World leader in wireless technology innovation, the North American company Qualcomm Incorporated (Nasdaq:Qcom) announced this Tuesday (16) the donation of US$ 750 thousand (about R$ 3,8 million), over three years , for Unicamp’s Lumina Heritage Fund.
The resource should finance scholarships for low-income undergraduate students in the areas of engineering and computer science. “We are very happy to announce this partnership with Unicamp”, said the company's vice president in Latin America, Luiz Tonisi, during an event on 5G, held in the city of São Paulo.
In addition to the scholarships, access to Qualcomm's connected smart edge platforms will be provided, through 5G, artificial intelligence, internet of things, among others. “What we want is to foster the ecosystem and help create female engineers who know technology: new technologies and trends, such as semiconductors, IOT [internet of things], etc.”, explained Tonisi.
Launched in October 2020, the Lumina fund receives donations from individuals and legal entities, with the aim of enabling the execution of projects in the areas of research, teaching, extension and innovation.
Lumina allows students, alumni, companies, public institutions and society in general to support the University in training talent, developing quality research and carrying out its assistance and extension activities. And this time, the contribution came from a company run by a former student.
Qualcomm's current CEO is Brazilian Cristiano Amon, who was a student at the Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering (FEEC). In 2019, he received the title of Doctor Honoris Causa from the University. The title is awarded to people who have made relevant contributions to science, literature and arts and provided important services to society and to Unicamp.
“Unicamp works to nurture students’ passion for engineering and computer science, and we are proud to support the institution as it prepares a diverse group of future engineers,” said John Smee, Senior Vice President of Engineering at Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “We are committed to sparking young people’s passion for science, technology, engineering and mathematics and hope the donation will help inspire the next generation of students to develop new applications on our cutting-edge platforms to enrich people’s lives,” he added .
Inclusion of young women
“We are very proud of this initiative and partnership with Qualcomm”, said the dean of Unicamp, professor Antonio José de Almeida Meirelles. “This will be the most important application of resources allocated to the Lumina fund. In this case, we are carrying out an action in partnership with a leading innovation and technology company. In addition to preparing high-level graduates for the job market, contributing to technological development and wealth generation, we are working effectively to increase the inclusion of young women students in situations of economic vulnerability in one of the best universities in Latin America and from emerging countries, that is, acting broadly on the inclusion agenda through education”, said the dean.
Connected to some of the best universities in the world, Unicamp has more than 500 permanent academic agreements with universities in more than 50 countries and welcomes around two thousand international students. The university is responsible for around 12% of postgraduate production and around 8% of the total research carried out in Brazil.
Unicamp is the leader in academic production among Brazilian universities. Exceptionally entrepreneurial and with its eyes focused on the future, the University is one of the organizations that generates the most patents in Brazil. More than a thousand companies were created by alumni. These companies provide more than 33.000 jobs and generate total annual revenue of about $1,6 billion.
About Qualcomm
Qualcomm is a global leader in wireless technology innovation and is at the root of the development, launch and expansion of 5G. Today, the company's foundational technologies enable the mobile ecosystem and are found in every 3G, 4G and 5G smartphone. Furthermore, it impacts mobility on new sectors, including automotive, internet of things and computing.
About Lumina
Endowments or equity funds, as they are known in Brazil, are formed with resources from donations from individuals or legal entities that are invested in the financial market by a professional manager.
Proceeds are directed to projects related to philanthropic causes, without the money being redeemed later.
These funds are considered a long-term financial sustainability structure, as the idea is to ensure the continuity of financing of the projects that motivated the donations, such as those developed by Universities, based on teaching, research and innovation.
The resources are intended to complement budgets and invest in specific projects. They do not eliminate the need for government investment in these institutions.
The most famous case is the Harvard University endowment fund in the United States. Created in 1974, it has assets of US$39,2 billion. Around 35% of the resources of North American Universities, for example, come from endowment funds.
More images from the event where the donation of resources was announced.
