KIPA, INTEC and ONAPI transfer technology will improve the Creole casabe industry
SANTO DOMINGO. He Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo (INTEC) and the Korea Invention Promotion Association (KIPA) manufactured and delivered to the Association of Producers of Casabe de Monción (Asoprocamon) a industrial machine scalable prototype for cassava processing, that improve the production process y strengthens the industry from the local casabe.
With the support of the National Intellectual Property Office (ONAPI), INTEC manufactured the machines and handed them over to the producers association. The machinery scratches and compresses the cassava, replacing the process that was done in a rudimentary way.
The technology transfer process, through which the university manufactured a patented team, had its origins in the Appropriate Technology Contest, convened by ONAPI in 2015. For the industrial prototype, the INTEC engineers and those of Korea, elaborated detailed drawings of the parts, performing the total assembly in the Haas Technical Education Center Mechanics Laboratory (LHTEC) of INTEC.
Apart from two industrial prototypes, engineers from both nations developed a prototype for domestic use, to be licensed to appliance manufacturers, because in the execution of Research and Development plan (R&D) the existence of a possible demand for the product in Latin America was confirmed, where the traditional culinary includes dishes that require processing a tuber or vegetable, such as Dominican Leaf Pastry, Alcapurrias, Tamales, Peruvian Humitas, Venezuelan hawks, etc.
Referring to the initiative, Dr. Víctor Gómez-Valenzuela valued the example of technology transfer from KIPA, ONAPI and INTEC as a milestone that broadens the concept of linking led by the country's universities, “It is also a frugal innovation project, with which communicates in an interesting way the role that innovation can play in local development. It is not only about high technology but about innovation that changes and improves people's lives, ”said the vice chancellor of INTEC.
While the director of ONAPI, Ruth Lockward, said she hopes that the collaboration between Korean engineers and those of INTEC will be one of several future projects, “ONAPI aims to continue as a promoter of technological innovation, serving as a link for this type of exchanges, not only with universities, but also with Dominican companies, so that Korean engineers and Dominican engineers can make these ingenious and profitable exchanges of experience. ”
La delivery was made by Joonho Koh, President of the Agency for the Promotion of the Invention in Korea (KIPA); Won Seok HUH, Deputy Director of the KIPO Division of Multilateral Affairs and the Vice-Rector for Research and Linking of INTEC, Víctor Gómez-Valenzuela. Accompanying the delivery was the general director of ONAPI, Sandy Lockward, the institution that facilitates the project.
The plans of this improved product have already been registered, leaving the INTEC University as the holder of them for the national territory so that it can manufacture the machinery according to the industry's requirement.
Additionally, the INTEC Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center and ONAPI donated to the Casabe de Monción producers the registration of the collective brand that will identify the associated producers in ASOPROCAMON, as well as the CASAREX brand, which protects the designed appliance.
The delivery of the machinery, and the trademark registrations, took place during an event in a hotel in the capital attended by representatives of the ASOPROCAMON, and other special guests.