The Rector of the UJI, Eva Alcón, and the President of FACSA, Enrique Gimeno, held a working meeting to analyze the collaboration between the UJI and the Gimeno Group in research, training, and knowledge transfer. Alcón and Gimeno spoke highly of the collaboration between the two entities, which has increased significantly in the last five years.
An example of this fruitful collaboration is the FACSA Chair of Integrated Water Cycle Management at Universitat Jaume I, established in 2015 and renewed for another three years last May. At the meeting, members of the joint monitoring committee for the FACSA Chair at UJI, led by Professor Sergio Chiva, highlighted student-focused initiatives such as training seminars with water management experts; awards for undergraduate, master's, and doctoral theses on innovation in integrated water cycle management; and the eight scholarships awarded.
The Chair also offers continuing education courses such as the Water Collection and Treatment Course, held in February 2017, and the online course on Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs), which had three sessions in 2017 with a total of 41 participating professionals. It also organizes specialized technical workshops, such as the one held in December 2017 with 105 participants. Similarly, the Chair's active participation in the EFIAQUA trade fair in Valencia and its celebration of World Water Day at the Menador Cultural Center, featuring speakers such as Enrique Lapuente and Gonzalo Delacamara, are noteworthy.
The meeting, which was attended by Vice-Rectors Modesto Fabra and Jesús Lancis and the head of R&D&I at FACSA, Guillermo Berlanga, also highlighted the research work carried out between both entities and the links that have been created with other chairs and research groups at the UJI, which allow for synergies such as the work on the recovery of the hydraulic heritage of the province of Castelló.
The Gimeno Group has been collaborating with the UJI since its inception, with a clear commitment to innovation as a differentiating factor in its sector and with actions that allow them to attract talent by hosting students for internships and rewarding innovation, carrying out research and fulfilling their corporate social responsibility with the FACSA Chair of the Integrated Water Cycle at the UJI and with the FACSA and FOBESA scholarships for students from Castelló and Benicàssim.
