The University of Valencia will bid from next academic year double degree with the preparation needed by future chemical engineers Volkswagen battery factory in Sagunt. The new degree will train students in chemistry and chemical engineering and the first promotion with twenty graduates will leave the classroom in 2027, Shortly after the German giant’s mega-plant went into operation. Adela Mauri, Dean of the Faculty of Chemistry at the University of Valencia, points out that upon the request from Valencia companies, they started working on the implementation of the double diploma long before the landing of the German multinational company, however, we set out with the work done according to the needs of the Gigafactory.”We started with the announcement of the Gigafactory. opportunity,” he says.
The double degree in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering has been the University’s historically two four-year courses. “After just one year, students can achieve double graduation,” says Paula Marzal. coordinator of new studies and professor of Chemical Engineering. “The University spent 125 years training professionals who created the business fabric of the chemical industry in the Community. In study plans prior to 1993, there was a specialization in Industrial Chemistry in the study plan in Chemical Sciences”, but later disappeared, the same sources point out.
Currently, the Chemical Engineering degree is affiliated with the Higher Technical Engineering School (ETSE-UV) and the Chemistry degree is conferred by the Faculty of Chemistry. The heads of ETSE and Chemistry have a very fluid relationship with the Valencian business fabric, where chemical engineers lack a broader foundation in chemistry. Although the university had waited until next year to ensure the presence of students in the classrooms, the idea to start a dual degree before the pandemic came up here. “The new dual degree will provide students with a solid theoretical and experiential training in two disciplines that respond to the needs of Valencian industry. Chemists with deep engineering knowledge and engineers with a solid knowledge of chemistry”, assures Adela Mauri.
Dulce Adriá, director of the Valencian Community College of Chemists, confirms that the ideal profile for Gigafactory engineers is the profile provided by the new dual degree program launched by the University of Valencia. “This is what they needed for the Sagunt factory and that’s how they passed it on to us,” he insists. Paula Marzal points out that the Chemistry degree focuses more on material and product research knowledge, while the Chemical Engineering degree focuses on the manufacturing process. “The Gigafactory is an industrial manufacturing facility that needs engineers specializing in chemical processes. It’s key to developing products in the lab and then manufacturing them.”