It’s a showcase for the best of what’s being done at the University of Minho’s School of Engineering (EEUM).
On 19 September, the main hall of the Azurém campus in Guimarães hosted four dozen spin-offs, start-ups and interfaces in the areas of engineering, technology and design, as well as inspiring talks, elevator pitches and moments for new collaborations and business opportunities. The initiative was entitled ‘Innovate & Undertake’ and was free to the general public.
The opening included an institutional visit to the stands of the young companies and interfaces. At 11am, television commentator and State Counsellor Luís Marques Mendes gave a lecture entitled ‘Innovation and entrepreneurship as an engine for economic and social development’.
An hour later, the EEUM Agenda for Innovation and Entrepreneurship was presented by the Vice-President of the School of Engineering, Professor Raúl Fangueiro, an agenda that seeks to encourage and support the know-how of this academic community. This was followed by a session to recognise the authors of UMinho’s first European patent: Carlos Couto and Lubos Hes registered an innovative type of thermometer in May 1993.
Presentation of seven projects
In the afternoon, the ‘InvestMatch’ meeting featured the presentation of seven business ideas: Apryori (Óscar Lopes), CibusAI (Óscar Dias), CircleVal (Pedro Geada), eDynamics Technologies (Joana Figueiredo), EzMocap (Guilherme Krull), Nabia Studios (Eduardo da Silva Brito) and To-Be-Green (António Dinis Marques). Each author had seven minutes to convince the jury and investors. Artificial intelligence, bioengineering, production systems and recycling were some of the areas in focus.
At 3pm, the round table ‘From idea to business: creating spin-offs and start-ups’ brought together the president of Investors Portugal, Lurdes Gramaxo, the coordinator for Entrepreneurship and Financing at IAPMEI, Sandra Alvim, the co-founder of Primavera BSS, Jorge Batista, the director of ESI Robotics, Gil Sousa and the head of Entrepreneurship at TecMinho, Clara Silva. The moderator was journalist and television producer Hugo Correia.
At 4pm it was time to hear about innovation and entrepreneurship success stories at EEUM. Eugénia Nogueira, co-founder of Solfarcos (a drug for rheumatoid arthritis); Narciso Moreira, general director of Betweien (innovative educational projects); José Carlos Ramalho, managing partner of Keep Solutions (a leader in information management systems); and Filipa Fernandes, co-founder of Ooze Nanotech (a bracelet to prevent malaria).
More details about the whole event can be found at https://www.engium.uminho.pt/tomorrowneedsyou/inovar-empreender-2024/
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