SKEMA Brazil signs partnership with Federal University of Ouro Preto

​On September 12, 2022, SKEMA Business School Brazil signed a technical cooperation agreement, mediated by the Dutch government, at the opening of Exposibram, involving the DTTD cluster (Dutch Technical Team for Dam Safety/Dutch Technical Team for Dam Safety), formed by 8 companies, and UFOP (Federal University of Ouro Preto). The objective of the partnership is to create a study environment so that teachers, students and managers can work together to develop solutions for the market in question.

The partnership is an offshoot of a project that dates back to the first semester of 2022, when SKEMA Brazil BBA students did a market research project for the cluster. Wilson Mendonça, professor at SKEMA Business School and consultant to the Netherlands Business Support Office (NBSO), comments on the agreement: "It will be a series of research subsidized by the Dutch Government that aims to contribute to the development of good mining practices in Brazil".

The role of universities would be to apply the technologies developed by the eight companies in the cluster in the context of the mining industry plants in Minas Gerais. "It will be a huge gain for everyone", says Hernani Lima, professor at UFOP's Mining Engineering Department. "On the part of the university, we will have access to extensive knowledge about dams and all the technical background of professionals working in the cluster", he explains. "They also win, as they will have analyses on the applicability of their solutions, attested by the academy".

Antea Group, Arenal, Trisoplast, RohrIdreco, InTech, Cohere, Eijkelkamp and Van Sonsbeek Hulst are part of the DTTD. Their intention, more than improving mining practices in a high-performance field, such as those of mining companies, would also be to expand the group's presence in the state and Brazil.