{"id":9988,"date":"2026-10-27T10:56:57","date_gmt":"2026-10-27T10:56:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/educaedtech.foundation\/?p=9988"},"modified":"2026-10-27T10:57:00","modified_gmt":"2026-10-27T10:57:00","slug":"fundacion-educa-edtech-sim-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/educaedtech.foundation\/en\/articulos\/fundacion-educa-edtech-sim-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"The EDUCA EDTECH Foundation at SIM 2026: when talent takes centre stage\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are weeks that really stick in the memory. Madrid International Week 2026 was one such week for the EDUCA EDTECH Foundation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


During those days, the Foundation played an active role in one of the group\u2019s most important events: with the first presentation of the Academic Excellence Awards, a session to preview our white paper, and the promotion of the AVANZA Scholarships amongst those in attendance. Three different occasions, one common purpose: to demonstrate that online education fosters knowledge, talent and real impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A first-ever awards ceremony to remember\u00a0<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The moment everyone had been waiting for finally arrived on Friday. Viridiana L\u00f3pez, director of the Foundation, presented the first awards<\/strong> to the Academic Excellence in the history of the EDUCA EDTECH Foundation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


What appeared to be a simple award ceremony turned into something much greater. In her speech, Viridiana spoke about what excellence really means \u2013 not as a destiny reserved for the few, but as an attitude, a way of approaching hard work and opportunities. It was a speech which, in the words of those who were there, left a lasting impression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Hearing the winners\u2019 stories was the best illustration of all this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The recognised projects\u00a0<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Five academic works \u2013 a Bachelor\u2019s dissertation, a Master\u2019s dissertation and a doctoral thesis \u2013 were recognised in this first edition, one for each area of specialisation:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 Exact and Natural Sciences:<\/strong> Safarana Baksh, for her Master\u2019s thesis on the climatic factors that determine the temperature in Guyana<\/a> using satellite data and machine learning. Safarana was unable to attend, but was mentioned during the ceremony and will receive its certificate.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 Biological and Health Sciences:<\/strong> Ismael D\u00edaz Reina, for his final-year project on the thermoregulatory capacity of the common poppy.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 Education and Learning Sciences:<\/strong> Silvia Maria Mendoza Salgado, for her doctoral thesis on the students\u2019 digital skills and soft skills<\/a> new enrolment in distance learning.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 Information and Communication Technologies:<\/strong> Trenton Fowler, for his Master\u2019s thesis on a document intelligence platform<\/a> capable of analysing 50,000 scientific articles in natural language.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 Social and Legal Sciences:<\/strong> Valeria Lucatelli, by Little shoes<\/em>, a modular children\u2019s footwear system<\/a> and adjustable to accommodate the foot as it grows.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The interviews: the people behind the projects\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Beyond the ceremony itself, our time at the SIM gave us something that cannot be planned for: the chance to meet the award winners in person. To talk to them, listen to their stories, and understand the journey behind each piece of research. It was thrilling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


We recorded interviews with each of them \u2013 genuine moments in which each person explained what led them to undertake their research, what they discovered along the way, and what this recognition means to them. These videos will be posted on our social media channels soon. And with Valeria Lucatelli, the founder of Zapati\u00f1os, we went one step further: We recorded a full episode for Generaci\u00f3n EDTECH<\/strong>, the Foundation\u2019s podcast, where we were able to explore his project, his process and his vision in greater depth. Coming soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


And what we took away most from those moments was the genuine gratitude shown by each and every one of them. Not just for the recognition itself, but for the feeling that their work matters, that there is someone who sees it and is committed to raising its profile. That is exactly what the Foundation aims to build.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A preview of the white paper and the AVANZA scholarships\u00a0<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Foundation\u2019s presence at the SIM was not limited to the gala. A round-table discussion on soft skills was held during the event and, before it began, the moderator shared a preview of some of the key insights from the Foundation\u2019s 2026 White Paper, Soft Skills in the Age of AI<\/strong>, a small preview of what will be officially unveiled on 12 November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


In addition, attendees were able to find out about the AVANZA Scholarships, a training opportunity for those who wish to continue developing professionally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A first edition we won\u2019t forget<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

SIM 2026 provided the perfect setting to launch the Academic Excellence Awards. Not only because of the event\u2019s scope, but also because of what it represents: that academic talent has a place on the global stage, alongside professionals, institutions and organisations from all over the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


We\u2019ve gathered many stories, but even more reasons to keep believing in what we do. We\u2019re celebrating this first edition and we\u2019ll see you in 2027.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hay semanas que se quedan grabadas. La Semana Internacional de Madrid 2026 fue una de ellas para la Fundaci\u00f3n EDUCA EDTECH. Durante esos d\u00edas, la Fundaci\u00f3n tuvo presencia activa en uno de los eventos m\u00e1s importantes del grupo: con la primera entrega de los Reconocimientos a la Excelencia Acad\u00e9mica, con un espacio para adelantar nuestro […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9991,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[223],"class_list":["post-9988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-comunicacion","tag-talento"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/educaedtech.foundation\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/educaedtech.foundation\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/educaedtech.foundation\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/educaedtech.foundation\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/educaedtech.foundation\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9988"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/educaedtech.foundation\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9988\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9992,"href":"https:\/\/educaedtech.foundation\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9988\/revisions\/9992"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/educaedtech.foundation\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/educaedtech.foundation\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/educaedtech.foundation\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/educaedtech.foundation\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}