Submitted by Diretoria de Relações Internacionais on Fri, 08/18/2023 - 14:14
Between Monday (11/07) and Thursday (11/10), 2022, Living Lab Biobased Battle, an international bioeconomy competition organized by the Project Living Lab Biobased Brazil, was carried out. Created in 2014, the Project was born from a partnership between Dutch and Brazilian institutions aiming to promote the internationalization of higher education in both countries, based on the biologically based economy. The competition this year had the participation and was organized by the Federal University of Ouro Preto (UFOP) in partnership with the Federal University of São João del-Rei (UFSJ), Avans University of Applied Sciences (Netherlands), and the Center of Expertise Biobased Economy (CoE BBE).
In total, 28 students were divided into 7 groups (from A to G) and presented with the task: the
disposal of coffee waste. The objective was to find a (financially, technically, and socially) viable idea for the reuse of this waste. To start the week's activities, during the first general meeting, the selected students had a lecture about the competition theme, taught by Prof. Saulo Rocha Ferreira from the Federal University of Lavras (UFLA).
During the meetings among members of each group, brainstorming methodologies were put into practice, techniques for disposing of coffee waste were discussed and knowledge about international cooperation between Brazil and the Netherlands and networking between students, faculty members, universities, and industries were shared. The communication among participants took place entirely online and in English, with the collaboration of tutors who guided the development of the studied solutions, among which Prof. Júlia Castro Mendes (DECIV/UFOP) and Prof. Boutros Sarrouh (UFSJ).
On Thursday (11/10), the groups could present the final pitch. The examining committee responsible for the evaluation followed a series of criteria for choosing the winning group, among which degree of innovation, use of technology underlying the concept of the idea, the market potential, the viability of application, and the final oral presentation.
Group C was the best scored, making the members Oscar Rodrigo Sandroman Castillo (Avans), Letícia Gabriela Braga Silva (UFSJ), Elisa Araújo Barbosa (UFOP), and Marina da Silva Reis Assis (UFOP) the winners of the competition.
The second place went to Group F, composed of Viktoriya-Simona Yamalieva (Avans), Nicolas Pimentel Vieira (UFSJ), Gabriela Souza Garcia (UFOP), and Vítor Freitas Mendes (UFOP).
Finally, the third best score in the competition went to Group D, Joan Gisbert Martínez (Avans), Murillo Gabriel de Cervantes and Bianchi (UFSJ), Breno de Souza Quites (UFSJ), and Gabriela Roberta Ramos Fernandes (UFOP).
DRI would like to thank all participants and organizers for holding this last edition of the Living Lab Biobased Battle competition, especially Prof. Júlia Castro Mendes and Prof.
Guilherme Brigolini (DECIV/UFOP), for their support during the competition. In addition, DRI congratulates each student selected - for their interest, commitment, and for their dedication in ending this week with great ideas and solutions to the challenges faced. Our special congratulations to the students from the three groups who reached the highest scores.
Go to the Project page and learn more about Living Lab Biobased Brazil.
