On May 7, during the Inizia DAY, the INIZIA 2024 awards were presented, an event that was chaired by the vice-rector of the Álava Campus of the University of the Basque Country, Manoli Igartua, and which was attended by of Leyre Madariaga, director of Digital Transformation and Entrepreneurship of the Basque Government, of the director of BIC Araba, David Montero, and the director of Entrepreneurship and Transfer of the Álava Campus, Amaia Calleja.

The awards are part of the INIZIA Arabacampus Program, dedicated to promoting entrepreneurial culture, in which both the Álava Campus of the UPV/EHU and the BIC Araba collaborate. Its objective is to reward those projects consisting of innovative and/or technology-based business initiatives.

 Inizia Awards 2024 winners

The awards have two categories. The ‘New innovative initiatives’ is aimed at graduates or postgraduates and students of any cycle of the UPV/EHU; to the PDI of the UPV/EHU; or promoters who use the technology developed as a result of research carried out at the UPV/EHU.

In that section, the winner was the project called ‘Loraontech’ promoted by Asier de Celis. This is a startup specialized in the registration and interpretation of data through management software using LoRaWaN technology. The project covers sectors from smart agriculture to efficient resource management in industry and smart cities.

The second prize was won by the ‘Biosystem Technology’ project, developed by Beatriz Uralde. It involves performing dermal monitoring with biosensors. Its objective is to correlate stress and anxiety with the concentration of electrolytes Ca2+, Na+ and K+ present in the skin and detect symptoms of anxiety and depression.

Regarding the category ‘Final Degree Projects, Final Master’s Projects and Doctoral Theses’, the awards went to Lidia Maeso’s work entitled ‘System for the prevention of pressure ulcers (UPP) based on biocompatible pressure sensors ( UPappSense) connected wirelessly to a mobile application (UPapp)´; for the titled ‘Odol-Stop® ecological plug to treat nosebleeds’, by Mikel Rodriguez Igartua, and for Sabrina Moulay, for her work ‘Comprehensive monitoring and control system for sustainable agriculture’.