Martindale Center at Lehigh University

What is a trip to Chile without a trip to the winery? Santa Rita Winery.

The Martindale students and faculty learned more about the agriculture industry in Chile at Agrícola La Macarena SpA. This agricultural export and fruit production farm and company is involved in the cultivation, harvesting, and export of cherries and kiwi crops, managing large productive farmlands. The group was hosted at the beautiful farm in Tinguiririca, Chile. Big thanks to Macarena Balmaceda, CEO, and Andrea Amenabar, CFO, for a discussion on the opportunities and issues facing the agriculture industry in Chile today.

Three of the hottest topics in Chile are sustainable green energy, logistics and transportation issues, and mining. The Martindale students were able to explore the topics at the Energy Center, Pontificia Universidad Catolica and the University of Chile respectively.

The Martindale group participated in a session on "Urban Environment and Health" at the stunning campus of Universidad de los Andes in Santiago, Chile. Later that day, students attended an informative session on Chile's public and private healthcare systems, led by Fabian Marcelo Norambuena Contreras, President of the Institute of Economics, Management, and Health at the Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Santiago. Special thanks and appreciation are extended to Professor Alberto LaMadrid for providing translation services.

A big thanks to Google Chile for hosting the Martindale students and faculty for an entire morning while we were in Santiago. A special focus of our discussion was a review of the regulatory environment, AI, and CLOUD.

As discussed earlier, astronomy is a leading industry in Chile. The Martindale students and faculty spent the afternoon at Observatorio Astronómico Nacional (translated to English as the National Astronomical Observatory), Calan Hill- Camino El Observatorio in Las Condes, Santiago. The session and tour focused on scientific collaboration, as well as the social and economic impact of astronomy.

Back in Santiago after the long weekend, the Martindale Honors Program attended sessions at The Nature Conservancy and the Ministry of Education. The Nature Conservancy is focused on protecting Chile’s waterway and fisheries (one of Chile’s largest industries). The Ministry of Education gave an overview of the education system in Chile focusing on inequity and their evaluation and testing processes.

The Martindale Honors program reached a pinnacle 14, 170 feet above sea level when they visited the El Tatio geothermal field. The geysers, located in the Andes Mountains of northern Chile, is the third-largest geyser field in the world and the largest in the Southern Hemisphere.