Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey - Querétaro

PROJECTS 2023

Brio-Kit

TOP 8 FINALIST TEAM

Andrea Amy Balderas Robles, Andrea Paloma Piña Chávez, Elizabeth Gómez Hernández, Jennifer Cecilia Plasencia

Brio-Kit is an educational kit for students to learn and see how mealworms can be used to biodegrade polystyrene. By raising larvae, young people discover phases of the worm life cycle and how mealworms can help reduce plastic waste.

GreenLignin

Oscar carrasco morales, Mariana Pérez Herrera, Maye López Zurita, Daniela Sofía Martínez Muñoz

GreenLignin proposes developing a novel bioplastic using beer and cereal waste for a circular system to replace plastics commonly found in food packaging.

Maritza Alonzo Macías has a bachelor's degree in Biochemical Engineering, master's degree in Food Science and Technology, and a Ph.D. in Bioprocess Engineering from La Rochelle Univesity and Tecnologico de Monterrey. She also had a Postdoctoral Research Scientist position at Instituto Politecnico Nacional. Maritza is a professor-researcher at Tecnologico de Monterrey and has been the Biotechnology Program Director since 2022. Her research is focused on bioprocess applied to food drying and extraction of biomolecules. She is an expert in using emerging technologies such as Instant Controlled Pressure Drop (DIC). Maritza is a core researcher of the Biointensification Lab at the Bioengineering Department.

Kalaumari Mayoral Peña earned his bachelor's degree in Biotechnology Engineering at Tecnologico de Monterrey and a master's degree in Food Science and Technology at the Autonomous University of Queretaro. He has taught classes about biosensors, biomaterials, and biotechnology at Tecnologico de Monterrey since 2015. Kalaumari has participated as a mentor in the BIOMOD competition and as a judge in the iGEM competition. He participated in a research project about developing a sanitary system for rural communities, financed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and CONACYT. He was selected in 2017 as one of the "100 Young Latin American Leaders in Biotechnology" by the AllBiotech Summit. He was a Research Trainee at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and MIT from 2019 to 2020. Kalaumari is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Biotechnology at Tecnologico de Monterrey. His research is focused on the development of accessible devices for the detection and monitoring of cancer disease.