The Driving Ideas Forward awards ceremony took place on Tuesday 20 July. The Teknoss project, created by Federico Hernández Alfaro and Jordi Caballé, researchers from the Department of Surgery at the Faculty of Dentistry, alongside Román Pérez and Luis Delgado, researchers from the Bioengineering Institute of Technology, was awarded first prize in the Best Business Idea category.

The project focuses on the field of dentistry and involves the use of bioengineering applications to create a mesh made from biodegradable and re-absorbable material for bone regeneration in the maxillary area of the jaw. “Every year, thousands of people undergo reconstructive surgery to replace missing maxillofacial bones, which involves inserting a titanium scaffold to guide bone growth”, explained the experts. “This complex surgery requires a second procedure to remove the scaffold once the bone has grown, but not all dentists are able to perform this procedure.”  The researchers from the Faculty of Dentistry and the Bioengineering Institute of Technology explain that "our project will change bone regeneration practices in the near future by developing a 3D printed scaffold specifically customised to the shape of the patient's bone defect". 

Driving Ideas Forward is an initiative devised and promoted by the University’s Vice-rectorate for Research, Innovation and Knowledge Transfer, with support from the UIC Barcelona Innovation Hub. It was created with a view to discovering and publicising business projects to help drive the creation of innovative companies.