24-02-2025
Photo: João Lima/NOVA FCT
The project 'Steadylife', an Artificial Intelligence (AI) application aiming to revolutionize Parkinson’s diagnosis, was the grand winner of the 13th edition of the NOVA FCT Entrepreneurship Program. The team presented a project that seeks to continuously and accurately detect the progression of a disease affecting 10 million people worldwide and 18,000 patients in Portugal. The developed prototype records the patient's symptoms with 90% diagnostic accuracy and requires no additional equipment other than a smartphone with internet access. The 'Steadylife' team won €1000, along with an additional €500 from the NTT DATA Build The Future Award.
A total of 12 finalist teams presented their proposals on February 21st before a jury composed of representatives from leading companies in the Grand Auditorium of the NOVA FCT campus. During this session, students presented in detail criteria such as business opportunity identification, market analysis, and financial studies.
In addition to the winning team, the podium also featured the project 'MushItPack', which took second place. This team developed a solution to tackle the proliferation of plastic and paper packaging: packaging made from mushrooms, particularly mushroom mycelium. This raw material is highly moldable, biodegradable, and resistant to water and heat, making it ideal for food delivery services, for example. 'MushItPack' earned €500 from the second prize and another €500 from the Jerónimo Martins InnoRetail Award.
MushItPack won the second place.
The third place went to 'MicroGoodies', a project proposing the use of homemade live bacteria to regulate gut microbiota and aid mental health. There is an intrinsic relationship between mental health, including symptoms of depression, and the millions of organisms in the gut, known as the microbiota. This project presents an affordable homemade fermentation product that creates live bacteria contributing to the well-being of the microbiota. The project received a €250 prize.
The third place went to Microgoodies.
This year’s edition introduced the IMPACT Award, worth €750. The winner was Kaabricks, which developed innovative and sustainable construction materials from textile and mineral waste. This award recognizes the importance of sustainability in the construction sector and the positive impact of innovative solutions for the future. Kaabricks also won the Sustainable Construction Award from MEXT, worth €500.
Kaabricks vencedor do Prémio Impacto.
The session also recognized the 'Friggy' project, an intelligent storage device that controls internal temperature for heat-sensitive medications, with the Performance Enhancement Award by EY. The 'Hivecontrol' team, presenting an IoT-based infrastructure management solution, won the Connecting Humanity Award by NOS. Finally, the Delivering Excellence Award by Deloitte was presented to H2iNOVA, which proposed a sustainable, natural, and biodegradable water purifier based on hydrogel.
“This program is an opportunity to bring academia closer to society, offering a platform to showcase the innovative ideas and competencies of our students,” said José Júlio Alferes, Dean of NOVA FCT, during the session.
The NOVA FCT Entrepreneurship Program concludes after a month of work by students on developing an original tech-based business.
The distinguished jury panel during the session.
The initiative is part of the NOVA FCT Curricular Profile, a pioneering pedagogical approach in Portuguese higher education, which integrates, since 2012, subjects focused on the development of soft skills, combining the technical component of education with the preparation of future skills for successful integration into the job market.
The Entrepreneurship Program was supported by Jerónimo Martins, NTT Data, MEXT, NOS, Deloitte, and EY, with partnerships from Startup Portugal, Magma Studio, and IN-Nova.
Photo gallery here (Photos by João Lima/NOVA FCT).
In the press
Despiste de Parkinson com recurso a AI vence programa de empreendedorismo da NOVA FCT, O Almadense
Diagnóstico de Parkinson com IA, embalagens feitas de cogumelos e bactérias vivas caseiras vencem Programa de Empreendedorismo da NOVA FCT, Sustentix
Universidade Nova de Lisboa premeia diagnóstico de Parkinson com inteligência artificial, Observador
Universidade Nova de Lisboa premeia diagnóstico de Parkinson com inteligência artificial, Diário de Leiria
Universidade Nova de Lisboa premeia diagnóstico de Parkinson com inteligência artificial, Diário de Viseu
Universidade Nova de Lisboa premeia diagnóstico de Parkinson com inteligência artificial, Diário de Viseu
Universidade Nova de Lisboa premeia diagnóstico de Parkinson com inteligência artificial, d.notícias.pt
