International collaboration between Latin American universities towards educational innovation in engineering: Case study

Collaboration between universities has become a driving force to develop and promote a culture of educational innovation with technology and innovative pedagogical strategies. This research exposes the case study of three Latin American universities that seek to identify problems or educational situations to be addressed and developed innovation proposals in exploring in the solution, through an international collaborative initiative with teams of research professors focused on developing educational innovations that inspire and train future professionals. The case study methodology has three phases: 1) case design, 2) case description and 3) case evaluation. The case is analyzed from two perspectives: international initiative managers and the faculty who collaborate in research with their colleagues from other universities using the funds for the awarded projects. The challenges presented are many: from the generation of faculty teams, communication and collaboration at a distance, differences in structure and schedules between universities, and more. However, the benefits have been equally many as synergies have been created not only between universities and within the institutions themselves, but also with companies; another benefit is the learning and knowledge generated by the collaboration is impacting the students, who are the ultimate goal and inspiration of all academic endeavors.