For the third consecutive year, EELISA has partnered with JOSEPH’s Lab – The Innovation Open Lab in Nuremberg, to bring together startups from across the Alliance’s institutions for their Co-Creation Workshop. This four-day event, held from December 10th to 13th, culminated in an exciting opportunity for participants to showcase their prototypes to invited public and experts from JOSEPHS and FAU, who selected the final winners.
Since its inception, this contest has provided a dedicated testing space to the visionary winners of each edition. In its first year, Adán Sánchez, with his air purifying “Green Tower” was awarded with the first prize; while for the 2nd edition of this contest, Pauline Nöldemann and Yannick Wiesnerfollowed were selected, leveraging the test space to refine their groundbreaking BesserEsser App, which allowed users to track food allergies.
Courious to find out more about the winners of the thrid edition? Read this article to learn about the visionary prototypes that participated!
Welcome to the EELISA Co-Creation Workshop
JOSEPHS Test space protorype showcase
Nine teams from six EELISA partner universities participated in the third EELISA Prototype Contest hosted by FAU in collaboration with JOSEPHS – The Open Innovation Lab in Nuremberg, Germany from 10 to 13 December 2024. In this third edition of the contest, the teams engaged in a four-day co-creation workshop onsite at JOSEPHS, where they learned about open innovation methods: The teams were taught how to better understand users and potential customers, how to develop and validate their prototypes, and how to successfully build market-ready innovations. On the final day of the workshop, the start-ups showcased their prototypes publicly at JOSEPHS’s open test space, inviting visitors and the general public to explore, test, and provide feedback to the teams. In a final pitch competition on Friday evening, all teams presented their prototype projects in front of a jury of experts and the general audience, who selected the winners of the 2024 EELISA Prototype Contest:
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- Place: “Crystal Clear Water”, Water Purification for PFAS, FAU
- Place: “Nothospan 2000”, Automated Aquarium System for Researchers, SNS
- Place: “RD-1”, 3D printed robot kit for educational purposes, UNSTPB
Pitch session at the EELISA Co-creation workshop
WILCO Prototype
JOSEPHS Test space protorype showcase
About the Winners of the EELISA Prototype Contest: The startup CiX with “Crystal Clear Water”
The winners of the third EELISA Prototype Contest are Rudolf Borchardt, Benjamin Seemann, and Timo Fromm who are research associates in the field of Material Science at FAU. They developed the prototype “Crystal Clear Water,” which can filter PFAS out of water. PFAS is a group of human-made substances used, for example, in food packaging, waterproof textiles, and cosmetics. It is also known as “forever chemicals” because it does not degrade naturally. As a result, PFAS accumulates in nature and the human body, possibly leading to health issues such as kidney and testicular cancer and reduced fertility. The EU has announced a limit and a tracking order for PFAS in drinking water effective in 2026. Additionally, a (partial) ban on PFAS in the EU is under discussion, with a decision expected in 2025. This forces PFAS processing industries to treat their wastewater to avoid further health risks, environmental damage, and penalties.
Winners prototype of the Third EELISA Prototype Contest
Winners of the Third EELISA Prototype Contest
Article Written by Johanna Hojer, FAU’s EELISA Communication Representative and Co-Leader of the Communication, Branding & Dissemination Workgroup