Forbes recently published an article titled, “How Latin America Is Quickly Becoming A Leading Supplier Of Technology Talent To North America” (Apr 25, 2023). This tech talent is primarily located in Monterrey, Mexico, which is particularly known for its expertise in manufacturing technology, software development, and industrial automation.
Hiring this tech talent, however, is not as easy as opening an office in Monterrey, building a recruiting team, and searching LinkedIn. The key to accessing this talent is creating authentic partnerships and friendships with the universities. So that’s what we did.
This spring we met with Tec de Monterrey, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León (UANL), and Universidad de Monterrey. Specifically, we met with the Computer Science department heads to assess their curriculum, the number of graduating students, and industry collaboration.
Tec de Monterrey
Tec de Monterrey is known as the MIT of Latin America. Our first meeting was with Luis Humberto González Guerra, Director of the Computer Science Department. Luis described the university’s Tec21 Education Model that allows students to choose their own curriculum so they can obtain a career they desire. The model has three stages: 1) Exploration, 2) Focus, and 3) Specialize. This model allows students to select a specialized technology stack ranging from Java to Python to C++ to Angular. Tec de Monterrey is also able to partner with students and companies to focus on courses that are tailored to a specific area of IT.
The 2023 graduating class completed an Angular project as juniors and built their own compiler in an Advanced C# course their senior year. For student projects, companies are invited to observe and evaluate.
Paulina Valenzuela, Thomas Lynema, Luis Humberto González-Guerra & Edward Nausieda
UANL
With campuses throughout Mexico, the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León has over 200,000 students with over 8,000 students majoring in computer science. The computer science curriculum is very robust with courses heavy in mathematics and physics for students’ freshman and sophomore years, and then computer-science heavy in their junior and senior years. The computer science courses range from object-oriented programming to web development to databases. They also had an impressive range of courses focusing on the Ops side of DevOps.
Sergio Antonio Ordoñez Gonzalez (IT Secretary of the Faculty), Thomas Lynema & Edward Nausieda
Universidad de Monterrey
Choosing the Computer Science program at the University of Monterrey (Universidad de Monterrey or UDEM) offers several advantages to their graduates. The program at UDEM focuses on providing students with practical skills and knowledge that are highly relevant to the industry. The curriculum is regularly updated to reflect the latest advancements and trends in computer science, ensuring that students are equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge to meet industry demands. Currently the curriculum is heavily focused on object-oriented programming (i.e., Java and C#), web frameworks (i.e., Angular), databases, and architecture.
Carlos Atoche Kong (Dean, UDEM School of Engineering)
Partnering with universities in Monterrey, Mexico offers tech companies a range of benefits. Access to local markets, industry-academia collaboration and opportunities for research, plus talent development, will contribute to the growth and success of companies and the academic institutions involved, as well as the future workforce. These partnerships can contribute to the growth and success of both the companies and the academic institutions involved.
Written by Thomas Lynema, Principal Software Engineer
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