Eduardo Punset, in the role of president of the jury and the awards, and Luis del Rivero, Chairman of Sacyr Vallehermoso (SyV), gave the awards and prizes, as well as Manuel Manrique, executive officer of SyV. Enrique Coperías, secretary of the jury and other members, attended the event too.
The “Hacemos lo imposible” Sacyr Awards are distinctions that recognize, stimulate and reward values such as innovation, creativity and inventiveness, and, apart from bestowing prestige on the winners by advertising their works, contribute to their development and launch. The call had a great reception -there were more than 75 submissions- and last November 4th, the prizes for the four different categories were given on Sacyr Vallermoso’s headquarters. Apart from a certificate, the winners for each category received a cash prize.
Luis del Rivero, Chairman of Sacyr Vallehermoso, was appreciative of the great reception the call had among the scientific, technical and university communities.
On his end, Eduardo Punset, brought attention to the high quality of the works submitted. The jury of the “Hacemos lo imposible” Sacyr Awards, presided over by Eduardo Punset, scientific communicator and scientist, and Luis del Rivero, Chairman of SyV, was also formed by: Juan José Damborenea, Deputy Vicepresident of the scientific-technical areas of the CSIC; Juan Lazcano, Vicepresident of the Colegio de Ingenieros de Caminos, Canales y Puertos; Eduardo Díez Patier, Director of the Cabinet for the State Secretary of Water management and Rural areas; Ramón Núñez, Director of the National Museum of Science and Technology; Manuel Toharia, Director of the Príncipe Felipe Science Museum of Valencia; Fernando González Urbaneja, President of the Press Association of Madrid; Antonio Garrigues Walker, Honorary President of the Spanish Committee of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees; and Gema Rodríguez López, Director of Sustainable Development of FEMP.
The winners of the different categories were:
1st category: Technological innovation
The winning project was "Nanotechnology in construction materials" presented by Francisco Montero Chacón and Manuel Espinar González, researchers from the Structures Group of the School of Industrial Engineering of the University of Sevilla. The aim of the project is to establish a line of research focused on improving the characteristics of concrete, such as mechanical, acoustic and thermal properties, by incorporating carbon nanotubes (CNT). These tubular structures of nanometric dimensions have excellent mechanical properties that make NTCs the strongest fiber that can be manufactured today. In the words of the researchers, NTC-reinforced concrete can have interesting applications in large-scale constructions such as bridges, tunnels, dams and off-shore platforms.
2nd category: Environmental innovation
"Biomass energy plant with thermal use for the environmental disimpact of liquid manure" was the winning project. The innovative nature of this project, according to award winners David Gómez Berzosa and Jonathan Barrocal Descalzo, industrial technical engineers from Valladolid, lies in the combination of two elements: an energy plant based on biomass, which can come from the cultivation of thistle (Cynara cardunculus); and a purification plant for the treatment of manure. The combination of the two plants allows the residual heat from the biomass combustion fumes to be used later for drying the sludge from the manure treatment plant, which can be used as a fertilizer. The water obtained by this method is used to cool the biomass plant.
3rd category: Technological innovation and economics journalism
The winner was the article “El poder de lo diminuto” (The power of the tiny), published in the magazine Muy Interesante. The author, Ángela Posada-Swafford, journalist and correspondent of this magazine in the United States, highlights in this report the development and new applications of nanotechnology in fields such as industry, medicine, security and renewable energies. With Margaret Blohm, director and founder of General Electric's Advanced Technology Program in Niskayuna (New York, USA), Swafford reveals the research being carried out in its Nanotechnology Laboratory, one of the most advanced in the world in "the science of the ultra-miniature".
4th category: Management of citizen participation projects
In the Management of citizen participation projects section, the winning entry was “Derecho de vuelo”, an initiative by technical architect Juan Carlos Sansegundo and Marta Pérez Castañer, a graduate in Audiovisual Communication, to convert community rooftops, generally relegated to empty, unused spaces, into places for neighbors to meet, enjoy and interact. The authors argue that in recent times there has been a conjunction of two architectural phenomena: the association of architecture with sustainable development and the proposal among great architects to promote the use of green roofs. From the pairing of these trends in bioarchitecture comes the proposal to act and transform rooftops for community use.