The winning project of Mushuna is Alakazam and the winner of Hult Prize is AgroWaterTech
Students from Yachay Tech organized the third day of innovation: Mushuna17 which was held at the University’s facilities on December 8, 2017. The event, which received the collaboration of the Yachay Tech faculty, consists of the exhibition of different initiatives of innovation and entrepreneurship, designed by students in response to challenges presented by sponsoring organizations. Additionally, for the second consecutive year, Mushuna was the setting for Hult Prize, the most important university competition in innovation and entrepreneurship of the world. This is its second year in Ecuador.
The winners of Mushuna 2017 were Alakazam, a team of 4 students that are coursing 4th semester: Marjorie Zambonino, Gabriel Sanchez, Cynthia Cervantes and Evelyn Aguiar. The team, who participated in the education category, developed a low cost and easy to transport microscope that aims to reduce gaps in access to science, in addition to facilitating the use of this tool in remote areas. On the other hand, the winners of Hult Prize at Yachay Tech were the AgroWaterTech team, students of 3th semester and led by Carlos Oswaldo Alvarado. The main goal of the project is to innovate in the agroproduction area, reducing water consumption and increasing the biomass result.
In this edition of the contest, social entrepreneurship projects were received in the areas of sustainable development, education, technology, and health; developed by 54 teams of students. For Hult Prize, this year’s challenge is to harness the power of energy to change the lives of 10 million people, with a prize of $ 1 million in seed capital – delivered by the Hult Foundation owned by the former US President Bill Clinton, to allow the world winner to implement their social innovation project. During the event, attendees were able to participate in two talks by Javier Collado, from Universidad Nacional de Educación (UNAE), and Cristian López, Ph.D. from Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, respectively.
