Each year, in the subject ‘Introduction to Medical Devices and their Design’ the students on the bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering carry out a project  for an innovative medical device for the healthcare market. In the subject, the brainchild of professor Óscar Cámara currently taught by Antoni Ivorra, both of the Department of Information and Communication Technologies (DTIC), students identify a need in the clinical sector and propose a technical solution, either physical or involving software, to meet it.

Until now, once the device was designed, the students had to study the market and look for opportunities to patent their idea with the aim of getting a fictitious scholarship. “This year, however, we have been encouraged to ask for the scholarship to be real”, professor Ivorra explains. “It really is a prize; in the subject, the fictitious scholarship was endowed with 25,000 euros. But, this year, the UPF Board of Trustees will donate 5,000 euros to the best project”, he adds. Ivorra celebrates this initiative because “so far, what was happening was that good ideas were ending up not being developed. The idea behind this real prize is that if there is a good project it can continue to be developed and come to fruition”.

“This year, however, we have been encouraged to ask for the scholarship to be real”, professor Ivorra explains.

The new initiative has come about, in part, thanks to the insistence of the office of the vice-rector for Transfer, led by Eulàlia de Nadal, which has focused on improving the transfer of knowledge by the University, one of the strategic pillars of the new governing team. “She was the one who recommended speaking to the Board of Trustees to collaborate, after the collaboration we had established with them in the Enginy contra la covid-19 (ingenuity to fight covid-19)“ project, he explains.

A stimulus for students

On 3 December, the projects will be presented in the auditorium of the Poblenou campus and a panel made up of ‘bioentrepreneurs’, people who have created or are creating startup-type companies or spinoffs in the same sector, will decide which is the best project. “The criteria for choosing the best project will basically be its potential to come to fruition”, Ivorra assures. “The panel will weigh up whether the idea has a market and whether there is a need. It must be able to be properly protected by a patent, it must not have major competition, and it must be realistic, among other factors”, he adds.

The prize includes mentorship by the UPF programme to support the creation of innovative companies, Start-UPFlama

Ivorra defines the award as a “boost”. “It will allow us to develop a prototype or apply for a patent, which are very costly to prepare. The idea is that this team, with this motivation, should try to source more money and above all participate in other entrepreneurship programmes”, he explains.

Furthermore, the prize includes mentorship by the UPF programme to support the creation of innovative companies, Start-UPFlama. “The idea is that the winning group, or part of it, will continue their studies with this idea of training in business projects and participate in similar programmes, to gain further knowledge and further investment”, he concludes.