Aguascalientes, Aguascalientes, September 1, 2025.—Under the terms of the agreement between the Universidad Panamericana and the Latin American Center for Innovation in Logistics (CLI), Industrial Engineering students successfully completed the Bachelor’s Certificate in Logistics and Supply Chain Management (UCLOG), a high-level academic program based in Bogotá, Colombia.
This certification program is designed for undergraduate students at various Latin American universities, with the goal of expanding their knowledge of logistics and supply chain management while helping them develop practical skills through real-world business challenges.
An academic partnership that promotes hands-on experience
For four weeks, Mariana Calderón, Diego Medrano, and Santiago Muñoz—all seventh-semester industrial engineering students—applied their knowledge to high-impact projects for multinational companies in this sector.
“The most wonderful thing we have in life is learning, and over the past few weeks we’ve learned from our classmates as well as from the companies that opened their doors to us. This experience helps us position ourselves in the job market and make better decisions in the future,”, says Mariana Calderón.
Challenges in Logistics and the Supply Chain
In addition, each week they collaborated with a different company or organization, tackling high-impact logistical challenges and applying their knowledge in real-world scenarios.
During the first week, they partnered with the Colombian Logistics Corporation (CCL), where the challenge focused on the “last mile”—one of the most complex and costly processes in the supply chain.
“During this challenge, we had to design a ‘cross-docking’ operation—one of the improvements the company wanted to implement in this process—so we identified routes and assigned transportation modes to optimize the loads,”, says Santiago Muñoz.
During the second week, the students collaborated with the Colombian Red Cross and the Misión Nutrición project at the Bogotá Food Bank. Their challenge was to design a more efficient distribution layout that would reduce food waste and prevent cross-contamination.
This project was supervised by Rocío Márquez Martínez, M.A., professor and director of the Industrial Engineering program at the Universidad Panamericana , Aguascalientes campus.
In week three, they worked with Geodis and H&M’s distribution center in Colombia, where the students proposed sustainable packaging alternatives based on a circular economy approach.
“The goal of this challenge was to analyze how the logistics worked—including which materials were being discarded—and to propose ideas for sustainable packaging that would help reduce that amount of waste,”, says Mariana Calderón.
Finally, in the fourth week, they joined the Colombian Air Patrol to simulate a humanitarian logistics challenge. In just three days, they designed a response plan for a natural disaster or armed conflict, facing the urgency of a real-world scenario.
“In situations like this, humanitarian logistics are everything. You can’t afford to waste time, because there are people whose lives depend on how you act. You don’t focus on the money—you focus on saving lives,”, says Diego Medrano.
Comprehensive education with a global perspective
The international certification allowed students to have a multicultural experience, working with young people from different disciplines and countries, which strengthened their teamwork skills, professionalnetworking abilities, and global perspective.
This program, the result of a partnership with the CLI, reflects the institution’s mission to prepare students to meet the challenges of today’s world, with a global and humanistic perspective that sets them apart in the professional world.
In addition, the program’s multicultural environment—which brought together young people from different disciplines and countries—allowed students to exchange perspectives, share knowledge, and build professional relationships that could one day develop into strategic partnerships or joint projects.
In this regard, Diego Medrano noted, “The most valuable part was applying what we learned in our degree program to real-world business problems. By working with classmates from other majors and countries, the exchange of ideas allowed us to develop more comprehensive and strategic solutions.”
With experiences like this, the Universidad Panamericana reaffirms its commitment to the well-rounded education of its students, fostering not only academic excellence but also cultural openness, international collaboration, and the development of practical skills that strengthen their professional profile and prepare them to excel in a global job market.
Learn more about the " Universidad Panamericana " at: https://www.up.edu.mx/sobre-la-universidad-modelo-educativo/
