UPS Students who are part of the IEEE and the Power &Energy Society (PES) earned 11th place in the High Performing Student Branch Chapter Program for 2016" worldwide.

This program evaluates the PES student chapters presented by universities associated with IEEE worldwide. Within region 9, which includes Latin America and the Caribbean, the University's PES chapter is in 6th place.

Cristina Bustamente, president of the students' IEEE branch, is very happy with the result and said it is an honor to be within the best universities of IEEE worldwide. "Being part of these groups give us many important opportunities such as being the editor, along with my partner Bruno who is the coordinator of the student PES chapter, of "Enlaces" magazine; we are the only Ecuadorians there", she said.

The parameter used to evaluate and grade the chapters from different universities is basically all the activities carried out within a year, such as symposiums, conferences, congresses, technical and non-technical activities, social activities, memberships, etc.

Professor Eduardo Pinos, coordinator of the university's IEEE branch said "thanks to students' efforts, and especially Cristina Bustamente as the president and a great leader of this group, we were awarded several acknowledgments: best branch in Ecuador, best IEEE leader in Ecuador, best advisor in Ecuador and others". Professor Pinos guides students in the activities and monitors their work along with other UPS professors.

A fundamental factor is the experience gained by students, like the case of Bruno Mirabá, the coordinator of the PES chapter in Cuenca, whose experience has been very enriching, such as trips to other countries and the opportunity of meeting other people. Along with Cristina, they travelled to Malaysia to present several papers.

For Flavio Quizhpi,  one of the professors who guides students in the branch, it is great to see students better themselves. One of the aims of the PES chapter in UPS is that students conduct research on energy guided by their professors who constantly encourage them to write papers. "It is important for students to join groups so they can conduct research and publish".

For 2017, members of the PES UPS chapter are currently planning to hold the 3rd Symposium on Electricity and Technologies.