The Federico Santa María Technical University (Spanish: Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María) (UTFSM) (or simply Santa Maria University) is a Chilean university founded in 1926 in Valparaíso, Chile.

It is one of the most prestigious engineering universities in the country and Latin America, and gives special emphasis to basic sciences, engineering and technical fields^[7] with a more recent growth into economics and business sciences.^[8] The University has campuses in Valparaiso, Viña del Mar, Santiago, Concepción and Rancagua, as well as an international campus in Guayaquil, Ecuador. The Federico Santa María Technical University is the alma mater of several prominent businessmen, engineers and Chilean scientists. Its students and alumni are known as "Sansanos".^[5][9][10]

The UTFSM was the first Chilean university to confer a doctorate in engineering in 1962 and the first higher-education institution in Latin America to confer this degree.^[11] The UTFSM university radio is the oldest campus radio in Latin America.

The university admission is very competitive and, it is known for its rigorous study requirements, demanding study program, and for being the only engineering university in Chile to require physical training as a compulsory part of the curriculum in its Valparaiso and Santiago Campuses. For the years 2011-2016, the UTFSM has an undergraduate retention rate of 81.0% by the first year of studies, and a 66.4% by the second year.^[3] Less than 1% of its students are international, and most of the available courses are imparted in Spanish.

The UTFSM has been historically perceived as one of the most prestigious engineering schools in the country and more recently, with the appearance of national and international rankings, has been placed among the top Universities in Chile and Latin America.^[12][13] It is ranked 1st in Chile and 2nd in Latin America by The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2014-2015.^[12]

The graduation date is held on the 20th of December every year, since it commemorates the anniversary of the death of the founder, Federico Santa Maria Carrera, on the 20th of December 1925.

The university takes its name from Federico Santa María, a Chilean philanthropist that lived in France. He raised a huge fortune as a broker in the sugar market in Paris. Before his death, he donated all his fortune to create a university in Valparaíso, his hometown. Although the exact amount of his fortune is unknown, it is believed to have been around 2 billion dollars of today's currency. While in Paris in 1920, in his testament, Santa María donated his fortune with the idea of building a high-standard technical and scientific institution.

In his will, Santa María manifested that his desired executors contribute to material progress and expand Chile's cultural horizons; altruistic ideas which sought to facilitate entry into the academic life of outstanding compatriots dispossessed but without further requirement than merit, skills and high academic achievement. This institution would accept and prepare the best students from all socioeconomic backgrounds to gain technical and scientific knowledge that contribute to the progress of the country.

The executors were chosen by Santa María to be Agustin Edwards Mac-Clure, Juan Brown Caces, Carlos van Buren and Andrew Geddes.

Following his philosophy, on March 31, 1926, an institution was created to develop Santa María's legacy. Finally in 1931 the School of Crafts and Arts and School of Engineering José Miguel Carrera was founded. In 1935, its name changed to Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María.

The condition imposed by Federico Santa María was that, during the first 10 years, the university must receive academics from the best schools of sciences and engineering. Following this imperative, the executor of this project, Agustín Edwards Mac-Clure, traveled to Germany where he contacted Karl Laudien, at the time rector of a technical school in the Western Pemerania region, and he became the first rector of the university. From that moment, the university received a strong German influence in its engineering education. Several German engineers and scientists arrived before and after the second world war from institutions such as TU Berlin, Berlin University, and Leipzig University among other German institutions. They brought to the University cutting edge knowledge in physics, chemistry and engineering. For example, Arnold Keller, professor of the Physics department at UTFSM, was involved in the development of the V-1 rockets during the second world war, as part of the team of Wernher von Braun.^[14] Research in new areas to the country such as Solar Energy, or Chemistry of Natural Products were created, which delivered two Nacional Science Prize awards, Herbert Appel in 1970, and Juan Garbarino in 1998.

In 1934, the Scientia magazine is published, becoming the voice for the university's academic work.^[15]

In 1937, the Universidad Tecnica Federico Santa Maria Radio was created, becoming the first university radio broadcaster in Chile and Latin America,^[16] focused to broadcasting information and cultural programs. The radio still broadcasts to this day, in the AM: 1.450 and FM: 99,7 signals in the Valparaiso region. The radio also has an online signal.^[17]

In 1939, the Alumni association was founded, known today as AEXA (Asociación de Ex-Alumnos).^[18]

In 1960, the Graduate School was created, and its first director was Herbert Appel (1960-1964), offering the PhD study lines for chemical, electrical and mechanical engineering. In 1963 the university became the first higher-education institution in Latin America to confer a doctorate in engineering, in cooperation with the University of Pittsburgh. In the 1960s the University started a strategy of national and international expansion. In 1966 the Technical campus "Viña del Mar" was founded. In 1972 the campus "Rey Balduino de Bélgica" in the southeast city of Concepción with orientation in technical-professional areas was founded. The project received strong financial support from Baudouin King.

In 1964, the university grants for the first time a technical degree to a woman, the chemical technician Patricia Guzman. In 1965 Graciela Muñoz graduates as its first female engineer.^[18]

The UTFSM was the first university of the 8 existing universities in Chile at the time to restart its operations on 15 October 1973, after the Military coup of 11 September 1973.

The university has four campuses and two branch campuses (sedes). These are in four Chilean cities and Guayaquil, Ecuador:

While the campuses are focused on undergraduate, graduate and university academical activities, sedes are mainly dedicated to technical degrees.

The main UTFSM campus (or Casa Central) is located in Valparaíso, covering most of the front area of Los Placeres hill, on the grounds of the former Pudeto fort. The site faces the Pacific coast and it is visible from many parts of the bay of Valparaíso.

The building was designed by Josué Smith Solar, one of the most respected Chilean architects of the 20th century, and his son José Smith Miller. The American Neo-Gothic style campus is considered one of the foremost works of Chilean architecture. The campus is also recognised for its beautiful gardening, with native and exotic species.^[19]

In 2001, the illumination of the university frontis was renewed through a contest organised by the Chilean branch of Philips.

The main campus has a gothic scholastic architecture with a privileged view to the Pacific Ocean. This campus includes more than 3 hectares of green areas making it the biggest urban park in Valparaiso, despite it being closed to the public.^[20] In 2008 it was chosen as one of the most remarkable national architectural works of the 20th century.^[21]

In the 1960s, the University formulated an expansion plan. With financial assistance from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the support of the Ford Foundation, advice from Dunwoody Industrial Institute in the US, and a donation of land by Chile's Agricultural Development Institute INDAP (from the Spanish "Instituto de Desarrollo Agropecuario"), a fully furnished building was constructed in 1971 in Viña del Mar, and it was named the "Jose Miguel Carrera" branch campus, following the testamentary vision of the University founder, the philanthropist Federico Santa María.

This branch is located on the border between the communes of Vina del Mar and Quilpué in Chile.

By the mid-1960s, the University planned to install six schools in different parts of the country.

In October 1965, the Kings of Belgium, Baudouin I and Fabiola de Mora y Aragon visited the University headquarters in Valparaíso, were introduced to its educational project and as a result initiated conversations for the construction of a branch campus in the city of Concepción.

Meanwhile, our country strengthens their contributions: the government facilitates the exchange of funds provided by Belgium; local businesses such as the San Pedro Sawmills, Cementos Bio Bio, Pacific Steel Company, Fanaloza, Inchalam, Pizarreño, Glasses Lirquén, among others, also contributed in its construction. Additionally, a donation of Archbishop of Concepción provided the land needed for the building construction. Its construction began in 1969.

Academic activities started on April 26, 1971, offering the careers of Electronics, Electrical, Structural Mechanics, Maintenance Mechanics, and Chemistry. On February 14, 1972, the campus branch was inaugurated solemnly in the presence of the President of Chile, Salvador Allende Gossens, and the University rector, Jaime Chiang Acosta.

For 10 consecutive years, UTFSM has been ranked among the three best Universities in Chile in terms of quality perception given by more than 1000 important national business executives.^[22][23] In 2012, the University was ranked 5 between 9.500 schools of engineering in the world according to their impact factor in the last 5 years (Microsoft Academics),^[24] as the latinoamerican university with the largest normalized impact factor, and as the first school of engineering in South America.^[25] According to Times Higher Education Ranking 2014, UTFSM is among the first 300 best Universities in the World, 2nd in South America and 1st in Chile.^[26][27] The UTFSM has consistently been considered as one of the best engineering universities in Latin America, and appears regularly as a highly ranked university in many of the published world university rankings.

The current president of the UTFSM Academic Council is Mr. Roberto Medina Cantariño. The following table summarizes the different presidents the UTFSM has had in its history.

The current rector is Professor Darcy Fuenzalida O'Shee, for the Period 2014 - 2022. Some notable events:

Due to the focused nature of the university, its organisation currently does not include different faculties, only different academic departments, which carry out research and graduate/undergraduate educational programs. Originally, faculties had been considered in the University organization, with the founding of the first three faculties in 1944, Chemical, Mechanical and Electrical Engineering. Faculties were subsequently abolished under Adolfo Arata's period as rector.

Within the Chilean campus level, there are 17 different academic departments, though not all of them are in every campus location, and not all degree levels are offered at every location, as the following table shows:

UTFSM is the only Chilean engineering school where sports is an obligatory course in the curriculum during the first three semesters of all its study lines at its Valparaiso and Santiago Campuses.^[45]

The university offers careers of Commercial Pilot and Aeronautical Engineering in its Academia de Ciencias Aeronáuticas [1] ^[97] in a joint venture with Chilean airline Lan Chile.

The university offers undergraduate and graduate degrees. The undergraduate degrees can be of 12 academic semesters (civil engineering), 10 semesters (engineering, pure sciences and architecture), 8 semesters (Applied Engineering) and 6 semesters (technical careers). The graduate degrees offered by this university are Masters (MSc.) and Doctorate (PhD). The Masters of Science degree requires 2 years of study, and the Doctorate degree requires 3 to 5 years of study. All graduate degrees require entrants to have a bachelors degree.

The engineering degrees at UTFSM (and throughout Chile) are offered in different degrees of difficulty.

The Chemical Engineering School at UTFSM was founded together with the foundation of the School of Engineers in 1935, being one of the oldest degrees offered by the university. The first Chilean and Latin American doctorate degree in chemical engineering was given to Walter Gaete Castro in 1962, with a cooperation between UTFSM and University of Pittsburgh, USA.^[11] Nowadays, the chemical engineering department has the name of Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering (IQA, in Spanish), where Chemical Engineering and Environmental Engineering degrees are offered. The research topics at IQA are:

The Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering has 12 associate professors, 11 with PhD degrees (92%). The department offers the graduate programs of Master of Science and PhD in Chemical Engineering.

The Mechanical Engineering School at UTFSM was founded together with the foundation of the School of Engineers in 1935, being one of the oldest degrees offered by the university. Its first four mechanical engineers graduated in 1939. The mechanical engineering department was also among the first to offer a PhD program in 1964 (along with Chemical and Electrical Engineering Departments).

The mechanical engineering department has the following research areas:

The department has 20 full-time professors (2016 data), 17 with PhD degrees (85%). Additional to the Bachelor of Sciences in mechanical engineering (BSc.), the department offers the graduate programs of Master of Science (BSc.) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in mechanical engineering. The department has also made substantive efforts to connect with its alumni. A comprehensive list of the graduates of the department can be found online ^[98] .

The UTFSM graduate school started its activities on the 1st of August, 1960, as a response to the increasing requirements for deeper and applied research in the country. The project was directed by Leroy Stutzman of the University of Pittsburgh, and doctors G.R. Fitterer and John F. Calver, who audited study programs and teaching methods for the project. The first director of the UTFSM graduate school was Herbert Appel, during the period 1960-1964.^[46] The school initially offered PhD study lines in chemical, electrical and mechanical engineering. The first UTFSM PhD graduate was Walter Gaete Castro, with a PhD degree in chemical engineering, becoming the first PhD graduate in Latin America.^[47]

The "Doctor Honoris Causa" honorary degree is the highest distinction that UTFSM can bestow. Only seven people^[48] have been awarded this honor by UTFSM:

Since 2010 UTFSM has been awarded with nearly US$8 million for 76 research projects.^[56][57][58] Many of these projects involve national and international collaborations with prestigious institutions in Latin America (ANDES Laboratory Project, RIABIN Biotechnology Network), Europe (CERN, Max Planck Institut, Politecnico di Milano), and USA (MIT, SLAC), among others.^{[59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67]}

The Federico Santa Maria University radio was created on the 7th of April, 1937, and it is the oldest university radio in Latin America.^[68] It can be heard on 1450 kHz in the AM spectrum, on 99.7 MHz in the FM spectrum, and online.^[15]

The Chamber Choir of the Federico Santa María Technical University was founded on August 4, 1951 in its Valparaiso Campus. It is the second oldest choir in Chile with continuous activity. During the choir's over 60 years of existence, it has interpreted an extensive repertoire, including all manifestations of choral western music, from the Middle Ages to the present day. The choir's first performance was at the closing ceremony of the academic year in December 1951, in the Aula Magna, main hall of events in the "A" building of the University's Main Valparaíso campus.

Demosthenes Penna, engineering student of this campus, was its founder and first director until 1954. From March 1955, the choir was directed by Silvio Olate Valenzuela for over 28 years until March 1983. From 1983 to 1987, it was directed by Mauricio Pergelier Hernandez. For the next 23 years, from 1987 to 2010, the choir was conducted by Eduardo Silva Cerda. From 2010, the choir has been conducted by Felipe Molina Lavandera.^[69][70]

The Guayaquil campus in Ecuador also has formed a Choir in 2015, directed by Charles Sampertegui.

The university has a long history of musical expression, in particular through its folkloric ensemble "Alimapu ^[99] "

Different organizations, denominated AEXA (from the Spanish "Asociacion de EX Alumnos") have been created at several of the UTFSM campuses:

These organization are created and managed by the alumni themselves, and coordinate their action with the university through the UTFSM Alumni Network office ^[100] .