For the fourteenth time now, CEDUS has run the HHU Ideas Competition to encourage students and researchers to develop their creative ideas for an entrepreneurial future. More than 100 innovative concepts in total were submitted across the two categories and evaluated by an expert judging panel. In addition to the functional evaluation, the feasibility and potential for success of the ideas were also taken into account.
This year’s award ceremony took place in the festive setting of CEDUS Coworking. In a pitch competition, the six nominated teams explained their ideas to a large audience. The awards were then presented to the winning ideas in both categories together with prize money totalling 3,800 euros.
Winners in the “Students” category:
1st place: InsuPrint
InsuPrint is working on a process for manufacturing insulin tablets specifically designed for children with type 1 diabetes. Using 3D semi-solid extrusion (3D SSE), insulin tablets are to be produced that can be taken without injections. This innovative solution could significantly improve the quality of life for diabetics worldwide.
Prize: €1,000
Alaa Mohamed Abdelmoneim Amin from the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences
2nd place: Cherri
Cherri makes use of an agricultural waste product – cassava pulp – fermenting it using special yeasts to make high-quality vegan, biotech cosmetic ingredients. By upcycling biomass waste, Cherri not only reduces environmental impact, but also provides sustainable cosmetic ingredients.
Prize: €600
Team: Niloofar Motahhar, Maruf Ahasan Khan and Óscar Barba de la Orden from the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences
3rd place: Exposoma
Exposoma offers an innovative platform, which collects data on environmental factors such as air quality and UV radiation, and combines them with health data. This solution helps create risk analyses and early warning systems, and allows the provision of tailored advice for individuals as well as strategic recommendations for cities and medical facilities.
Prize: €300
Team: Berke Kaya and Constantin Puppe from the Medical Faculty
Winners in the “Researchers” category:
1st place: LifeShare
LifeShare has developed a process to produce highly concentrated antibodies from a single donation, which drastically reduces production time while achieving a concentration four times higher. This innovation could revolutionise the care of patients with autoimmune diseases worldwide.
Prize: €1,000
Team: PD Dr med Anja Moldenhauer, Jannik Rothenburg MSc, Dr med Thomas Schreiner, Silke Rink-Baron and Professor Dr med Johannes Stegbauer from the Medical Faculty
2nd place: EpAlert
EpAlert is a wearable device, which recognises imminent epileptic seizures at an early stage via a biochemical signal and warns sufferers and their carers in good time. This proactive safety technology reduces the risk of injury to epilepsy patients and improves their quality of life.
Prize: €600
Dr Saeed Zahran from the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences
3rd place: HealthyCrops
HealthyCrops uses genome editing to prevent yield losses in rice plants caused by the disease bacterial blight. The development of disease-resistant rice plants and a diagnosis kit to enable early identification of bacteria strains not only improves food security, but also significantly reduces the use of pesticides.
Prize: €300
Team: Dr Marcel Buchholzer, Professor Dr Wolf B. Frommer, Dr Eliza Loo, Sarah Hatzenbühler MSc, Melissa Stiebner MSc and Dipl.-Ing. Britta Killing from the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences
Special Sustainability Award – Heine-Center for Sustainable Development (HCSD):
The Special Award of €250 presented by the Heine-Center for Sustainable Development went to the project idea HHU BioSpark by Mehmet Ay. The concept shows in an innovative way how microalgae, artificial intelligence and IoT (Internet of Things) technologies could be used in the future to convert CO2 and wastewater on campus into biofuels, bioplastics and nutrients. It proposes a network of modular reactors, which not only promotes ecological cycles, but also actively involves students through educational offers and interactive activities such as the “HHU BioSpark Garden”. The idea was honoured for its forward-looking approach and potential to re-imagine universities as sites for sustainable innovation.
Audience Award
The Audience Award went to the LifeShare team, whose innovative solution was also extremely well received by the audience.
Ideas for the “60 years of HHU” anniversary
On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of HHU, the best ideas with a direct link to the University were presented. The concept developed by Henry Fritz Chatchueng Tamo won the judges over. HNova is an AI-based web platform, which provides tailored support for HHU students while strengthening transfer between University, city and society. All the creatives can look forward to vouchers for the Lehmann bookshop.
About the HHU Ideas Competition:
The HHU Ideas Competition promotes creative start-up ideas and offers students and researchers at HHU a platform to develop and realise their entrepreneurial visions. The contest aims to encourage entrepreneurial thinking and action at HHU, and establish a strong founder culture. It is organised by CEDUS – the Center for Entrepreneurship Düsseldorf.
More information:
www.cedus.hhu.de/en/ideascompetition/2025
Group photo of the teams: (from left) Maruf Ahasan Khan, Óscar Barba de la Orden, Henry Fritz Chatchueng Tamo, Dr Saeed Zahran, Dipl.-Ing. Britta Killing, Melissa Stiebner MSc, Berke Kaya, PD Dr med Anja Moldenhauer, Constantin Puppe, Manuela Sufcak, Nadjib Hamad, Dipl.-Ing. Vahid-Mohammad Rasoulpour, Dr med Thomas Schreiner, Jannik Rothenburg MSc; front: Dr Eliza Loo, Dr Marcel Buchholzer. (Photo: HHU/CEDUS)
