The Catholic University of Ávila (UCAV) recently unveiled the results of projects developed under the XII call for market-oriented prototypes, led by a functional beverage with natural stimulants and by intelligent systems for automotive driving and irrigation. This initiative sits within the University-Business Knowledge Transfer Plan (Plan TCUE) 2024-2027, promoted by the Junta de Castilla y León.
The rector of UCAV, Mª del Rosario Sáez Yuguero, presided over this event, described as “a program that enables both professors and students to develop these prototypes, and that represents the transfer of knowledge from research to the real world.”
At the event, “three prototypes with market interest” were presented, the result of work that has been developed at the university. In this sense, she recalled the recent first prize of the ‘University-Business Challenge,’ awarded to the Glyco4NPdet project. It was also framed within the TCUE Plan, a program that the rector wished to thank the Junta de Castilla y León for, “for the support of research and the business world so important for our territory.”
The authors presented their projects. In the case of Francisco José San José, an undergraduate in Nutrition and Dietetics, his prototype “emerges from the final degree project where I presented results on caffeine consumption and its possible harmful effects.” From there, he verified that there was no refreshing functional beverage on the market and created Vettónica. To do this, San José used “a natural substance to impart the bitter taste typical of tonics” and botanical compounds present in Ávila. As a result “a beverage with a functional effect, with protective effects against cavities and that avoids the sleep problems caused by caffeine.” All of this will in turn serve him, as an entrepreneurship lecturer at UCAV, “to explain the process to students and create entrepreneurs.”
For his part Adrián Pérez, a student of Mechanical Engineering, has created the Intelligent Driving-Assist System for deceleration, “designed and based on detection using load cells.” “I have developed a series of sensorizations that allow adding that assistance to older drivers without modifying the car’s original system,” he explained. It will mitigate the instability that arises in the vehicle when decelerating, “through actuation on the throttle, which is what we have developed.” This, “smooths driving and prevents dangerous situations.”
The prototype by Soledad Martínez, a student in the Master’s Degree in Agricultural Engineering, is an intelligent hydraulic system “based on the root adaptation of plants.” The idea emerged after identifying that “many farmers need more control in water management and in the root system”. From there, she has developed a system that reduces the costs of those already on the market, “a model of a system in which, through biomimicry, it adapts to the plant’s needs, indicating how much water is required.”
With these results presented, UCAV and its Office of Knowledge Transfer (OTC) once again show their commitment to real transfer of results and technology to the business and social fabric.
