Collaborative technological development and innovation between UTRGVENGT, USA and ITM-CSE, Mexico: An intelligent closet prototype

Abstract

This paper describe an interesting cross-border collaboration between The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) - College of Engineering and Computer Science (CECS) Department of Manufacturing and Industrial Engineering (MIE) - Engineering Technology program (ENGT), and Tecnológico Nacional de Mexico/Instituto Tecnológico de Matamoros (TecNM/ITM) - Computer Systems Engineering program (CSE). The collective efforts gave as a result the development of a completely functional automation prototype, designed, built and coded by students of both regional leader institutions in higher education. With this undergraduate research in technology development and innovation, both institutions start the cooperative work, leading efforts towards effective and strong cross-border collaboration. The project was a great opportunity to coordinate future research, taking advantage of our strategic geographic location and identify future research opportunities to contribute to the economic development and social wellness, in both sides of the border, due to its distinctive characteristics - economic development, culture, language, etc. In this paper we include a description of the enrolled programs, the collaboration method, monitoring and evaluation, lessons learned, resultant outcomes, challenges and opportunities for growth.