Winners of the Xignux Challenge create bricks that help reduce the carbon footprint of conventional brick construction.

May 13, 2024

The Xignux Foundation and Tecnológico de Monterrey team carried out a 24-hour challenge, in which the participating students proposed solutions aligned with the 2030 agenda to achieve a more sustainable future. On May 7 and 8, the sixth edition of the Xignux Challenge was held, a 24-hour thinking challenge in which 1,082 university students from different professional careers from 19 campuses of Tecnológico de Monterrey registered to generate innovative ideas that attack current problems related to:

Energy
Nutrition
Education
Development
Environment

“Young students, you have the power to create change through your ideas and to inspire others. I remind you that you are already winners simply for being here, and for contributing positive energy to the search for solutions to common problems.” Marcela Garza Herrera, president of Fundación Xignux. Out of 332 projects, 25 were selected for the next round, leaving six finalists and two of them were finally awarded. In the Discovery category, the winning project was “Atole Tierra Mía”, made by Luisa Jimena Liceaga Martínez, Camille Borbolla Salinas, Ana María Romero Orozco and María González Torres. The proposal consists of a powdered atole drink made from transforming contaminated waste from the nixtamalization process, intending to end malnutrition in vulnerable communities. In the Launch category, for advanced projects, the Fōcaris & Taanaj team won, formed by Gerardo Calderón Huerta, Bertha Laura Aldana Fernández, Edwin Mateo Samaniego Dávila and Daniela Ilean Recendiz García. They showcased brick substitutes through a hexagonal design that can help reduce the carbon footprint of conventional brick construction. Both teams were awarded $300,000 in Discovery and $700,000 in Launch, as well as a follow-up mentorship. These awards will be used to further develop and implement their ideas. We thank the Xignux Energizers and their companies that participated as judges: Fernando Brubeck Salcedo, Gabriel Ortiz Gil Cepeda and Jorge Humberto Sánchez García; mentors: Dora Alicia Olivo Aldaco, Ivanika Sugich Siqueiros, Joel Ernesto Gastelum Méndez, José Rubén Garza Guzmán, María Isabel Montemayor Quintanilla, María del Rosario Cantú González and Paulina de la Garza Olivas; as well as the students, teachers and directors of Tecnológico de Monterrey for making this possible.