Confluence Challenge Awards

On December 4, 2023, the open innovation action “Confluence Challenge” was completed, which brought together researchers and start-ups with three leading Greek companies, namely ALUMIL, ISOMAT and KLEEMANN, to jointly develop original solutions to specific industrial challenges.
The event concluded with Demo Day, where seventeen of the sixty-seven teams that had registered to participate presented their proposals. The teams that developed the most promising and effective solutions to the program’s challenges received cash prizes worth €30,000 and incubation services worth €5,000.
The Laboratory of Polymer Reaction Engineering (LPRE) of CPERI with the team consisting of Olympia Kotrotsiou, Giannis Penloglou, Veroniki Bakola and Alexandros Pavlou received the €5,000 “Innovation for Society Award” sponsored by the One Stop Liaison Office of the Region of Central Macedonia for the ALUMIL challenge to develop solutions for the development of improved methods for coating composite materials.
It should be emphasized that the action was organized by the Competence Centers “Architectural Aluminum Academy” and “I4byDesign”. The program was designed and implemented by the companies “Atlantis Consulting”, “Anthology Ventures” and “Ideas Forward”, which specialize in promoting innovation. The action was supported by the Federation of Industries of Greece (FIG), the Centre for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH), the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH), the University of Macedonia and the National Startup Registry “Elevate Greece”, the official registry for startups in Greece, as well as by the sponsors of the special prizes: One Stop Liaison Office of Region of Central Macedonia, Thess INTEC – Thessaloniki Innovation & Technology Center and Alexander Innovation Zone. The Technology Transfer Office of CERTH SPIRA contributed with training on the protection of intellectual property rights.
The action was co-financed by the Operational Program “Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship & Innovation” (EPAnEK) and implemented by the General Secretariat for Research and Innovation (GSRI).