León, Gto., March 15, 2017. In the Day of the Mexican Inventor, The Instituto Mexicano de la Propiedad Intelectual (IMPI) Region Bajío, gave patent titles to Pedro Cuotiño Soto and Miguel Ángel González Martínez; who –while studying at the University of Guanajuato (UG)—created devices with applications in teaching.

Dr. Alejandro Gil Villegas Montiel, ascribed to the Department of Physics Engineering advised the now graduates, who presented their projects in the fourth edition of the Contest of Creativity and Innovation of UG, in 2008. The formalities before IMPI began a year later, and finally received the title last February, in a ceremony held at the Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes.

The first patent was granted to Pedro Coutiño Soto and Miguel Ángel González Martínez for a prototype to generate waves through an optical-mechanical device, which had some advantages on others with the same function.

In the 4th Contest of Creativity and Innovation, Coutiño obtained the first place with another device to the study the phase generation in magnetic systems. "Pedro, being a major student, had a very original idea, (through which), some things we were looking at on the computer could be produced in situ using magnetic systems", explains Dr. Gil Villegas, who advised him in the project.

The professor and researcher explains the importance of the patents in different levels. The first zone of impact is that they could commercialize to produce teaching kits to study waves and phase transitions, since there is a whole industry who commercializes such kits. In addition, there's an impact on the academic level, with the publications of scientific articles or thesis development.

However, for Dr. Gil-Villegas what is important is not only the patents, but the human resource associated to them. "At the end, there are two inventors who emerged of what was the Institute of Physics of UG, and that reveals the part of the impact that may have the University in society", mentioned the researcher.

This means that UG is fulfilling a social mission, forming human resources and the development of scientific and technological competencies in the students, adds the professor at Campus Leon.

Besides the personal talent and effort, achievements such as Pedro's and Miguel's are also the result of the quality of the programs at UG, considered Dr. Villegas, because the students take class with first-level researchers. "It is a collective work which is not easy to do and requires a lot of institutional support".

He reminded that UG, last year, occupied the seventh national place in requested and granted patents. It is an outstanding place, even more if you consider that the institutions who occupy the first places are bigger, so they have more human and economic resources, highlighted the researcher.