The latest edition of the Innovation Prize ended with the announcement of the 3 winners during the final conference of the Re-UNITA project, held in Pau on the 2nd of July.
This year, 16 projects from the 6 universities belonging to the UNITA Alliance were presented, covering a wide range of fields from sport to renewable energy and languages. Three of them have been awarded.
The project that won first prize is MUS-ESP, and it’s from the University of Zaragoza (UNIZAR), in Spain.
The primary goal of this project is to develop and refine a comprehensive educational methodology that utilizes a progression of phantoms, ranging from simple models to highly realistic anatomical replicas, for training medical students and professionals in ultrasoundguided procedures. These phantoms are meticulously designed to replicate human soft tissue and anatomical structures, providing a realistic and safe environment for skill acquisition and practice.
Second place went to the Pav-OK! project, the result of research carried out at the University of Beira Interior (UBI) in Portugal.
The Pav-OK! solution is as an innovative technological approach to digital and intelligent pavement data inspection and processing. The project aims to overcome the limitations of traditional methods and fill the gap in planning the diagnosis of the condition of municipal and airport pavements by taking advantage of new technologies and Artificial Intelligence (AI) potential, providing so a technologically advanced solution at a lower cost. The solution incorporates image data capture and recording, laser and georeferencing devices, and can be classified as a low-cost multifunctional mobile system with semi-automatic data processing.
Finally, the third prize went to Tips – M, a project from the University of Turin (UNITO).
The project is aimed at the development of stable thin-film mini-module architecture based on hybrid perovskite photoabsorber for internet of things (IoT) application. This device could be integrated into window blinds or window glasses to provide power for small-scale electronic devices, including microcontrollers, detectors, sensors, and indicators. It could be very helpful for usage in remote mountain locations, providing power to smart-home systems and weather and air quality monitoring which is located far from the electric grids.
Congratulations to the three winners of this year's edition, and to all the participants who submitted their projects during the 3 competitions. Once again, they demonstrated the dynamism of the students and researchers of the UNITA Alliance in terms of research and scientific innovation.
*Re-UNITA is a project funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 programme.