Representing University of Vaasa, in Finland, this team received the first prize of this entrepreneurship competition for their business plan, consisting of a solution to enhance navigation accuracy in different areas, such as logistics or marine navigation.
Three PhD students from University of Vaasa, Finland, were proclaimed winners of the EUNICE Imagine Innovation Cup 2024 for their Unicore project, consisting of the deployment of a constellation in Low Earth Orbit to deliver Positioning Navigation and Timing services, a solution to enhance navigation accuracy in different areas, such as logistics, aerial mobility, marine navigation, etc. This Finnish team received a one-thousand-euro prize for the best start-up idea in this entrepreneurship competition of which final brought teams representing different EUNICE universities.
Nine EUNICE-student-teams competed with their business ideas and entrepreneurship plans in the final celebrated at the University of Cantabria (UC, Spain) on 11 and 12 July 2024. The team representing UC last year -Sense- won the EUNICE Imagine Innovation Cup 2023. 2024 edition gathered teams from Germany, Spain, Italy, Sweden, France, Belgium, Poland, Finland, and Portugal.
Unbiased Cathode project, from Karlstad University (Sweden), and AndanteCaps project, from Poznan University of Technology (Poland), came second and third, respectively.
Winning team, repesenting University of Vaasa, in Finland, with their Unicore project.
The statements
Mikko Punnala, Unicore team member
“The key element for this kind of initiative is to get further collaborations.”
Ángel Pazos, Rector of University of Cantabria
“Society needs new generations to keep on promoting innovation with business ideas like the ones presented today, it is extremely important.”
Daniel Pérez, Vice-Rector for Knowledge Transfer and Entrepreneurship at University of Cantabria
“Being in touch with other European entrepreneur student,” participants will be able “to get new ideas and have a greater, more beautiful and intellectually enriching experience.”
Institutional representatives
Chaired by Ángel Pazos, Rector of University of Cantabria, the award ceremony was also attended by representatives of EUNICE’s associated partners: Sergio Silva, Regional Minister for Education, Vocational Training and Universities, Isabel Gómez-Barreda, Councillor for Employment, Entrepreneurship and Business Development of Santander Town Council, and Jorge Oliveira, General Manager of Solvay Factory in Spain and Portugal.
Unicore project
Eldrige de Melo, Mikko Punnala, and Mahmoud Elsanhoury, from University of Vaasa, seek to meet at least five Sustainable Development Goals, as Unicore team stated in the project description, by committing to Agricultural Productivity (SDG 2), Infrastructure Development (SDG 9), Disaster Management (SDG 11), Environmental Monitoring (SDG 13), and Global Connectivity (SDG 17).
The jury consisted of five professors from different EUNICE partner universities and two entrepreneurs and industry experts from Spain who evaluated each project on the basis of their sustainability, feasibility, novelty of the idea, and appealing for stakeholders, as well as the quality of the presentation during the final.
