President and other members of the Board of Regents
Distinguished guest speaker, Luis Valeirón 
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, with the 689 new graduates of this 69th ceremony, we have reached 41,070 graduates in our 52 years of existence that we celebrate this month. 56% of the graduates are undergraduates, with 44% in postgraduate studies; of all of them, 60% are women. In terms of undergraduate studies, by academic areas, 42% are in engineering, 28% in economics and business, 17% in health sciences, 9% in social sciences and humanities, and 4% in basic and environmental sciences.

I have spoken so far about figures, about numbers, but now I want to take a few minutes to talk about quality, about educational and institutional excellence. Just two years ago, in 2022, when we had just finished celebrating our fiftieth anniversary with great joy, we immediately set about defining an Institutional Strategy 2023-2027 that guides us today on this path of our next 50 years.

With this strategy we continue our mission of pursuing academic excellence, an objective that seems to be on the horizon because every time we take a step towards it, the standards and aspirations for quality education move forward. Responding to the first strategic purpose of becoming a leader for our training and scientific-technological activities with an updated and forward-looking academic offering, we aim to ensure international academic accreditation, which is increasingly important in these times of globalization and internationalization.

We are completing the processes that will continue the international accreditation of our psychology and medicine courses. Our bachelor's degree in psychology had already received international accreditation from the National Council for Teaching and Research in Psychology (CNEIP), Based in Mexico, it is the first in the country to have this type of accreditation, and has recently received a follow-up visit from its evaluators, complying with the accreditation program. 

The same is happening with our medical school, the first in the country to receive, five years ago, international accreditation from the Caribbean Accreditation Authority for Education in Medicine and Other Health Professions (CAAM-HP), with the recognition of the World Federation for Medical Education (WFME)This year we already had the visit of the agency's evaluators for reaccreditation for a new period, and the result of this reaccreditation process is now pending for the beginning of next year.

In the case of our programs in the area of ​​economics and business, the Board of Commissioners of the International Accreditation Council for Business Education (IACBE, for its acronym in English) ratified the accreditation of our programs in the Area until the year 2030. The reaccredited programs are Business Administration, Marketing and Digital Business, Accounting and Financial Analytics, and Economics. Likewise, the master's degrees in Human Talent Management, and their concentrations in Corporate Finance, Financial Markets and Financial and Risk Engineering, Senior Management; Quality and Productivity and Finance, and their concentrations in Entrepreneurship, Service Management, and Health Services Management. Meanwhile, International Business and Commercial Engineering were accredited for the first time.

To crown these efforts, we are proud and satisfied that after a sustained effort of almost 6 years, the careers of Electrical Engineering, Industrial Engineering and Mechatronics Engineering obtained the international accreditation of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET), a world leader in quality assurance for engineering programs, the most demanding accreditation body to which we have submitted ourselves.

INTEC thus becomes the first university in the country with ABET-accredited programs and joins a select group of academies in the world whose quality standards also have the endorsement of the rigorous organization.

But we are going for more. The engineering department has already begun work to apply for ABET accreditation of other engineering programs.

This route of international accreditations is a path that we will continue and expand, thus enhancing our training programs and the degrees we award to our graduates, also positioning Dominican higher education on the global map of universities with quality recognition.

Let me now take a turn and talk about INTEC as a small but intense university, and also a demanding but inclusive one. With a single campus, we attract talent from all over the country and no less than a fifth of our students come from the provinces and almost a fifth come from public educational centers.

The INTEC Outstanding Student Program, PIES for its acronym, has significantly contributed to this diversity and inclusion at INTEC. Initiated in 1987, this program has benefited more than 3 young people, almost 2 of them with full scholarships for their studies at INTEC. PIES is rigorously competitive based on the academic merit of the students who apply to it in the call that we open each year.

Today 7 PIES students graduate, all with honors. They are:

• Franmil Alberto Estrella Tejeda, Loyola Polytechnic Institute, San Cristobal., MCL
• Ingrid Marie López Sanz, Salesian Technical Institute (ITESA), Santo Domingo., MCL -Capitana Apolo 27-
• Mario Yunior Toribio Rodríguez, San Ignacio de Loyola Technological Institute, Dajabón., SCL
• Wilson Sebastian Soto Yunes, Las Americas Educational Center, Santo Domingo East, SCL
• Fernando Alberto Lluberes Brador, Abraham Lincoln School, La Romana, SCL
• Hazel, Alcantara Contreras, Our Lady of Altagracia School, Santo Domingo, SCL
• Darielsy Rocio Rijo Catano, Santa Teresa School, Santo Domingo East, SCL

These graduates, who received PIES scholarships for their academic merits and graduated with the highest honors, are proof that the country has abundant talent, but more opportunities are needed.

And that is why I want to make a fervent appeal to all those present, to all our graduates and to all of society to support with their contributions the continuation and, even more, the expansion of the PIES program. I am not ashamed to ask for this cause. How much we could do by offering opportunities to talented young people if we add the contributions of many! Of course we will celebrate large contributions, as well as medium contributions such as those made by the Timeart Foundation, which awarded two of the scholarships that two of the graduates I mentioned a few minutes ago took advantage of. But we could also do a lot if we added many repetitive contributions in small amounts, let's say the 500 pesos that a movie ticket costs, which for twelve months would be 6 thousand pesos a year, but that for a thousand people who did it would represent between 3 and 4 full scholarships depending on the degree in which they are awarded.

I repeat, I am not ashamed, nor should any Intecian, professor, graduate, regent, authority or even student be ashamed of asking for a cause as noble as offering opportunities for young talent who deserve such support, when so much can be done with a lot or a little, even as little as a monthly movie ticket or the value of a six-pack of beer, when we repeat it for twelve months.

Let us always remember that there is an abundance of talent in the country, but there is a lack of opportunities.

Let me now introduce our guest speaker, Luis Alberto Valeirón Ochoa, an Inteciano graduate, currently Director of Engineering for Eaton Corporation in its Bussmann division, in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, where he is responsible for outlining new product development strategies.

Luis Alberto, the youngest of three brothers, has always shown himself to be an extroverted and very social person, curious to learn from others.

He began his career in product engineering after graduating from Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo (INTEC) in 2007 as an Industrial Engineer. He holds a Master's degree in Manufacturing Technologies and Project Management from the Stevens Institute of Technology, in New Jersey.

During his career at Eaton, he has worked on new product projects, process improvements, transfer of manufacturing lines, cost reduction projects and quality system audits, among other roles.

In 2019, he had the opportunity to lead the creation and development of a design team with more than 30 professionals to support the division's expansion and growth strategy. Since then and until 2022, he was in charge of establishing the first design and development center for the region (Eaton Santo Domingo Design Center), where around 70 professionals would be located at its inauguration. This center would continue to strengthen the relationship between Eaton and INTEC.

His experiences in product development, manufacturing support and quality systems, along with the management of global teams located in countries such as the United States, Mexico, India, Brazil, Germany, England, the Dominican Republic and China, have allowed him to make significant contributions inside and outside Eaton, serving on important business panels dedicated to solving real industry problems.

Luis has always been characterized by showing a genuine interest in the development of other people, contributing his knowledge where it is needed and inspiring others to achieve goals, supporting the vision of a sustainable future in accordance with Eaton Corporation's sustainability goals.

Before I leave this podium to have the honor of being occupied by our guest speaker, let me end with a message to our graduates.

In a few minutes, you will be formally graduating from INTEC, which has just celebrated 52 years of intense existence. We have built INTEC inch by inch, brick by brick, with the dedication of all its members of yesterday and today, deserving the support of the investment of the families of our students, earning the support of government, business and society in general sectors, which recognize us as constructively associated and academically independent, non-profit and with total transparency in the use of resources that are only and exclusively for the continuity and development of the university.

Dear graduates, I invite you to continue being part of the history of INTEC. Always keep your Alma Mater in mind, do not disconnect from it, encourage yourselves to be part of its future, as today we will begin the third year towards its second fiftieth anniversary. Those of us who remain in it, adhering to its strategic motto of “forging the future today” are responsible for maintaining it and developing it so that it is better and thus a source of pride for you when you present yourselves as INTEC graduates. We expect from you not only your projection with your professional performance and your civic 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.

Dear graduates, I hope that your time at INTEC will be a legacy that inspires you and moves you into the future. Just as you have achieved this goal, week after week, including many fifth and ninth grades, I hope that you will continue with the same spirit and dedication, based on this legacy, moving forward, building a future for yourselves, your loved ones, and the country. From INTEC, your Alma Mater, we will continue like hardworking bees building and developing this hive, inch by inch, week after week, relying on our 52 years that give us a legacy that inspires and moves us into the future, and rest assured that we are going for more!

Congratulations to each of you and your families and friends! Keep up the good work and, as is the motto of our strategy at INTEC: Fast Forward!