INTEC receives GOLD award for good SDG practices for research on sargassum
The university maintains an interdisciplinary group of researchers who work on various projects for the detection, collection and use of the sargassum that reaches the Caribbean coasts.
Santo Domingo. The Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo (INTEC) was recognized with the Gold Award in the 5th edition of the FUNDIBEQ SDG Best Practices Recognition, held in the city of Cuenca, Ecuador, within the Summit of Presidents of Ibero-America. The recognition was received by the Vice-Rector for Administration and Finance, alliet ortega, and is based on the initiatives de applied research for viable solutions y sustainable in terms of sargasso.
The award highlights the university's ongoing efforts to integrate sustainability as part of its academic and research activities, as well as the alignment of its actions with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), considered key indicators for the development of the nation and the entire region.
Referring to the distinction, the Rector of INTEC, Julio Sanchez Marinez, expressed that "This award reflects the collective work we do to have a positive impact on the sustainable development of the country from our role as an academic institution. For INTEC, education and research are essential tools to respond to the great global challenges. As an academy, we are committed to training socially responsible citizens who provide solutions for a more sustainable future."
The projects presented by INTEC in the application report range from characterization studies, development of new materials, biofertilizers to the development of a satellite to predict the arrival of sargassum to the Dominican Republic; with these, the academic institution seeks to identify alternative uses for this algae that represents an environmental problem on the beaches of the Caribbean, Central America and Mexico, and which in turn has an impact on tourism and economic development in the region.
“Receiving this award once again demonstrates our academy’s commitment to providing solutions to the various issues that have a negative impact on the productive sectors and sustainable development of the Dominican Republic,” said the INTEC rector.
INTEC has been one of the universities that has led research on sargassum, including “Chemical characterization of sargassum that reaches the beaches of the Dominican Republic”, which allowed the quantification of heavy metals present in the macroalgae; “Activated carbon from sargassum: obtaining and evaluation for water decontamination”; and the manufacture of a liquid organic bio-fertilizer from sargassum, which has so far been used in the banana industry, with satisfactory results.