Cultivating emerging talent and innovative ideas. These are the two pillars of the mission of Seiunisa (Student Entrepeneurship & Innovation), a program supported and funded by Salerno University, managed by the Salerno University Foundation and aimed at its students to help them turn their ideas into real business realities.<\/b> “We started two years ago with an original concept,” expounds Roberto Parente, professor in charge of the project. “The university reinvests its resources, about 1 million euros for the first year, to foster creativity, innovation and entrepreneurial development. The opportunity is open equally to all those enrolled in the university, who, once they pass the call, will have the opportunity to network with key players in the world of innovation, such as experts and possible investors.”<\/p>\nThe three steps of the project<\/h2>\n
The initiative is unique and original of its kind and, as the rector of the University of Salerno, Vincenzo Loia, declares, “sees the university among the first to respond to the need of young people to undertake paths of autonomous entrepreneurship. Students are a potential and our region has always stood out for the number of innovative startups. The project wants to enhance this, starting to build concrete opportunities that can provide space for creativity and expression, also thanks to the million euros made available from the university’s resources for the first year.” The Seiunisa plan is developed in three steps: the first, reserved for 50 students,<\/b> is enhanced with 120 hours of intensive training activities, including methodological workshops and technology labs, plus financial support of 3 thousand euros; the second, which is called Innovation community, which allows-again after an initial training phase-teams of students accompanied by an innovator (with specific skills and experience) to apply with an actual business model and then compete in a pitch competition in the presence of leading figures in the world of entrepreneurship; and finally, the third program is reserved for those who actually want to get a startup off the ground.<\/p>\nStudents’ ideas<\/h2>\n
“In Seiunisa’s first year, 14 started,” says Professor Parente, “which were provided with incorporation costs, such as the notarial deed, and a 5,000 euro incentive for a validation path made up of market research, participation in innovation events and prototype development. This is the case with Alfred, which aims to develop intelligent solutions to optimize production processes and facilitate services in complex and critical environments. “It is a system integrator of virtual assistants based on artificial intelligence,” explains co-founder Stefano Bini. “We envisioned its application in the education sector, so that it becomes a virtual professor supporting both the student, helping him or her to expound in a kind of questioning but without the pressure of judgment, and the teacher, who can identify the topics on which classes have the most gaps. Seiunisa also gave birth to Bioentesis, focused on producing instruments to improve the outcome of surgeries <\/b>that reconstruct ligaments. “To do this kind of operation,” co-founder Giacomo Cortella expounds, “screws are needed to hold the ligament together with the bone, which often does not integrate perfectly with the human body. Our idea is to make a functionalized collagen matrix enriched with a biological signal and the patient’s own stem cells to improve screw integrations.”<\/p>\nBuilding the future<\/h2>\n
The pivotal concept that led to the founding of the Seiunisa project is simple: “The future does not wait, it must be built from the very beginning.” These are the words of Rector Loia, who reiterates how Salerno University’s campuses are committed “to being the catalyst for creative minds, supporting the development of young people’s entrepreneurial potential and thus contributing to innovation on a global scale.<\/b> We understand that the future of innovation is not confined to single geographic areas or specific sectors. Therefore, our goal is to create an environment where students can learn from national excellence and dialogue with international realities while cementing their own ideas of technological and cultural innovation.”<\/p>\n
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