Fostering young women’s entrepreneurship and technical innovation, the InnovaTech Challenge, organized by Elles Bougent , has welcomed more than 1,500 participants since its launch in 2016. This year’s edition concluded in May in Paris to great excitement. On a quest for impact, NXP’s Susanna Vargiu and Julie Athanassiadis worked their way to the finals from our NXP sites in Sophia Antipolis and Toulouse respectively. Every step of the way, they shared their expertise with aspiring, young female engineers and collaborated on solving common social and environmental concerns.
It was the first InnovaTech Challenge for Susanna, NXP Digital Verification Engineer, and Julie, NXP Product Engineer. Julie was in team BIKEPOST consisting of six people: one retired professional, two students from Lycée Berthelot and two high school students. Susanna’s team F’AMI comprised three high school students, an engineering school student and two engineers, all combining fresh ideas and skills. Both teams reached the grand finale having delivered a five-minute pitch for an innovative project to a jury of women. In total, seventeen regional finalists contested in Paris.
Bright minds. Bright futures. NXP team members create breakthrough technologies that advance our world. The future starts here.
Roughly 21% of France’s population is above the age of 65 and a significant number of those people live alone . As a result, social isolation of the elderly is becoming an increasing concern for many in the country. Susanna’s team project, F’AMI, is a global application for reducing social isolation among the elderly, helping them in their everyday lives and improving their overall sense of well-being. The easy-to-use app suggests online and in-person opportunities for social connection based on users' interests, location, mobility and availability.
Meanwhile, Julie’s team addressed a different need in France. A significant amount of organic waste is currently disposed of in the country, with mandatory compositing expected by 2024. Julie’s team project, BIKEPOST, centered on recycling organic waste to produce biogas through fermentation. Through fermentation, 10 m3 of the resultant biogas can create 7,72KWh of electricity in about 20 days, enough to charge up eight e-bike batteries. The energy can also be used for enterprises or campsites. The project came in second in the rankings.
Susanna and Julie expressed great satisfaction with their teams’ performance, even more with the impact they made on the younger generation. After the results were announced, Julie remarked: “Participating in the InnovaTech Challenge was a superb experience. The challenge enabled us to show that women have a place in the tech space. I am very proud that my team came in second position.”
“I am amazed by my team’s energy and ideas! The goal of this contest has always been to empower young girls, attract them to engineering careers by showing them what’s possible. I am glad we achieved that!”
Susanna Vargiu
Click here for a video of the finale (in French).
Korede is a member of NXP’s Content Development team. In this role, he identifies and develops opportunities to share the company’s story with its global audience across multiple channels. He is passionate about innovative technologies and their potential in driving positive change.
