This month, students met at Riga Technical University from the USA, United Kingdom, Ireland, Sweden, and Latvia to develop new ideas and innovations in the field of biotechnology, working towards achieving Sustainable Development Goals. The participating students dedicated their efforts towards SDGs such as Good Health and Well-being, Clean Water and Sanitation, Affordable and Clean Energy, Responsible Consumption and Production, and Life Below Water. A total of 27 students, divided into eight teams, participated in the event. After two days of hard work, students had an opportunity to present their prototypes and pitches to a panel of jury members , which consisted of RTU Rector Tālis Juhna, industry representatives Girts Smelters (CEO of xT – Exponential Technologies), Anna Ramata-Stunda (CEO of Alternative Plants), as well as representatives of the academic environment – Louise Logan (Vertically Integrated Project project manager from Strathclyde University (UK)), as well as Leah Misemer (Vertically Integrated Project project manager from Georgia Tech (USA).

Through two days of creative and collaborative ideation, the students developed prototypes with a wide range of sustainable solutions, including independent bio-energy production by using microbial fuel cells; hazardous chemical extraction from wastewater; cleaning plastic pollution from the seas; developing prototype that can indicate expiration dates on medical face masks; using algae for fighting ocean acidification, and addressing overconsumption through a new device. After an evaluation process, the student team “Refuel” won the best pitch category for their vendor presentation, while the team “Super Salli” focusing on advanced desalination system implementation ocean treatment, was awarded for the best prototype.

The activity was supported by the European Union under the Grant Agreement No 101100509, project “SynBee”