A tool to clean the menstrual cup wins the 9th edition of Innovation Day
Participants present solutions to challenges presented by entities and businesses.
News
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Innovation
(15/11/2023)
On Thursday, 9 November, the StartUB! facilities hosted the ninth edition of Innovation Day (i-Day), an activity in which the members of the university community, distributed by teams and applying a methodology based on design thinking, present solutions to challenges presented by entities and businesses. The winner was a foldable container to clean the menstrual cup when there is no access to a bathroom, willing to promote its use while guaranteeing its hygiene too.
Participants present solutions to challenges presented by entities and businesses.
News
|
Innovation
15/11/2023
On Thursday, 9 November, the StartUB! facilities hosted the ninth edition of Innovation Day (i-Day), an activity in which the members of the university community, distributed by teams and applying a methodology based on design thinking, present solutions to challenges presented by entities and businesses. The winner was a foldable container to clean the menstrual cup when there is no access to a bathroom, willing to promote its use while guaranteeing its hygiene too.
This year’s edition included the participation of 150 students from different degrees of the University of Barcelona and other universities. They had to come up with ideas for the challenges presented by the Department of Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda of the Government of Catalonia, the Human Age Institute Foundation and the Vice-rector’s Office of Equal Opportunities and Gender of the UB. These three presented challenges related to food waste, new work environments and sustainable menstruation, respectively.
There were 33 student teams (eleven per challenge) that worked on the problem and the affected users, the generation and selection of ideas, and the prototyping and preparation of its presentation, accompanied by facilitators and experts on the methodology and the topic.
A jury formed by members of the Catalan entrepreneur and innovative ecosystem selected the winning proposal for each challenge, each of them was awarded 500 euros. Moreover, among the three winning proposals, one was selected to take part in the finals of the European i-Days, where the 23 winning teams from different cities where this initiative has been held will participate to win the final champion title.
This year, the finals will be held in Barcelona, on 30 November and 1 December, as part of the actions organized by EIT Health.
Winning proposals
The Human Age Institute Foundation presented the challenge on what the new work environments should be like to adapt to the necessities or preferences of the new generations, and the winning solution was the one by the Zenith team — formed by students of the Toulouse Business School and the UB —, which detected stress and emotional support through an artificial intelligence platform while offering key data to the companies.
The winning idea in the challenge presented by the Department of Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda, on how to avoid food waste, was presented by Boltzmann Brain, and it consisted on implementing compost containers on balconies and terraces and using this compost in urban gardens in these spaces.
Regarding the challenge by the Vice-rector’s Office of Equal Opportunities and Gender, on how to improve the experience of people who menstruate, the winning idea was presented by the team InnoBio, formed by five students of the bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering at the UB. Their idea consisted of a foldable container to clean the menstrual cup when there is no bathroom access, aiming to promote its use while guaranteeing its hygiene.
This last team was chosen by the jury to represent the University of Barcelona in the European final.
More information
There were 33 student teams (eleven per challenge) that worked on the problem and the affected users, the generation and selection of ideas, and the prototyping and preparation of its presentation, accompanied by facilitators and experts on the methodology and the topic.
A jury formed by members of the Catalan entrepreneur and innovative ecosystem selected the winning proposal for each challenge, each of them was awarded 500 euros. Moreover, among the three winning proposals, one was selected to take part in the finals of the European i-Days, where the 23 winning teams from different cities where this initiative has been held will participate to win the final champion title.
This year, the finals will be held in Barcelona, on 30 November and 1 December, as part of the actions organized by EIT Health.
Winning proposals
The Human Age Institute Foundation presented the challenge on what the new work environments should be like to adapt to the necessities or preferences of the new generations, and the winning solution was the one by the Zenith team — formed by students of the Toulouse Business School and the UB —, which detected stress and emotional support through an artificial intelligence platform while offering key data to the companies.
The winning idea in the challenge presented by the Department of Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda, on how to avoid food waste, was presented by Boltzmann Brain, and it consisted on implementing compost containers on balconies and terraces and using this compost in urban gardens in these spaces.
Regarding the challenge by the Vice-rector’s Office of Equal Opportunities and Gender, on how to improve the experience of people who menstruate, the winning idea was presented by the team InnoBio, formed by five students of the bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering at the UB. Their idea consisted of a foldable container to clean the menstrual cup when there is no bathroom access, aiming to promote its use while guaranteeing its hygiene.
This last team was chosen by the jury to represent the University of Barcelona in the European final.
More information