Ilum students were the only undergraduates to reach the finals of the entrepreneurship competition
Ilum’s second-year students Júlia Guedes, Lorena Ribeiro Nascimento, Caio Matheus Leão Dantas, Ana Luz Pereira Mendes, and Rafael Anis Shaikzadeh won first place in the Popular Vote category of the Unicamp Challenge, a competition held annually by the Inova Unicamp Innovation Agency.
In the competition, teams must choose a technology patented by Unicamp to develop a business model. Ilum students opted for an innovation that transforms sludge generated in sewage treatment plants and industrial sectors into value-added inputs, especially for the construction industry. “We chose this idea linked to sanitation because water is a concern for all of us. It was a choice based on the direct social impact on people’s lives”, says Rafael Anis Shaikzadeh, a member of the team who proposed to his colleagues the possibility of participating in the competition.
After going through two phases, in which they had to produce documentation, carry out a market assessment, and seek technology validation with potential customers, the Innovation Illuminators crew — the Ilum team’s name — was confirmed among the six finalists. During the decision phase, the developed business models were presented, while event participants were invited to vote online for their preferred team. In this category, the Ilum students were chosen.
In the main category, the winning team, composed of a trio of researchers from Unicamp and Universidade Cidade de S. Paulo, developed a business model to accelerate wound healing. The Socio-Environmental Impact category awarded three researchers from Unicamp for a proposal to produce high-performance compostable disposables from sweet potato starch.
The participation of Ilum students in the 2025 Unicamp Challenge occurred during the same period in which they were studying the subject “Modeling and Innovative Enterprises”, taught by professor Aline Pascon. This was essential for students to face the competition stages with more knowledge and tranquility. “To be quite honest, I didn’t expect that we would get this far, and on top of that we were the only undergraduate students to reach the finals and win the 2025 edition. Professor Aline was always very interested in our project, willing to answer questions, and helped throughout the entire process”, says Caio Matheus Leão Dantas.
As a reward for winning the Popular Vote category, the five students will have free access to training for one year, the possibility of accelerating their projects with Baita Aceleradora, and an exemption from submitting at least one project each to the Unicamp’s Incubator of Technology-based Companies (Incamp). At the moment, the group has not yet defined whether it will move forward with the business model proposed in the Challenge. For now, they celebrate this unprecedented achievement for Ilum: “It is interesting and rewarding, because we are able to expand our horizons and deepen our knowledge. On the other hand, outsiders get to know more about what we do at Ilum”, says Julia Guedes.
About Ilum
Ilum offers a free undergraduate degree program that utilizes an interdisciplinary approach to train scientists and professionals in science and technology. With an innovative educational model, the three-year full-time bachelor program offers courses that connect life sciences, materials science, data science, artificial intelligence, and the humanities in order to prepare researchers to work in an ethical and collaborative manner in the search for solutions to the global challenges of the twenty-first century. The Ilum School of Science is funded by the Brazilian Ministry of Education (MEC) and is part of the Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM) in Campinas, São Paulo, a social organization overseen by the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (MCTI). Ilum’s educational mission offers early contact with experimental activities, in teaching labs at the school as well as at CNPEM, in projects carried out together with researchers.
About CNPEM
The Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM) is home to a state-of-the-art, multi-user and multidisciplinary scientific environment and works on different fronts within the Brazilian National System for Science, Technology and Innovation. A social organization overseen by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI), CNPEM is driven by research that impacts the areas of health, energy, renewable materials, and sustainability. It is responsible for Sirius, the largest assembly of scientific equipment constructed in the country, and is currently constructing Project Orion, a laboratory complex for advanced pathogen research. Highly specialized science and engineering teams, sophisticated infrastructure open to the scientific community, strategic lines of investigation, innovative projects involving the productive sector, and training for researchers and students are the pillars of this institution that is unique in Brazil and able to serve as a bridge between knowledge and innovation. CNPEM’s research and development activities are carried out through its four National Laboratories: Synchrotron Light (LNLS), Biosciences (LNBio), Nanotechnology (LNNano), Biorenewables (LNBR), as well as its Technology Unit (DAT) and the Ilum School of Science — an undergraduate program in Science and Technology supported by the Ministry of Education (MEC).
https://cnpem.br/en/
