Tec Holds First Intercontinental Class with Professor Hologram

This article was first published on CONECTA.

Tecnológico de Monterrey (Tec) and Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) in the Netherlands conducted the first intercontinental class using the Professor Hologram educational innovation. The real-time class involved students and professors from the Tec Monterrey and Queretaro campuses and students and a guest professor from TU Delft.

“It is the first time that we have provided an intercontinental class between universities,” said Patricia Aldape, Director of Innovative Learning Experiences at Tec. “They knocked on the door because they wanted to learn; now we’re working together and showing them how this technology works,” she added. Tec initiated the Hologram Professor project in 2018. It allows students to see, hear, and interact in real time with a life-size teacher in a two-dimensional projection.

The first intercontinental holographic class

“Good morning to the students of Mexico at Tec and good afternoon to the students of the Netherlands,” Chris Zevenbergen told about 60 students who could see the projected life-size teachers from the three sites. The first intercontinental holographic class between Tec and TU Delft was held on Tuesday, September 27 at 10:00 a.m. in Mexico and 5:00 p.m. in the European country. The participating professors from the School of Architecture, Art and Design at Tec were Paola Bárcena, Ernesto Philibert, and Rena Porsen Overgaard; Chris Zevenbergen from the Urban Planning department of TU Delft also joined. “We still have work to do, but it’s a nearly complete experience. The idea is to implement technology developed in recent years, especially in a pandemic,” said Ernesto Philibert, a professor at the School of Architecture, Art, and Design.

This first class involved dialogue between the Urban Planning Department of TU Delft and Tec’s School of Architecture, Art, and Design. The alliance between the two departments dates before the implementation of holographic classes on topics such as water-sensitive urban design, urban flood-risk management, and nature-based architectural solutions.

“It was a gratifying experience. It requires extra preparation and logistics, but it is a lot of fun. We even have the opportunity to interact with students from other continents and countries,” said Paola Bárcena, a professor at the School of Architecture, Art, and Design.

The universities seek to improve technology and conduct joint academic projects

The collaboration agreement between Tec de Monterrey and Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) in June 2022 stated the intention of sharing technology, talent, and academic content between the universities. Patricia Aldape points out that, as part of the alliance, Tec will rely on TU Delft to improve the technology used in holographic projections. “They’re happy with the technology. They intend to use it within their university in addition to the classes with us,” Aldape said. “They have a large campus in Delft and are going to implement several receiving locations to teach hologram classes within the university,” she added.

“We are transferring our multi-year knowledge in class transmission using holograms,” explains Carla Ramírez, leader of Educational Innovation and the Hologram Teacher Initiative. She assures us that this class opens an opportunity for more collaborations in the future. “We are at the beginning of having connections with universities other than Delft. The opportunity to have the best experts is wonderful. ” In transferring this knowledge to other universities, “the idea is to accompany the universities to achieve this, “added Ramírez.

TU Delft is the oldest and largest university in the Netherlands, boasting over 25 thousand students, and ranked 57th in the world in the QS World University Rankings in 2021. Moreover, the Dutch university’s Architecture and Environmental Construction program ranked 3rd globally, and Engineering and Technology achieved 15th place.

Professor Hologram at Tec

After being stopped by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Professor Hologram initiative was reactivated with the participation of 20 teachers from training units in various areas. It is an educational innovation that humanizes the technological experience more and generates an “immersive” environment much closer to a face-to-face class.

One of the significant advantages of this project is that it is designed to be economical, easily replicable, and scalable for educational needs. Some learning units employing this technology included Market Strategy and Differentiation, Training for the Development of Entrepreneurial Leadership, Automation and Control Engineering, and Integrative Projects. Tec campuses participating in this initiative during the August to December 2022 semester were Monterrey, Laguna, Saltillo, Querétaro, State of México, Santa Fe, Mexico City, Chihuahua, and Tampico. It is also the first semester in which a class was held jointly with a university on another continent. “We are delighted and proud that Tecnologico de Monterrey promotes educational innovation to create these experiences that facilitate and transform the learning process,” said Aldape.

Likewise, Carla Ramírez pointed out that this intercontinental class has opened the door to more universities seeking to apply this technology in their respective countries. Consortia of universities from Germany, Ireland, and Italy are some groups that have visited Tec to learn about this technology and later apply it in their respective countries.

Translation by Daniel Wetta.