Nerea has been awarded for her work on “Laser-assisted surface modification of zirconia-based materials to enhance osteoblast response for dental applications“, the result of her Final Thesis of the Master in Advanced Materials Science and Engineering – AMASE at UPC, under the direction of Dr. Carles Mas-Moruno (BBT) and Dr. Joan Josep Roa (CIEFMA). As the winner of the grand finale, Nerea will represent the association in the competition European Master Thesis Award, to be held during the JR EUROMAT 2022 (Coimbra, Portugal).

This annual meeting allows the different research groups to present their latest developments and encourages the presence of their youngest researchers. Moreover, several discussion forums are established between engineers and physicians and hospitals, since they are well aware of society’s needs in this field. But also, forums between the Network and industry are favoured, as they are able to develop the products that society demands.

En aquesta ocasió s’hi han presentat tres de les xarxes d'innovació catalanes finançades amb Fons FEDER i coordinades per investigadors de l'IRSJD i CREB UPC. La xarxa i4KIDS liderada pel Dr. Jaume Pérez Payarols, la xarxa TECSAM liderada pel Dr. Josep Maria Haro i Xartec Salut liderada pel Dr. Alexandre Perera. Els ponents han reivindicat la importància i el valor de l'emprenedoria en l'àmbit de la investigació.

Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya leads, for the 8th consecutive year, the ranking of industrial doctorates in Catalonia. Since the launch of the program in 2012, the UPC has consolidated itself as the leader with 209 projects, out of a total of 694 awarded by Generalitat until 2020. Among these 27 projects, we find the thesis of PhD student Linh Johansson, who is working on the "Development of 3D-printed patient-specific, synthetic and biomimetic bone substitutes for load bearing applications", under the supervision of Dr. Maria-Pau Ginebra (BBT) and Dr. Yago Raymond (Mimetis Biomaterials).

Xartec Salut, the largest network of innovation research groups in Catalonia lead by CREB UPC, participated in the two-day seminar “Train the Trainers” at The Collider, learning about Lean Launch Pad methodology. A unique tool to validate business potential of technology transfer projects and a system to bring universities and research centres closer to the industry. Xartec Salut team could share knowledge with other networks of our ecosystem such as Xarxa d'Innovació de Noves Tecnologies en Salut Mental (TECSAM) from Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu (IRSJD) and BlueNetCat-Xarxa Marítima alongside other members of the scientific community.