Bilbao (Spain), May 13, 2021 – The SENER Foundation and the SENER engineering and technology group once more took part in a joint project called “A challenge for science” to promote scientific careers among young people and adolescents in schools. This time, it was the 13-14-year-old students at the Urdaneta School, in Loiu (Basque Country, Spain), who presented their solutions to the challenges posed by SENER.

The presentation of the finalists and the award ceremony took place at the Urdaneta School on May 6. The jury consisted of SENER’s International General Manager and the trustee of the SENER Foundation, Itziar Urrutia; the Business Development Manager for Architecture and Urban Planning at SENER, Juan Francisco Paz; the Head of “A Challenge for Science” at SENER, and an engineer in SENER’s Mobility Technology Unit, Oiane Niebla; the Mayor of Loiu, Josu Andoni Begoña; and Beatriz Barrio, an Inbound Marketing consultant and creator of Think on Marketing. Also taking part were Irantzu Eskurza and Markel Vicente, teachers of Physics and Chemistry at the Urdaneta School, who coordinated the activity within the school.

On this occasion, “A challenge for science” awarded the prize to the team consisting of Lucía Gardoki, Endika Cuesta, Emma López, Ibone Zárraga and Naira Lasa, for their solution involving the use of wastewater in electricity production. A runner-up prize was also presented to the student team made up of Lucía Riaño, Irati Lerchundi, Lucía Floristán, Olivia Santisteban, Elena Flórez and Laura Axpe, for their project on air purification in cities.

On behalf of SENER, Itziar Urrutia noted that “it’s great to see the students’ projects, how they work as a team and how they rely on their experiences and skills to contribute to the project and solve the challenges posed by SENER, and that we work on every day.” For her part, Oiane Niebla emphasized “how successful ‘A challenge for science’ is proving to be. The schools we are proposing it to are receiving it very well because it provides an opportunity to bring the corporate world, in this case, SENER engineering, closer to schools.“

Josu Andoni Begoña also wanted to “praise the work of all the students, whether they made it to the finals or not, because their work is also worth highlighting.”

Officials from the Urdaneta School stated that “these initiatives, such as the one proposed by SENER and the SENER Foundation, are fantastic. They love tackling challenges; it gives them added motivation and reward for their efforts, and this type of project always goes over very well.”

As for Beatriz Barrio, she wanted to “congratulate SENER and the SENER Foundation for making ‘A challenge for science’ a reality. It is undoubtedly a great initiative, as reflected in the many great ideas that the students at the Urdaneta School put forward. Thank you very much for giving me the chance to be part of this experience; I truly enjoyed the in-person sessions and reading the marketing plans proposed by the students. They are really talented!“

What is “A challenge for science”?

“A challenge for science” involves having SENER professionals present real challenges to secondary-school students that are tailored to their curriculums. The students then have to find solutions to the problems faced daily by an engineering company. Subsequently, the students’ solutions are evaluated by SENER personnel and other external collaborators with expertise in these areas of engineering.

On this occasion, the project was sponsored by the company Euromar Technology, in partnership with Artenea 3D, which gave a free course at the school on using a 3D printer, and Think on Marketing, which, for this edition, gave the students a seminar on creating a marketing plan.

Some of the challenges posed to the Urdaneta School were: show the benefits of solar thermal technology to the different stakeholders involved; ways to purify air to get rid of pollution in cities; how to minimize the risk of spreading a virus on public transportation; and how to provide urban services more efficiently. The young participants were thus able to see how science, technology and engineering serve people in order to improve their quality of life.