US-based semiconductor manufacturer Intel and the Junior Achievement-Young Enterprise Europe (JA-YE) scheme announced the winners of the first Sci-preneurship contest on 21st October.
The contest is open to students aged 18 to 23 from the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair and JA-YE entreperneurship programes. The students collaborate in multi-country teams to devise projects which are both beneficial to society and commercially viable.
The winners were a team of students from Hungary, the Netherlands, Norway and Portugal, who devised a microscopic device which uses nano technology and image recognition technology to analyse how close a food product is to expiry.
In addition to receiving coaching from Intel staff, participating teams were also offered backing from Poland-based technology incubator fund Investin, which will support the teams in refining their business plans and finding investors.
Thomas Osburg, director for corporate affairs Europe at Intel, said: "By encouraging emerging young entrepreneurs to team up with young scientists and reward ideas that have business potential, Intel aims to create the link between scientific expertise and a business approach in order to foster innovation."