From September 3rd to September 7th, 2023, AS Terrassa hosted an international event in its first edition, the Ideathon 2023. During this time, 21 participants organized into 5 teams came together to tackle the challenges presented by Ansys and GTD Software and Systems Engineering during a rigorous 24-hour competition.
The event took place at the ESEIAAT faculty of the Polytechnical University of Catalonia, with all participants accommodated in a nearby hostel for the event’s duration.
The 5 attending teams representing 4 European countries—Turkey, Spain, Romania, and Italy—arrived on September 3rd, marking the beginning of Ideathon 2023. The event commenced with a welcome dinner at the hostel, fostering camaraderie among organizers and participants.
On September 4th the event kicked off with presentations, preceding the start of the 24-hour competition. During the morning, EUROAVIA had the pleasure of holding the inaugural speech of the event, followed by a warm welcome from one of the professors of the Polytechnical University of Catalonia.
During that same morning, KIMBcn, a local sponsor of the Ideathon, represented their company and future projects in front of the international participants. Furthermore, the global sponsors of the event, Ansys and GTD Software and Systems Engineering, brought their company’s ideas closer to the teams with their pitch presentations.
Following a brief lunch break, an essential part of the event occurred: networking between participants, companies, and the city council of Terrassa. Teams engaged with sponsors, exchanging information like CVs and contacts while enjoying coffee and drinks provided by the organizational team. Described coffee breaks punctuated various parts of the day throughout the event.
Thereupon, the global sponsors presented their proposed challenge in a second presentation. Ansys posed the “Design and mission optimization of a crisis response aerial vehicle” challenge in the Aeronautic category, while GTD offered the “Monitoring and predictive maintenance of on-board reusable systems” challenge in the Space category. Two teams tackled GTD‘s challenge, while three focused on Ansys‘s.
At 17:00h local time, all five teams embarked on the central event activity: the 24-hour competition. During the course of a whole day, including the night from the 4th to the 5th of September, the teams had to actively work on the challenge they had chosen. That long period of time included taking turns to sleep, having meals between laptops and piles of papers as well as putting a great deal of focus into achieving the best possible result.
The teams presented their completed work on September 5th, marking the end of the 24-hour competition at 17:00h local time. Afterwards, the jury members from Ansys and GTD met to discuss and evaluate the results, which were subsequently communicated to the organising team.
As it is a tradition in every International Event organized by EUROAVIA, the Ideathon 2023 in Terrassa did not lack a Cultural Night. Despite the fatigue and exhaustion of all participants, the essence of a Spirits Night was experienced by everyone present.
On September 6th, the teams received a guided tour of Terrassa, exploring its main visiting points. In the afternoon, prizes were awarded to the two winning teams, one from each category, who will advance to the second phase of the event in Munich in November. Certificates were presented to all participants, and numerous photographs were taken.
In order to close the event in the proper way, the teams and organizers all together attended the final dinner. There, everyone had the opportunity to consolidate the experiences lived during previous days as well as to have a good farewell.
The event concluded on September 7th, with participants departing at various times. Some teams reunited in Barcelona for a final exploration of the city and lunch together before their flights home.
AS Terrassa