Mexican engineer Enrique Villa awarded an honorary doctoral degree by the UPC
Rector Daniel Crespo upon placing the mortarboard on Enrique Villa as a symbol of the doctoral degree
On 3 February, the UPC conferred an honorary doctoral degree on Mexican engineer and former director of the National Polytechnic Institute of Mexico (IPN) Enrique Villa for his contributions to higher education and internationalisation in promoting intense academic and scientific collaboration between both institutions and their countries. The event took place in the Auditorium of the Vèrtex building in Barcelona.
Feb 03, 2022
The ceremony to confer an honorary doctoral degree by the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya · BarcelonaTech (UPC) on Enrique Villa was opened by the rector, Daniel Crespo, and conducted by Computer Architecture full professor Mateo Valero, director of the Barcelona Supercomputing Center–Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC-CNS). The event was held in the context of the University’s 50th anniversary and was broadcast live online.
Mexican industrial chemical engineer Enrique Villa was the director of the National Polytechnic Institute of Mexico (IPN) from 2003 to 2009 and the director of the Mexican National Council of Science and Technology (CONACyT) from 2010 to 2011. Currently, he is the secretary for the Department of Public Education of the Government of the Mexican State of Sinaloa, the chair of the Board of Trustees of the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM) —one of the top Mexican universities— and an independent consultant.
During his acceptance speech, Villa thanked the UPC for its recognition: “Such a high distinction is a source of great pride because of the enormous academic value it symbolises, coming as it does from an institution with such a high level of international recognition, and it will be by far the best legacy I leave to my descendants.” A recognition that is also for “a whole team of people who, throughout many years of my professional life, have joined me and shared their experience and ideas about higher education.”
Oration in praise of Enrique Villa
In his oration, BSC-CNS director Mateo Valero referred to Villa as a friend, a good man and a polytechnic man par excellence, and highlighted his tireless devotion to public service in Mexico.
Valero explained that Villa’s “relationship with the UPC has been intense and impactful” from an academic standpoint. It is reflected in joint research projects and his facilitating of the establishment in 2015 of a double master’s degree offered jointly by the IPN’s Computing Research Centre and the UPC’s Barcelona School of Informatics (FIB). Villa has also enabled over 1,500 Mexican students, since 1994, to pursue doctoral and master’s degree studies at the UPC.
Award ceremony
The rector, Daniel Crespo, gave Villa the diploma, the mortarboard, the ring and the white gloves as a symbol of the doctoral degree. The rector then started his speech by highlighting over 30 years of shared history between the University and the Mexican engineer. He underlined Villa’s efforts to foster doctoral degree scholarship programmes outside of Mexico. Villa “has changed many lives, and for the better”, referring to the fact that developing a doctoral degree outside one’s own country contributes doubly to personal growth. “We are proud of all the doctoral students whose lives have changed while being among us, and even more of those who have become successful in their academic or professional career. Some have even obtained key positions at their universities or in public institutions in Mexico.”
The rector also stressed the importance of the University’s international dimension. “Promoting internationalisation guarantees comprehensive education for our students”, said Crespo.
The event featured several performances by pianist Marc Torrecillas, a student at the Interdisciplinary Higher Education Centre (CFIS), who played Time to live, by Georges Moustaki; Yesterday, by The Beatles; and The Ludlows, by James Horner (Legends of the Fall OST). The Architecture Choir and the UPC Orchestra closed the ceremony by performing the academic anthem Gaudeamus igitur (arranged by Joan Casulleras).
