La Llave S.A Company invited university students from Guayaquil to take part in the INDUSTRIAL AUTOMATION CONTEST that started on June 9th, 2014. There were 30 projects in all and UPS presented 6.  

The contest was divided into 4 stages:

1.    Register. Students had to send a project proposal for the food, paper, milling or oil & gas industry.

2.    Select the participating projects. The evaluation committee selected 10 projects. The University's 6 projects were chosen. The selection took place on June 16th. 

3.    Evaluate simulations. The groups presented a simulation of their projects using Rockwell programs. This was done on July 21st and 3 finalists were chosen. Only 1 UPS project passed on to the next stage.

4.    Develop prototypes. The 3 finalists implement the project using equipment that was given to them by La Llave S.A Company and then present it to the evaluation committee. This took place on Friday, October 31st. UPS won first place with their automation prototype for a coffee processing plant. 

The winners of the contest were Ricardo Sanchez Yepez and David Arcos Mejia, both electronic engineering students. They were guided by Gary Ampuño Avilés.

The winners were awarded a trip to the AUTOMATION FAIR in California organized by ROCKWELL AUTOMATION. The prize includes round trip tickets, and a 5 night stay. The equipment used for the implementation of the project was awarded to the students so it can be used during the students' final graduation project. Both students and their tutor will also receive Rockwell Automation training courses worth $1000.