«An ahead-of-his-time mind»
Ricardo Valle, an expert in electromagnetism from Malaga, lends his name to the Innova IRV Foundation, which
which aims to promote innovation with a clear market orientation, as well as the generation of employment
and technology-based companies.
In this way, we highlight the work of those who long before us, with much fewer resources,
already envisioned and dreamed of a better world based on putting technology at the service of society.
Ricardo Valle was one of them.
Ricardo Valle
1934-2008
Born in Malaga and trained as a Dr. Telecommunications Engineer at the Technical University of Madrid, Ricardo Valle is considered one of the great pioneers in the field of telecommunications in our country.
The second of four siblings, he was always enthusiastic about everything related to technological advances, which he saw as a real revolution.
From a very young age, he was interested in telecommunications engineering, where he felt there was a void, so he decided to pursue a career that, at that time, was still in its early stages.
Once in Madrid, after completing his doctorate, he successively became a professor of electromagnetism at the Technical University, and later, founder and first director of the Industrial Technical School of Telecommunications in Barcelona.
In the 1960s, Ricardo Valle furthered his education abroad. Between 1962 and 1964, he was at the University of Göttingen, which allowed him to learn about a teaching model different from the Spanish one. Upon his return to Spain and after returning to teaching, he sent many of his first students to centers in different parts of the world, to infect them with modernity and pave the way for the renewal of engineering education. Along with Rogelio Segovia, he was the great innovator of academic programs and curricula.
«The Malagan
who revolutionized
the way
telecommunications are taught»
He directed training, research, and tele-education programs at the Technological Institute of Postgraduates, Fundesco, and UPM.
He had the vision of articulating the education of the brightest telecommunications engineering students in Spain at the most prestigious university institutions in the world, such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) or Carnegie Mellon.
A great master of generations of teachers and professionals, he paved the way for the renewal of engineering education, leaving a profound imprint of his vocation for service, enthusiasm, and spirit of cooperation and innovation.
Technology as a contribution to human well-being
If there is something that drove Ricardo Valle to dedicate himself to the field of telecommunications, it was the conviction of the incalculable benefits it could bring to humanity.
The concept of «doing something useful» was very present in Ricardo Valle’s professional life, something that we at the Foundation keep in mind as part of his legacy.
1984
He was awarded the IEEE Centennial Medal as recognition for extraordinary achievement in honor of the Centennial of the foundation of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
2008
The Library of the Higher Technical Schools of Telecommunication Engineers of the Polytechnic University of Madrid was renamed after Ricardo Valle.
2009
Posthumously, the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce awarded the Telecommunications and Information Society Merit Plaque to Ricardo Valle.
Links of interest
- Ricardo Valle Sánchez
- Journal articles by Ricardo Valle
- BOE. Plaque of the Civil Order of Telecommunications and Information Society Merit
- Article “25 years of the Higher Technical School of Telecommunications Engineering of Barcelona”
- Article El País “Ricardo Valle, renovator of the teaching of telecommunications”
- Ricardo Valle, the Malaga engineer who revolutionized the way telecommunications are taught.