Two ITESO initiatives will receive support from the Jalisco-Quebec fund

Diana Alonso

Two research projects from ITESO were selected by the Jalisco-Quebec Bilateral Cooperation Call in Science, Technology and Innovation 2026, a program promoted by the Jalisco State Council of Science and Technology (Coecytjal) and the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology (SICyT).

Among the five proposals supported in this edition is Morphological Tokenization for Indigenous Languages: Linguistic Innovation and Artificial Intelligence to Improve Machine Translation, a project that will receive funding of 196,500 pesos. The research is led by Gabriela Calvario, coordinator of the Doctoral Program in Engineering Sciences at ITESO.

The other selected research project is the Jalisco-Quebec Bilateral Methodology for the Characterization of the Urban Heat Island and the Development of a Thermal Vulnerability Atlas in the Metropolitan Area of Guadalajara, which will receive 190,000 pesos and is coordinated by Hugo de Alba, an academic in the Environmental Engineering and Sustainable Technologies program at ITESO.

“The heat doesn’t affect everyone equally.”

Guadalajara is a diverse city in many ways. Walking through its streets, pedestrians can find that, from one block to the next, the architecture, the trees, the businesses, and the roads transform. However, there is another element that can also change abruptly and that has become increasingly evident in recent years: the temperature.

Urban heat islands are areas of a city that register higher temperatures than their surroundings due to their construction characteristics. Materials such as concrete and asphalt absorb and release energy differently than green spaces. This phenomenon poses a challenge for cities worldwide, and its effects are not distributed evenly among the population.

"Urban heat doesn't affect everyone equally," De Alba points out. The elderly, children, and those without the means to mitigate high temperatures through ventilation or air conditioning are often more vulnerable.

Heat affects many aspects of daily life. Dehydration, difficulty sleeping, loss of comfort, and prolonged exposure to high temperatures can all impact people's physical and mental health. It also affects urban flora and fauna, as it can alter their biological cycles and behaviors.

ITESO and Concordia University in Quebec began this project with the goal of studying this problem in the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area (AMG). "The idea is that the results may one day help guide public policy and promote actions such as urban tree planting, shade, and the rehabilitation of certain public spaces."

De Alba points out that one of the benefits of the alliance with the Next-Generation Cities Institute at Université Concordia lies in the center's experience in the study of sustainable cities. In addition to the exchange of knowledge, the collaboration opens the possibility of analyzing the problem from different perspectives and enriching the methodologies of both institutions.

From Université Concordia, Ursula Eicker, director of the Next Generation Cities Institute; Michael Bossert, head of research and innovation at the same institute; and Julio Sevilla, institutional liaison, are participating. From ITESO, the following are collaborating: De Alba, as technical coordinator; Carmen Guillén, professor in the Department of Technological and Industrial Processes (DPTI); Gabriela Lamas, in charge of events in the Department of Electronics, Systems and Informatics (DESI); and María Castelazo, manager of global curriculum and special programs in the Internationalization Office.

AI as a tool to preserve language

With the aim of contributing to the preservation of Tseltal, one of the main Mayan languages of Mexico, Gabriela Calvario is leading an investigation that explores the use of large language models (LLMs) for the translation of historical documents written in this language.

The project originated from a collaboration between the Society of Jesus and translators from the community of Bachajón, Chiapas. Through translation tools and educational resources, the team seeks to facilitate access to documents that preserve customs and memories built up over decades in this region.

The initiative is part of the Data Analytics in Services with a Social Focus project, using Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning methods, which began in 2023 with funding from ITESO's Research Support Fund (FAI). Since then, the group has explored various social AI applications, including the development of linguistic technologies that contribute to strengthening indigenous languages.
In a context where much of the digital progress is focused on other languages, and where increasingly young people in the community feel less motivated to learn Tseltal, this research seeks to leverage new technologies to keep the cultural heritage alive.

For the team, this entails a responsibility that goes beyond translation. Every word is linked to ways of interpreting the world, so linguistic decisions must consider symbolic and affective dimensions.

The Jalisco-Quebec grant will strengthen this line of research and expand international academic collaboration. Furthermore, the team already had research ties with the University of Guadalajara (UdeG) and the University of the Basque Country.

Also participating from ITESO are researchers Lizeth Carrillo, academic of the DPTI; Mildreth Alcaraz, professor of the DESI; Eurídice Minerva Ochoa, academic of the Department of Languages (DL), and Luis Rizo, professor of the DESI.