Yesterday the first edition of the ALBA Hackathon was presented in an event held at the ALBA Synchrotron with the participation of Caterina Biscari, director of the facility, Carlos Cordón, mayor of Cerdanyola del Vallès, Rosa Maria Sebastián, director of PRUAB and vice-rector of the UAB; and Cristina Padilla, councilor for Economic Promotion of the Cerdanyola city council.

The ALBA Synchrotron will host for the first time theALBA Hackathon, an initiative that will bring together multidisciplinary teams of students, research staff and professionals for two days with the aim of finding innovative solutions to real challenges posed by leading companies such as ACCIONA, Applus+ Laboratories, Dental and Ercros.

The event, jointly organized by the ALBA Synchrotron, the UAB Research Park (PRUAB) and with the support of the Diputació de Barcelona and the sponsorship of ACCIONA, aims to connect science, people and industry in a unique environment of collaboration and innovation.

Real challenges, impactful solutions

Each company will propose a specific challenge: improving the sustainability of the water treatment plants (ACCIONA), exploring the use of hydrogen as a sustainable fuel (Applus+ Laboratories), developing methods for recover wastewater in production processes (Dentaid) and deepen the knowledge of the factors that influence the shrinkage of thermosetting plastics during its processing (Ercros).

The participating teams will work collaboratively incorporating the use of synchrotron light into their proposals and, in the end, there will be a winner for each challenge. According to Caterina Biscari, director of the ALBA Synchrotron, "this event demonstrates how a large scientific infrastructure can provide direct answers to industry challenges and contribute to improving our life."

The awarded projects will receive scientific advice from an ALBA research team, and a free feasibility study of the solutions at the facility.

An immersive experience

The Hackathon is designed as an intense two-day experience:

• October 16: the companies will present the challenges, the teams will be created and a visit to the Synchrotron facilities will take place. At the same time, the Speed Innovation Dating (SID), an activity where companies from Cerdanyola will quickly meet with students and professionals to establish contacts, generate synergies and explore talent opportunities. In the words of the councilor for Economic Promotion, Cristina Padilla, "this innovative meeting will allow companies and participants to exchange experiences, enabling new collaborations and even job offers."
• October 17: intensive day of collaborative work, final presentations and award ceremony.

For Rosa Maria Sebastián, director of PRUAB and vice-rector of the UAB, "this initiative is an example of our commitment to knowledge transfer and public-private collaboration. It is also an opportunity to open participation to all citizens, because all visions are important and citizen science plays a key role."

The mayor of Cerdanyola del Vallès, Carlos Cordón, highlighted that "beyond being a city of knowledge, it is essential to bring science closer to citizens and for them to be aware of it. The Hackathon is the result of collaboration between institutions and aims to improve people's lives."

Registrations open

Registrations for participants can be made until the 28th of September 2025 in the event website: https://indico.cells.es/e/hackathon.

The teams will be created with multidisciplinary profiles, ensuring a combination of scientific, technical and citizen knowledge.