Javier had the opportunity to work on the MIT Media Lab CityScope project in Andorra at the OBSA - Observatory for the Sustainability of Andorra where he worked together with researchers in Engineering and Informatics. The Media Lab CityScope is a shared and interactive computing concept for urban planning and spatial design. Javier tells us more about the place:
"In the laboratory, thanks to the data collected from different points, we simulate how tourism would be under certain parameters. We talk about tourism because it is the sector that capitalizes this place the most. We collect data from all the places we can and use it to create a net where we can simulate people, vehicles. It's a very visual element that contributes to better planning," explains Javier.
His work there, he says, focused on analyzing 3D images and working with micro-controllers. In addition to the development of computer communication algorithms.
Applying what was learned
For Javier it is very important to carry out a data use project in Lima in order to apply everything learned in Andorra. His idea is related to simulating the time at which traffic accidents would take place in certain places of Lima so as to be able to send ambulances in advance. Javier explains it this way:
"The idea is to simulate the reaction time of an ambulance to get to a hospital in case of an accident (...)" What happens today is that ambulances are in the hospitals and clinics, but if you know that accidents usually happen in certain areas, why not place ambulances in those areas. That way the reaction time would decrease considerably and the accident victims would be attended faster" says Javier.
Luis Alonso, investigador del MIT junto con Angel Pérez profesor de la Universidad del Pacífico y representanrte de nuestra Institución en Europa (izquierda) junto a otros investigadores del CityLab Andorra y nuestro alumno Javier Zárate (al medio)
A large network of contacts
Javier knows that not only did he get the opportunity to travel to Andorra thanks to his good academic performance (he is in the upper third and last year was awarded the Maes), but also thanks to the network of contacts that Universidad del Pacífico has with the best universities in the world. On this occasion Javier was awarded a Fund of the Ministry of Education of Andorra for research internships.
"Universidad del Pacífico not only gives you knowledge, but shapes you for life." UP guides you. If I had gone to another university, I doubt that they would have given me this opportunity," he says.
About his decision to study Information Engineering, a relatively new program, Javier says that it was a bet on the prestige of Universidad del Pacífico and that he was convinced by the profile of this program in our university.
"The job of the information engineer is to make sense of the data generated every hour and every minute nowadays. This caught my attention and this is what I see myself doing in the future" he ends. ---