Innovation in education and research is a constantly concern in every higher education academic institutions. Being aware of how fast technology moves, against the university curricula which rarely reacts at the emergence of new tendencies, the Department of Systems Engineering of Universidad del Norte has designed a strategy to create extracurricular spaces. In those spaces, students can develop research, application and entrepreneurship skills, set in identifying current problems and the design of solutions of those problems, using cutting edge technology in a didactical way. These spaces are handled through the students group CCEIS - Scientific Committee of Systems Engineering Students (in Spanish), whose working lines are coordinated by professors with experience in areas like data storage, communication between applications, digital interactions and application development in mobile platforms, among others. The experience has allowed the growth of students groups, strengthening the research profile of the group and an increase in the motivation of the students. The student members found in these groups the opportunity of exploring new technologies and applies their theoretical knowledge obtained during their career. In this work we present the obtained results on the first year and a half implementation of this strategy, and the learned lessons.

Citation: Posada, A. M. B., Carpio, G. J. M., Rodríguez, M. R., & Rojas, P. M. W. (2013, August). Strategies For Professional Skill Development Through The Strengthening Of Student Groups: A Case Of Study. In Weef 2013 Cartagena.