Six entrepreneurs were awarded the UNITEC Award for Technological Innovation for Social Development 2025, which recognizes projects with solutions to social problems.
The 12th edition of the award had 212 registrations and more than 28 Higher Education Institutions from 20 States of the Republic
The winning projects include proposals that transform waste into ecological construction materialscombat mastitis in cows, translate sign language in real time, generate green fertilizers and apply artificial intelligence for the early detection of visual and lung diseases.
During the award ceremonyheld on the Cuitláhuac campus, Gabriela Martínez, Institutional Rector of UNITEC, pointed out the importance of education and entrepreneurship to transform society, since more than 60% of young entrepreneurs in Latin America are motivated by solve social problems.
He explained that in times of uncertainty “We need young entrepreneurs more than ever “They not only think about a solution, but they think about empathy and solidarity.”
The winners
The 2025 edition of the UNITEC Award featured developments that cover biotechnological solutions and inclusive applications, as well as medical diagnostic tools and sustainable technologies in two categories: prototype and project.
The winners are added to a list of 50 projects awarded by the award since its creation and will receive personalized advice, business training, leadership skills and technological scaling.
In addition, they received a financial award to strengthen and scale their projects. In the prototype category, businesses received 30,000 pesos, while projects were awarded 100,000 pesos.
These are winning entrepreneurs:
Prototype category:
Symphony: Innovative and intuitive application that translates Mexican Sign Language (LSM) into text and voice in real time, using the cell phone camera, without the need for additional accessories.
MastiREB: Biotechnology that combats bovine mastitis with an intramammary infusion without antibiotics, based on recombinant proteins. It specifically eliminates bacteria, reduces milk waste and eliminates the withdrawal period. An effective, safe and sustainable solution for the dairy industry.
Baga-Fib: Transforms maguey bagasse, a waste product from the mezcal industry, into sustainable and environmentally friendly construction materials. Products stand out for their thermal and acoustic insulation capacity and greater resistance than conventional materials.
Project category:
Ecovermis: Development, production and marketing of an ecological liquid fertilizer, obtained from an innovative biotechnological process that involves the use of organisms capable of degrading waste, including plastic. Through their metabolism, these organisms transform plastics into excrement rich in organic compounds and essential nutrients for the soil and plants.
EpyDiagnosis: It is a tool based on Artificial Intelligence and data science that optimizes the early diagnosis of lung cancer. It uses a convolutional neural network trained with local medical images to analyze LD-CT scans and detect lesions in seconds. This technology reduces radiological interpretation time and facilitates timely detection of the disease, increasing the chances of survival.
SightTech: Platform powered by Artificial Intelligence that revolutionizes the early detection of visual diseases such as diabetic retinopathy, the main cause of irreversible blindness in Mexico. Analyzes images of the fundus of the eye to identify initial signs of various pathologies and generates automatic and accessible reports. Its technology allows for timely diagnoses and effective prevention of vision loss.
Finally, Gabriela Martínez pointed out that “great ideas, when accompanied by work, passion and commitment, have the ability to change the world and it is not a phrase, it is a reality.”
