03 December, 2025Meeting the future challenges of industry will require a high capacity for innovation from the next generation of advanced manufacturing. With the aim of fostering creativity among young engineering students, yesterday Danobatgroup organised the second edition of the Advanced Manufacturing Hackathon initiative.
A total of 66 students from the Master's Degree in Industrial Engineering at the School of Engineering of the University of Navarra (Tecnun) took part in this competition held at the facilities of the group's technological partner, Ideko.
As Iker Usabiaga, Director of Social Management at Danobatgroup, points out, “We are very proud to hold the second edition of this innovative format.” The hackathon allows us to create a unique experience in which participants become involved and fully immersed from the very first moment. For us, this meeting is much more than a challenge; it is an opportunity to boost creativity, encourage collaboration and connect with the talent of the future.
Divided into 17 teams of four people, the participants had 75 minutes to conceptualise and propose an innovative solution to a real industrial challenge. The challenge offered the young students the opportunity to apply the knowledge acquired in class while putting their creativity to the test.
In addition, the teams had the opportunity to visit the facilities of the Danobat cooperative and Ideko, the group's innovation engine.
This dynamic approach breaks away from traditional approaches to attracting talent. At the same time, it offers students the necessary freedom to develop their ideas and present them in the way they consider most appropriate. The initiative thus promotes autonomy and teamwork, fundamental pillars for building solutions that respond to the real challenges of industry.
The winning team, made of by Jesus Gutierrez, Sofia Aparicio, Juan Larzabal and Xabier Monreal,, were awarded a trip to Frankfurt to visit the Danobat-Overbeck and Bimatec Soraluce plants, subsidiaries of Danobat and Soraluce brands in the Central European country. During their stay, the students will be able to experience first-hand the reality and daily operations of a cutting-edge industrial environment with leading customers.
The Advanced Manufacturing Hackathon reinforces Danobatgroup's commitment to bring professional reality closer to new generations, hand in hand with a long-standing academic partner, Tecnun.
We have been collaborating with Danobatgroup for more than 10 years, and this activity provides a unique opportunity to take students out of the classroom and allow them to learn and experience real environments while facing challenges that reflect the complexity of the professional world. These practical experiences bring them closer to the working reality of a highly demanding sector such as that of Danobatgroup, emphasises Mikel Arizmendi Jaca, Senior Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering at Tecnun.
