Tuesday, 3/19/2024
A
team of students from the Marketing Degree of the School of Economics and
Management (EEG) of the University of Minho was the big winner of the XVII
National Competition of the Start Up Program of Junior Achievement Portugal,
which took place on March 15, 2024, in Cascais, in which university teams from
all over the country participated, determined in the regional competitions. As
part of the Entrepreneurship Curriculum Unit taught by Professors Elisabete Sá
and Nuno Marques, from EEG's Management Department, the team made up of Ana
Leão, Inês Pinto, José Velar, Mafalda Araújo, Margarida Fonseca and Patrícia
Viana developed the INCARe project, an intelligent and inclusive shopping cart
that gives directions to visually impaired customers. These students will now
represent Portugal at Gen_E 24, the largest European entrepreneurship festival,
which takes place in July, this year in Catania, Italy. In addition to the 1st
prize, two other EEG teams won two of the five Signature Prizes awarded by the
judges in this edition. Pet24, made up of Ana Eira, Ana Portela, Gabriela
Carvalho, José Gonçalves and Mafalda Macedo, also from the Marketing degree,
won the Ready to Go award (Zurich), with an innovative proposal for the
efficient management of veterinary information. The Adote um Neto team, made up
of Inês Sequeira, Roberta Veloso and Rui Gomes, presented an idea involving
young people to solve the problem of loneliness among the elderly and their
difficulties in carrying out certain tasks, which was awarded the Impacto prize
(DNA Cascais).
Junior
Achievement, nominated three times for the Nobel Peace Prize, is one of the top
Social Good Organizations with the greatest social impact worldwide. Junior
Achievement Portugal's Start Up Program promotes entrepreneurial skills in
university students, based on the principle that business can contribute to
sustainable development. According to Elisabete Sá and Nuno Marques, "this
is a unique opportunity to enrich the curriculum, but also to develop important
personal skills, such as creativity, communication, team spirit and the ability
to devise and plan solutions to complex problems".
In
the opinion of Inês Pinto, from the winning team, taking part in this
competition "was a unique experience that we will never forget! It was an
opportunity to present our ideas, grow and, above all, learn. With dedication
and effort, everything can be achieved. We couldn't have been happier with the
result, and we're ready to represent Portugal at Gen_E 24 in Italy with the
InCARe project." Roberta Veloso, from the Adote um Neto team, highlights
"the spirit of the activity, marked by companionship and mutual help. It
allowed us to cultivate relationships, contacts and share experiences and
knowledge". Mafalda Macedo, from the Pet24 team, also gives a very
positive assessment, saying that "taking part in the national stage was
undoubtedly challenging and demonstrated that effort really does pay off. We
are very proud to have won the Ready to Go prize and we believe that this is
only the beginning. We are very grateful for the opportunity that our teachers
and JAP gave us and it was, without a doubt, a unique experience!"
EEG
congratulates our winning students and their teachers Elisabete Sá and Nuno
Marques for this distinction!
Gabinete de Comunicação
Escola de Economia e Gestão
Universidade do Minho
Telefone: 253 604541
Email: gci@eeg.uminho.pt
