O Biohealing project of students from São José dos Campos (SP) was one of the winners of the Young League Challenge, the largest Brazilian entrepreneurship competition for young people in schools.
The initiative was developed by students Alice Guerra (17), Ana Luiza Mazzeo (17) and Maria Eduarda Pereira (17), from Colégio Poliedro.
The young women won a trip to Madrid, Spain, where they will meet large technology companies.
More than 5,000 students and 1,200 projects participated in this edition of the Young League Challenge. Only six teams were awarded.
check out: What is sustainability, its types and examples
Biohealing Project
The Biocurativo project consists of a prototype of biodegradable dressing produced with chemical elements that do not pollute the environment and does not have plastic in its composition.
The initiative started in 2021 during the college's training itineraries. Among the functions of the dressing is the healing of skin wounds and burns. The idea is to reduce the disposal of hospital waste that could impact nature.
Credit: Personal Archive
Team advisor Thiago Pavan comments on the production process:
"They started as an academic scientific research project in the area of biologicals two years ago and, as they were moving forward, they realized it was a business opportunity and adapted the project to become a business model sustainable. Another important point was the interdisciplinarity during the research phase, with the contribution of professors from different areas, such as chemistry, biology, economics and maker” .
Thiago Pavan, Coordinator of Training Itineraries at Colégio Poliedro
Credit: Personal Archive
Maria Eduarda, one of the members, emphasizes the issue of environmental responsibility. She highlights that the intention is to provide the consumer with a sustainable, high-quality productand who cares about your well-being.
Ana Luiza Mazzeo celebrates winning the Young League Challenge, "joining the award with this trip is even greater and motivates us to continue. The competition brought together amazing projects and I hope this inspires other students to create more innovative projects."
Youth League Challenge
The Youth League Challenge is a competition between groups of students from the 9th grade of elementary school to the 3rd grade of high school from all over Brazil.
The intention is to make these young people develop works in order to solve problems in their school or community.
Therefore, the solution must be transformative and have some type of technology, such as applications, websites, electronic games, social networks, digital platforms, among others.
Teams are made up of two to five members and the advisor.
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How does the Youth League Challenge work?
Interested parties must apply for the project. In the last edition, registration takes place between August and November.
There is an online event with lectures and workshops. During a certain period, the enrolled groups receive specific mentoring to support the work.
Students have a deadline to turn in the project. Submission of work is done through a 4-minute video exposing the project.
In the last edition, the semifinalists presented their projects in São Paulo. The trip was paid for by the organization. The students participated in the Bossa Summit 2023, where the six winning teams were announced.
From July to September of this year, young people will travel to Madrid. The costs of accommodation, transfers, food, tours and monitoring are fully covered by the organization.
By Lucas Afonso
Journalist
