The third edition of Innovation Day presents twelve challenges from companies that need talent and research.

The Molins de Rei Town Hall and the UAB Research Park, with the support from Diputació de Barcelona, are launching the third edition of Innovation Day: Talent Solutions. The programme connects the university community with local companies and organisations to address real-world needs through open innovation and interdisciplinary collaboration.

This edition presents twelve challenges that combine technological development with social, environmental and business impact. The proposals require expertise in various fields: from engineering and data analysis to health sciences, encompassing the environment, psychology, communication and business management.

Artificial intelligence for inclusion, services and mobility

ECOM, dedicated to the employment of people with physical or organic disabilities, is proposing to apply artificial intelligence to the analysis of the labour market. The challenge is to identify occupations with the best prospects of demand, the necessary skills and training opportunities in order to build a database that helps guide individuals and reduce the time taken to secure employment. 

The ECOZERO PROJECTS engineering project presents two challenges. The first seeks to develop an intelligent platform that integrates the company's scattered information and automates the resolution of customer enquiries. The proposal must facilitate access to knowledge and reduce reliance on expert staff to resolve queries.

The second focuses on electric motorcycles: it proposes creating an application that recommends parameter settings according to driving needs and performance objectives. The system will have to leverage the specialists' knowledge and data from previous configurations, and incorporate learning derived from new adjustments and results.

In the field of after-sales support, 01 Informàtica is seeking an AI assistant that can assist customers via WhatsApp or the web. The tool will need to locate and interpret manuals, identify the products purchased and guide users through installation, configuration and troubleshooting processes, with mechanisms to monitor its use.

Simulation to test drones before real flight

ROHU Innovations, specialising in aerial robotics and computer vision, proposes integrating an existing flight simulator with the open-source ArduPilot flight control system. The aim is to have a testing environment that allows configuration errors to be detected, parameters to be adjusted and drone manoeuvres to be validated before conducting physical trials. It is not about creating a simulator from scratch, but about connecting and calibrating existing tools to produce a functional, documented and reusable prototype.

Regenerate soils, marine ecosystems and infrastructure

True Regenerative presents two challenges linked to ecosystem restoration. The first seeks to make it easier for farmers to adopt regenerative agriculture technologies capable of restoring soil fertility and life, reducing reliance on chemicals and maintaining or increasing productivity and profitability. The solutions must be practical, measurable and adaptable to different farms.

The second takes this approach to the Mediterranean and proposes developing regenerative aquaculture systems that help restore coastal seabeds, especially in ports. The challenge calls for combining ecological effectiveness with economic viability and the capacity to scale up its application.

Aigües de Barcelona proposes renaturalising the Sant Feliu de Llobregat wastewater treatment plant. The objective is to transform it into an infrastructure more integrated into the Llobregat river corridor, capable of generating biodiversity, measurable ecosystem services and climate resilience. The proposal will also need to consider the thermal comfort of workers and visitors, and the enhancement of the educational experience of visits.

Sensory environments adapted for hospitals and homes

NeumaCare, a start-up developing environmental intelligence systems, presents two distinct challenges. The HealthCare line focuses on the hospital room and proposes designing a system that adapts stimuli such as light, sound and odours to the patient's needs. The solution will need to integrate physiological and environmental data, protocols with clinical rigour and a methodology to assess its impact, together with a viable business model for healthcare centres.

The Home line proposes adapting the domestic environment to people's routines, preferences and needs to promote rest, relaxation and concentration. In addition to the technical development, the challenge includes ease of use, privacy, coexistence among people with different needs, and a marketing strategy that considers crowdfunding.

Terraces with less noise and less waste

The Molins de Rei Town Council presents two challenges to reconcile the activity of restaurant terraces with the quality of the public realm and residents' rest.

The first focuses on noise and proposes exploring technologies that can detect, monitor and prevent it, with particular attention to table and chair sets. It also seeks to provide information that facilitates the tracking of incidents and the decision-making of municipal services.

The second addresses the dispersal of waste and the cleaning of the surrounding area. Among the possible solutions are small smart bins installed at the tables, with gamification elements to encourage their use, and tools to visualise and manage incidents.

Programme operation: ideation and prototyping with support

Participation in the programme is free of charge. The rules provide for the participation of students from UAB, UB and UPC, other members of the UAB community and vocational training students in the technology sector of the Lower Llobregat Valley, in teams of between four and ten people.

During the inaugural session of the Innovation Day, ideation and team formation for the university community will take place. It will be on 8 October, from 12 to 17:00, at the COMTEC space in the Communication and General Press Library at UAB. Following this session, the teams will develop and prototype their proposals with the support of technological and business mentors.

The programme will culminate on 11 December 2026 with the Pitch Day, where the solutions will be presented to a jury. The winning team in the university category will receive €3,000. The vocational training categories provide prizes of €2,500 for the centre of the winning higher or specialised qualification team and €1,500 for the one with a medium-level qualification, which must be allocated to the winning class group.

Entries can be submitted until 5 October via the programme's website, where the challenges and the terms and conditions for participation can also be found.