The university Tecnológico de Costa Rica (TEC) wins the first place in the High Performing Student Branch Chapter Program (HPSBCP) of the PES student chapters for its activities throughout the year 2016.

It has been less than 3 months since a group of students from the PES Student Chapter at TEC received with great joy the notice that they had won the first place at the HPSBCP, a price that they have been pursuing since the student chapter was settled down in 2015. At the beginning of 2016 the members of the board (Melany Carvajal as chair, Felipe Córdoba as Vice-Chair, Roberto Córdoba as Secretary Treasurer and Jorge Morales) decided to make even stronger efforts to get the so desired price, by making monthly activities like technical tours, conferences and social activities, they managed not only to accomplish their goal, but also to improve the ratio of new members per month, today, there are more than 100 members organized in commissions that work together to keep the quality and quantity of activities in the university.

Beside the technical talks and tours this group also works throughout the year carrying out social welfare activities that involve the use of their professional knowledge as engineers, currently there are student members from all kinds of careers related to the chapter, e.g. Industrial Maintenance, Mechatronics, Electronics and Materials Engineering.

The reviewers board for the HPSBCP price evaluate the implementation of social activities, talks and the number of new members involved each year. In addition, it considers the humanitarianism and the social aid that the group offers. As part of these actions, the group traveled in December 2016 to the indigenous area of Shuabb, located in Talamanca, Costa Rica, and there undertook a review of the entire electrical system and maintenance of computer equipment. In addition, they performed a small Christmas party for the kids at the school.

Another remarkable activity is the celebration of the First Costa Rican PES Convention, which had the participation of international lecturers as well as the professional and student sectors, the main subject was renewable energies.

The now past board that won the HPSBCP price had now passed the lead to the actual board (Edgardo Acuña as Chair, Jorge Fonseca as Vice-Chair, Leonardo Fernández as Secretary-Treasurer and Sofía Jimenez in charge of Women in Power). According to the conformers of the student chapter, their goal now is to repeat this achievement next year and keep the great work of the past board.

IEEE PES Student Branch Chapter Tecnológico de Costa Rica