[6th MERIThON Manresa] UPC Manresa consolidates the MERIThON with more participants and high-level technological projects

The Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya – BarcelonaTech (UPC) in Manresa, UPC Manresa, has held a new edition of the MERIThON (6th MERIThON), the hackathon linked to the Digital Europe MERIT project, with the participation of 32 students organised into 9 teams who developed innovative solutions based on real-world technological challenges. 

The event is part of the activities of the MERIT project, aimed at promoting training and talent development in strategic fields such as Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and the Internet of Things (IoT), and is linked to the international Master’s degree in Machine Learning and Cybersecurity for Internet Connected Systems offered at UPC Manresa. 

The activity was organised in collaboration with Asoindel, an engineering company specialised in the development of advanced software solutions for industry and R&D projects, which participates as an industrial partner in the MERIT project. 

In this edition, participants could choose between three different challenges. The objective was to develop innovative proposals in teams, within an intensive environment focused on collaboration, creativity and problem-solving. 

The event also benefited from the involvement of Raquel Horta and Hafid Kharbouch, UPC alumni and winners of the previous edition, who contributed to the organisation by sharing their experience and insights from a participant’s perspective. 

The jury responsible for evaluating the projects was composed of Sebastià Vila, professor at UPC Manresa; Jaume Martínez, representative of Asoindel and partner in the MERIT project; and Miguel Romera, expert in Artificial Intelligence. 

The awards, sponsored by CETIM and Masats, recognised two particularly outstanding projects. 

The CETIM Award was given to AImSafe, an AI-based monitoring tool capable of analysing body posture and facial fatigue to prevent accidents caused by human tiredness in industrial environments. The jury highlighted the excellent presentation and the strong motivation of the team formed by Chengheng Li Chen, Hao Chen, Pengcheng Chen, Xu Yao Chen and Zhiqian Zhou. 

The Masats Award went to Mou Manresa, a mobile application designed to integrate three modes of transport into a single platform, facilitating more efficient and sustainable urban mobility in the city of Manresa. The project was developed by Joaquim Oliva, Joan Oliva, Carles Ferrer and Ilya Krouglov. 

The organisers emphasised that the overall level of the submitted projects has significantly increased compared to last year, confirming the consolidation of MERIThON as a reference space for fostering technological talent, applied creativity and knowledge transfer between academia and industry.