Pedro Iván Palominos-Belmar

Pedro Iván Palominos Belmar is a Full Professor in the Department of Industrial Engineering at the University of Santiago of Chile (USACH) and Director of the Smartcity-Lab USACH. He served as USACH Pro-Rector in 2010–2016 and 2022–2024 and currently serves as a council member of the Council on Infrastructure Policy (since 2019) and Fundación Integra (since 2024). He has sat on the boards of REUNA, the INNOVO incubator, and the USACH Technological Development Corporation. His career combines applied research and university leadership in urban innovation, analytics for decision-making, and evidence-based public policy design. A specialist in operations management, logistics, artificial intelligence, and multi-criteria decision methods (AHP/ANP/DEMATEL), he drives projects that connect academia, government, and industry. He is the author of the “Master Plan: Model for the Development of Enabling Infrastructure for Open Smart Cities,” a reference for municipalities seeking to deploy digital solutions with social impact.

As a scholar, he has been a visiting professor in Europe and Latin America and directs graduate programs in engineering and management. Recent publications include a methodology for measuring district-scale “smartness” in metropolitan areas, published in Sustainable Cities and Society, and chapters on transport sustainability; he has also presented results at EURO and IEEE conferences. At USACH he promoted the campus-as-living-lab approach, integrating research, entrepreneurship, and public service.

Professor Palominos proposes turning cities—and Santiago—into living classrooms for global learning: field-based courses, micro-practica with municipalities and startups, neighborhood capstone projects, and the responsible use of open data to address mobility, sustainability, urban safety, and population aging. His approach fosters inclusive, intercultural experiences with high academic rigor and verifiable assessment frameworks, strengthening student employability, curricular innovation, and the territorial impact of study-abroad programs.