The Rover Chair is born at the Polytechnic University of Valencia, which will provide students with the real management of engineering works

14.12.2022. The Universitat Politècnica de València and the company Rover have launched the UPV’s Rover Chair, with the aim of bringing the world of business closer to students in Civil Engineering and Road Engineering. Pepe Capilla, rector of the UPV and Alfredo Rodríguez, president of Rover, have signed today the agreement to create the Chair, together with representatives of both entities.

Rover president, Alfredo Rodríguez, has stressed that “the birth of the Rover Chair is a result of the strong commitment to innovation that has guided Rover’s activity since its inception. Collaborating with a renowned and prestigious source of knowledge and innovation such as UPV is a satisfaction for us.” Furthermore, Rodríguez adds that “we are confident that the Rover Chair will benefit everyone in the form of progress towards sustainability and better educated students with greater connection and knowledge of the business world”.

The UPV professor Julián Alcalá, director of the Rover Chair, emphasizes that students at the University will be the ones who benefit most from the activities of the Chair: “Thanks to the interaction between the world of business and administration and the world of university, the training of future managers of the country’s infrastructures will be improved and the conditions of access to the world of work for these graduates.”

Among the planned activities are the creation of training content focused on management, as well as “facilitating the contact of engineering students with a selection of top managers from large administrations and public works investors in Spain”, according to Julián Alcalá.

Innovation for Sustainability

The Rover Chair will drive joint research, development and innovation projects, with the aim of increasing shared knowledge in different areas of construction and driving technology development. In this sense, the Chair will promote the sustainability and resilience of the processes associated with construction, according to professor and researcher Julián Alcalá.

The holding of technical and scientific dissemination conferences, The promotion of meetings of national and international experts, scientific events and publications will be some of the actions that will allow sharing the knowledge generated with society and the university community. Scholarships, company internships, continuous training programs and company visits are other activities planned within the framework of the Chair.