Chihuahuan Frontier

The vast educational complex Ciudad Juarez has been building in the last two years was officially opened last week, signaling a strong start for one of the most ambitious college projects undertaken in Mexico.

Ciudad del Conocimiento (City of Knowledge), as the 1,380-hectare complex is known, is planned as a cluster of seven higher-education institutions plus two intermediate-level schools, allowing the city to cater to a rapidly growing and demanding student population.

Universidad Autonoma de Ciudad Juarez (UACJ), the city's flagship university, and Instituto Tecnologico de Ciudad Juarez (ITCJ), the oldest technology institution in Juarez, are already teaching about 1,460 students in the complex, with both their initial campuses up and running since last year.

During last week's opening ceremony, education officials also broke ground on campus 11 of Colegio de Estudios Cientificos y Tecnologicos (Cecyt), a technical school, and campus 16 of Colegio de Bachilleres, a high school.

Besides these institutions, the City of Knowledge will include teaching and research facilities for Universidad Autonoma de Chihuahua (UACH), Universidad Tecnologica de Ciudad Juarez (UTCJ), Universidad TecMilenio, Instituto Politecnico Nacional (IPN) and Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM).

Javier Sanchez Carlos, UACJ rector, said his university is adding 13 new degrees starting next semester: software engineering, telematics, mechanical engineering, energy and maintenance engineering, environmental engineering, international trade, advertising, finance, journalism, biochemical pharmaceutics, ESL pedagogy, gerontology and cultural spaces management.

He also announced construction on a UACJ campus in Cuauhtemoc, a medium-size city in central Chihuahua, will begin this month, and committed UACJ presence in Chihuahua City and Parral. The university has a campus in Nuevo Casas Grandes, too.

UACJ has a 300-hectare campus in the City of Knowledge, where 970 students currently take classes on automotive systems, computer systems, mechatronics, psychology, business administration, civil engineering, industrial engineering, zootechnical veterinary, architecture, nutrition, graphic design, interior design and sports training.

Also officially dedicated last week was ITCJ's first building on its 35-hectare campus, where it already teaches 490 students. A second ITCJ building is now under construction.

Degrees offered by ITCJ in the City of Knowledge are computer systems, industrial engineering, information and communication technologies, accounting and business administration.