Autonomous University of the State of Mexico (UAEM) students Karla Daniela Contreras Laguna and Óscar Ortiz Valle developed the “Portable Apparatus for Sterilizing In Situ Catheter,” a device which uses ultraviolet subtype C light to minimize microbial presence that may lead to infections. The Mexican Institute of Industrial Property is reviewing the patent for this invention.
The students aim to contribute to reducing infections, improving patients’ quality of life and eliminating health costs.
With this project, Contreras Laguna and Ortiz Valle are finalists in the 11th Santander Business Innovation Award, the most important entrepreneurial event in the country.
Both students are also winners of the 13th University Entrepreneurial Contest held by the 2013-2017 UAEM administration, headed by Rector Jorge Olvera García. The administration’s objective is to strengthen and promote self-employment through business incubators.
Contreras Laguna, graduate from the chemistry department, and Ortiz Valle, graduate from the medicine department, want to start a technological development business which focuses on the health sector, in order to develop medical devices that support health services and ensure the wellbeing of patients.
A total of 5,572 young people hailing from 158 colleges with 1,066 works participated in the Business Innovation Awards. During the event’s final stage, the UAEM students presented their project to the judges, made up of entrepreneurial specialists, representing organizations like the Fundación E, Ashoka, the National Entrepreneur Institute, Endeavor and Impulsa, among others.
The awards ceremony will be carried out June 8 at the Interactive Economy Museum in Mexico City, where the winner will receive monetary awards and scholarships for a Babson College entrepreneurial course, in addition to project consultation and monitoring.
