CENIMAT|i3N has achieved yet another outstanding milestone in technology transfer and entrepreneurship. On July 13th, the SPARCS project was awarded the prestigious 1st prize at the final pitch session of the NOVA impACT! Challenges program.
Developed by the talented research team of Rui Gonçalves, António Miguel Teixeira Vicente, and Manuel João Mendes, SPARCS stood out in a highly competitive edition that featured nine participating teams from across the NOVA University Lisbon ecosystem.
Revolutionizing Solar Energy Adaptability
The award-winning innovation, SPARCS, is a user-friendly, modular solar platform designed to easily adapt to uneven, complex surfaces and effortlessly reconfigure solar energy systems. By solving the structural limitations of traditional rigid solar installations, SPARCS opens up new possibilities for integrating solar technology into diverse, everyday environments - making clean energy more versatile and accessible than ever before.
Fostering Innovation and Sustainability
The NOVA impACT! Challenges program serves as a premier innovation platform within the NOVA ecosystem. It is designed to foster entrepreneurship, accelerate breakthrough ideas, and drive high-impact tech transfer. Crucially, the competition highlights and supports technological solutions that are directly aligned with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with SPARCS leading the way in affordable and clean energy (SDG 7) and sustainable cities and communities (SDG 11).
This recognition once again underscores CENIMAT|i3N’s commitment to translating cutting-edge laboratory research into practical, market-ready solutions that address global environmental and industrial challenges.