The first Congreso Nacional de Emprendimiento STEAM, SynBio e Innovación Social of Spain was celebrated in Málaga the past 5th of May, 2022. This event had over fifty in-person assistants and was followed online by more than 120 people. During the event, several initiatives promoting the use of STEAM disciplines and entrepreneurship for social innovation were presented, paving the way towards impacting the future.

  • Event Date: May 5th, 2022
  • iGEM Representative: Jaume Puig, iGEM Ambassador to Europe

Jaume attended the event and led a talk on how iGEM is impacting the future of STEAM disciplines and helping solve local problems by local teams, promoting equity, education, and collaboration around the world.

The event also brought together industry representatives and initiatives including Promega, who also sponsored the event, Dreamers VC, Shuttle Bio, NOVA Talent, Link by UMA, and iGEM EPIC; all of them devoted to promoting social innovation by offering opportunities to delve into the STEAM and entrepreneurship worlds.

Moreover, attendees had the opportunity to listen to the experiences of prominent STEAM promoters from Spain, such as M. Karmele Gomez Garmendia and Juanjo Rubio, from Planetario STEM (Navarra).

Many young leaders who are fostering a new culture of innovation and bringing the community together also presented at the event. The junior speakers included Álex Pascual, as a lead director at iGEM EPIC, Danáe Molina, organizer of State Congress of Bioscience Students in Spain, Jaume Puig, as iGEM Ambassador and coordinator of ATG STEAM, and the main organizers of the event, Fran Antequera and Ainhoa Riera, both iGEM 2021 alumni and now coordinators of ATG STEAM.

The objective of the event was to promote knowledge on how disruptive SynBio can be and how initiatives born from SynBio can develop into entrepreneurship opportunities. It marked the first step of the new ATG STEAM Association, which plans to host the event on a yearly basis and to promote STEAM initiatives and entrepreneurship in Spain.

To find more information about the iGEM Ambassadors & Promoters for Europe and regional synbio activities visit our Europe webpage. Learn more about the Ambassador Program here.

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