Francesc Torres: "The UPC must withdraw from the Martorell vocational training center."

BarcelonaFrancesc Torres (Ibiza, 1962) is a professor and telecommunications engineer. He was rector of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC) from 2017 to 2021. He is now serving again and speaks to ARA in his first interview since winning the rectorship elections a month ago.

He has been rector of the UPC again for a month, but he has been linked to the university for decades. What is his rating for the Catalan university system?

— This depends on many points of view, but given the limited funding we have, I would give it a 10.

A 10?

— I think the resources we have are very well managed. With a little more funding, we could do more. One of the issues that concerns us is that, if the country needs to be reindustrialized, our equipment is becoming obsolete and, above all, we are running out of technical personnel to support the company.

What should the relationship between university and business be like?

— The UPC has a close relationship with companies, but now we want to go a step further and transform our research laboratories into R&D laboratories for small and medium-sized businesses. This is the way to transfer our graduates to the local productive sector in what the companies next door need. If not, we end up training them to work abroad.

You already served a period as a parish priest at the UPC. Why are you returning?

— In our first term, we had many projects, but we faced a very difficult time: first, there was no government, then there was no budget, and then COVID-19 hit. Now, we believed it was a good idea to offer an alternative to the way things were done, and the community has supported us.

Now there's a government, and you've already met with the minister. What did you ask her for?

— We rectors always ask for more funding, more support, and help with our projects... For example, we've asked for resources to create the UPC Center for Artificial Intelligence.

A center to do what?

— We shouldn't imagine a new building, but rather dedicate one to bringing together all the experts to create synergies and develop general guidelines for applying AI to both research and its management. And, above all, we should devise the rules of the game for students and see how we can use AI for better teaching. We'll launch everything in the fall.

Are you concerned about the increase in plagiarism among students with AI?

— This problem has always existed; students have always been imaginative. AI is here to stay. It's like when, decades ago, some American teachers held a demonstration against the use of calculators because people would never add. We must find a middle ground.

There are UPC professors who say they are disenchanted with the students' attitude.

— Youth has always been difficult. Anything that isn't revolutionary at age 20 has no heart. The young people who come to us are who they are, and therefore, we must provide them with the best possible service. Each generation has its challenges and its dreams, and we must respond to them.

Beyond the way of being, has the level dropped?

— We expressed our concern that, in general, in the scientific and technological field, we believed the level clearly needed to improve. I believe this is a task we should undertake as a whole, to determine what pre-university training is needed. It's also true that teachers would always want students who, when they arrive, already know everything, but what we must do is adapt to what we receive.

As?

— First, by promoting it well, so that those who come are clear about their vocation and their expectations aren't dashed. Then, by adapting and supporting them. Sometimes those who attend the first courses are those who don't need it, and those who do need this resource don't know it. That's why it's necessary to know how they arrive, and we want to use AI to see students' history and understand how they've fared in previous years so we can anticipate the difficulties they'll face. Some schools already do this; therefore, the goal is to share and spread these good practices everywhere.

We're talking about infrastructure. The previous pastor was very clear in stating that many of the UPC buildings need major improvements.

— In 2008, we had a university investment plan for €20 million, and in the last ten or fifteen years, it's been €2 million. This has only served to paint and repair the occasional leak. It's something that must be planned. We have a priority plan, and we'll implement it as we get funding to repair the buildings.

One outstanding task for the UPC is to figure out what to do with the Martorell vocational training center, which remains at half speed.

— During the election campaign, we were very clear: we believe that vocational training is very necessary for the country, but it's not an obligation that falls to universities. We must focus our resources on doing what we should do, which is higher education in engineering. Therefore, our idea is, in any case, to seek out other stakeholders, as there are already interested parties, to take on this role.

Does this mean that in the future the center will no longer depend on the UPC?

— Indeed. I think the UPC has done a good job getting it up and running and that the center is viable, but other actors must take over. The UPC must withdraw from an activity that is not ours and that is not our responsibility. We had a commitment and we've done the work, but we will gradually take on a secondary role.

During your tenure, the UPC launched the Unite network, the alliance of European universities of excellence. What has this achieved?

— I think it's served to share good practices. There's still a long way to go, but I think it's meant more for us to get to know each other and harmonize the type of engineering training we provide. There's been a good exchange of approaches, and it's also a way of building Europe.