% in the area of ​​social sciences and humanities, and 28% in the area of ​​economics and business. All very important. We highlight that, responding to the needs of competitive and sustainable development of the country and especially to the major deficiencies in the areas of engineering, technology, mathematics and science, 28% of our graduates are in the area of ​​engineering, while in the system In Dominican higher education, only less than 15% of all those enrolled study these careers; Likewise, 10% of our graduates do so in the area of ​​science and mathematics, while in the higher education system as a whole less than 1% do so. Thus, we contribute to the training of professionals necessary for the country in all areas, and we stand out in an outstanding way in those important and urgent areas in which there are great deficits in the preparation and supply of professionals, despite there being a enormous need and demand. There is no university better aligned with the real needs of human capital for the competitive and sustainable development of our country than INTEC. And we don't just say it in words, but in actions.

Until now I have spoken of figures, of numbers. Let me now take a turn and tell you in some way about the professional and human quality of our graduates, as is characteristic of the graduates of INTEC throughout its almost 52 years of vibrant existence.

Let's talk about leadership, dedication, persistence, creativity and values ​​and, for this, allow me to rely on the fact that, for example, one button is enough.

Graduated today in International Business with the honor summa cum laude and only 20 years old, a young woman from San Cristóbal who faced numerous challenges to regularly reach INTEC and successfully complete her studies. I'm talking about Nazareth Franco Caro.

To her academic merits, Nazareth adds her history as president of the student committee of her career, a position from which she contributed significantly to its improvement and the development of her colleagues in that program. She made the most of her time to also be a mentor in the subjects of: Writing -Algebra and Analytical Geometry- and Economics for Business

Nissi de los Santos Pérez graduates today as a graduate in economics, who came to INTEC from the Baptist Educational Center, in Honduras, with a scholarship awarded by the Central Bank and a “suitcase of dreams” full of leadership and social commitment. Nissi was president of the Economics student committee and also the first president of VOLUNTEC, the volunteer student organization of our university, for which she wrote the statutes and organized awareness days on social service, reforestation and collecting toys for children in need. vulnerability. Nissi is distinguished by her commitment to the development and dissemination of innovative student initiatives of the OASIS Program, the program of activities for student well-being that includes arts, sports, entertainment and social service.

Yuan de Jesús Mejía Vásquez graduates today summa cum laude in Mathematics with a Concentration in Statistics and Actuarial Sciences thanks to an INTEC scholarship with the Outstanding Students (PIES) that brought him to our campus from Los Peralejos, where he completed his high school at the Parochial School Our Lady of Lourdes. Yuan was president of his career committee, an experience that combined his love and skill in mathematics with the development of his leadership and communication skills, as well as responsibility and resilience.

Originally from Yaguate, San Cristóbal and graduated from high school and as an expert in industrial mechanics at the Loyola Polytechnic Institute, Martha Estebanía Jiménez Guzmán arrived at INTEC, supported by a scholarship from the National Cooperative of Teachers (COOPNAMA) to graduate with cum laude honors in Industrial design. Martha was president of the student committee of her degree and with her dedication, creativity and organizational skills she organized workshops, competitions and events that stimulated the exchange of ideas and the exploration of new techniques and trends in design, thus promoting the academic and professional growth of her students. Classmates.

Freddy Antonio Díaz Candelario graduates today magna cum laude with a degree in Mathematics Oriented to Secondary Education. Freddy, raised by a single mother in the vibrant neighborhood of Gualey, demonstrated that determination and discipline allow you to take advantage of opportunities to overcome obstacles and achieve goals. He remembers how he had to be resilient in the face of the environment in which he grew up permeated by violence and insecurity. Studying was his refuge and his salvation, taking advantage of a scholarship from the National Institute for Training and Training of Teachers (INAFOCAM) that allowed him to pursue his university career.

Today we will listen to the speech of Adrianny Patricia Rodríguez Reyes because she is the graduate with the highest rate in the academic area of ​​Basic and Environmental Sciences whose turn this time is to have that representation. This new graduate in Biotechnology came to INTEC from the Padre Fortín School in Santiago de los Caballeros, she was vice president of the student committee of her career and also a prominent member for 3 and a half years of our dance group, in which she also participated actively. in logistical support for the weekly practices that prepared the group's presentations.

Aimee Rachelle Duran Lapaix, in Mechatronics, and Tania Isabel Muñoz Martínez, in Biotechnology, also graduate today. Aimee studied at the María de la Altagracia Polytechnic Institute, in Villa Duarte, in Santo Domingo Este, and Tania at Saint Joseph School, in the National District. I mention them together because both stood out for the creativity and ingenuity of their contributions within the framework of INTEC's alliance with The Green Cell, the North American firm with which we work on research and development projects in plant biotechnology.

Aimee contributed to the design and construction of a dual-motion orbital screen, a device intended for use in cell culture of aloe plants. Meanwhile, Tania played a fundamental role in the development of a database on plants found in the Dominican Republic, including some endemic species with potential for application in the pharmaceutical industry.

To finish with the sample that I present to you, there are the pioneer groups in the first Learning Factory projects, or learning factory. With the advice and support of Pennsylvania State University, this differentiating INTEC program implies that our students, integrated as multidisciplinary teams, carry out their final graduation work during two quarters carrying out a project that responds to a real problem posed by companies, with the advice , supervision and evaluation of our teachers and company technicians.

I now mention the new professionals who participated in the first round of this innovative program and in each case I indicate the center where they completed their secondary education. These are the industrial engineering graduates Sarah Fernanda Ferrua Pérez, Nuestra Señora de Lourdes Parish School, in Los Peralejos; Ismery Montero Diaz, Padre Guido Guildea School, in San Juan de la Maguana and Marcel De La Cruz Tamarez, Serafín De Asís School, in the National District, who worked with Grupo Ramos in the design of the needs determination and resource planning process humans. Also, to the industrial engineering graduates Isabella Santos Sosa, Quisqueya School, El Millón urbanization, Oscar Javier Santiago Pérez, Los Pininos School, in Gazcue, and Ambar Jael Paula Cordero, Loyola Polytechnic Institute, San Cristóbal, whose project for the company BioNuclear was the standardization and systematization of the technical services center processes. Likewise, the now cybersecurity engineer Camila Esther De Los Santos Arias, Carol Morgan School, participated in the Learning Factory, in a team that worked for Macrotech on the design of an application that integrates health data for the presentation of integrated reports. And from Lourdes Marisol Lizardo, with previous studies at ITLA, now a graduate in mechatronic engineering, who participated in the team hosted by the company Accumed in a project to reduce material losses and downtime in the process of cutting synthetic fabric by radio frequency welding.

With this graduation ceremony we reached the figure of 39,941 professional titles granted by INTEC, and these graduates that I have mentioned today are examples of what Intecians are and do, like those of us who graduate today, competent, creative professionals. and innovators and citizens with values ​​of solidarity and social commitment. To their families and relatives, and to the entire Dominican society, with the examples that they allowed me to present to them, we tell them what they learn, what they do and what our young people live in INTEC, because certainly, there is life, a lot of life, in all its manifestations in INTEC and I think that's worth a round of applause to those who in a few minutes will be officially professionals.

Let me now introduce our guest speaker, Juana Barceló, President of Barrick Pueblo Viejo and Executive Director of Government Affairs for Central America and the Caribbean of the Barrick Gold corporation.

She is a graduate of the Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra of Santo Domingo, where she completed a degree in Law with magna cum laude honors, and has a Master's Degree in Anglo-Saxon Law focused on international business from Georgetown University in Washington, DC.

Currently, in addition to her responsibilities at Barrick Pueblo Viejo and the Barrick Gold corporation, our guest speaker chairs the Dominican Chamber of Mining and Petroleum -CAMIPE- and is part of the board of directors of the American Chamber of Commerce in the Dominican Republic and the Board of directors of the National Council of Private Enterprise -CONEP- where he also coordinates the Sustainability Committee.

Juana joined Barrick in 2009 and during her career in the company she has had the opportunity to lead the growth projects of the operation in the country, making important contributions to the economic and social development of the communities of influence and, especially, promoting the empowerment of women in the mining sector, which has led it to deserve important recognition in terms of inclusion and gender. Thus, Juana has led the processes of inclusion and gender equality at Barrick, leading the company to be the first mining company to receive the Igualando RD seal from the Ministry of Women and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). in the Platinum category, the first certification in the country of best practices in the field of gender equality and equity. 

As we see, in the exercise of her duties, Juana has been characterized by visionary and inclusive leadership that has earned her recognition, being part of the lists of CEO of the year and Solidarity Entrepreneurs of the year, the list of businessmen with the best reputation in the Republic. Dominican, the list of the 500 most influential Bloomberg in Latin America and the list of the 100 golden women who inspire in global mining.

Before I leave this podium to have the honor of having our guest speaker occupy it, let me close with a message to our graduates.

Always keep your Alma Mater in mind, do not disconnect from it, encourage yourselves to be part of its future, as today we are already in the second year towards its second fiftieth anniversary. Those of us who remain in it, adhering to its strategic motto of “forging the future today” take responsibility for maintaining and developing it so that it is better and thus a source of pride for you when you present yourself as INTEC graduates. We expect from you not only your projection with your professional performance and your citizen behavior, but also your closeness, participation and support for its sustainability and development, so that we can continue honoring our mission of contributing to the social transformation of the country, to the continuous promotion of the quality of life of its inhabitants and the preservation of its moral and material heritage to bequeath it improved to future generations, through higher education, the development of culture, research and scientific and technological dissemination.

On behalf of the entire institutional community, I congratulate you, dear graduating students, and your families. Today they move away from the campus towards other second homes, and fly like bees that are also going to be part of other hives. We are not sad that we no longer feel them inhabiting the campus week after week. We know you are prepared and determined to go from student success to professional success. And so I end by simply encouraging you with this clarion call from that conspicuous and paradoxical historical figure that was Napoleon Bonaparte: “Until you spread your wings, you will have no idea how far you can fly.”

Congratulations, fly high and, as is the motto of our strategy at INTEC: Fast Forward!