Innovation Festival brings Technology with Fun to Gran Canaria

The pressing challenges of climate change and the global shortage of skilled labor require creative formats to get young people interested in technology. With the SMART GREEN ISLAND MAKEATHON Innovation Festival, ITQ GmbH connects young, international students with companies, opening new avenues in recruiting. Children and young people also can immerse themselves in the world of technology and gain their first programming experience at the Technology Workshops taking place at the same time.

ITQ GmbH, together with Dr Stetter ITQ from the Canary Islands, is inviting around 600 technology enthusiasts from all over the world to the SMART GREEN ISLAND MAKEATHON in Gran Canaria from 12 to 15 March 2025. The MAKEATHON is ITQ GmbH’s international Innovation Festival with the aim of getting young people excited about technology and promoting innovative, sustainable ideas for Digitalization. While young students spend four days working on innovative prototypes together with representatives of renowned Sponsors, the younger generation can put their skills to the test at Technology Workshops. The SMART GREEN ISLAND MAKEATHON promotes the technical expertise of all generations for a Sustainable Future and, as a Networking Event, facilitates dialogue between young talents and companies. This makes the MAKEATHON a special kind of Recruiting Event.

This year, 100 Representatives from Industry and Research/Teaching will meet with 250 students from a wide range of disciplines at the Infecar de Feria exhibition center. The students come from 46 Universities/Vocational Schools and from 30 nations (Europe including Africa, Asia and South America as well). Over the course of four days, the participants will turn creative ideas for a more Sustainable Future into initial prototypes. They will receive Industry Challenges from the participating Sponsors in the areas of Smart Green Mobility/Automation/Production/Energy and Smart Green Logistics. In interdisciplinary teams, they will develop innovative solutions for environmentally friendly logistics processes, intelligent product and waste management and recycling processes with the support of the Sponsors. Among other things, they can develop sustainable packaging made from banana fibers or modular water measurement systems for a resource-saving future. The focus is also on challenges relating to PET recycling and reuse in industry as well as autonomous driving for waste disposal logistics. The Sponsors‘ state-of-the-art technologies from the fields of Robotics, Automation and Artificial Intelligence are available to them.

The realization of the SMART GREEN ISLAND MAKEATHON is made possible by ITQ GmbH and the financial, content and material support of 23 national and international sponsors. Special thanks go to the Platinum Sponsors: Government of Gran Canaria (Cabildo de Gran Canaria), MVTec, igus and Murrelektronik. Gold Sponsors are the Gobierno de Canarias, the Fundación Sergio Alonso, OPTIMA, Vishay, Krones, Lorenz and MEILLER-Kipper. Silver Sponsors are: SPEGC, IES El Rincón, MathWorks, Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO and VDMA.

To encourage enthusiasm for technology as early as possible, the MAKEATHON also offers an extensive program for young Canarian children and teenagers. This week, more than 300 schoolchildren will be able to strengthen their knowledge and enthusiasm for technology and take part in eight different Technology Workshops free of charge. The workshops are organized by the Gerda Stetter Foundation ‘Technology is fun!’ with the EU-funded research project ‘EduDemoS’, the Canarian foundation Fundación Sergio Alonso, Dolde Engineering and participating German Universities. The focus is on Robotics, Programming and Electronics with an emphasis on Sustainability.

“The festival enables participants to deepen their knowledge of the latest technologies. And all this in a unique, relaxed atmosphere. We at ITQ GmbH are proud to be able to offer these hands-on experiences for young students and children. In doing so, we are making a valuable contribution to raising a young generation of technology enthusiasts and bringing them into direct contact with companies,” says Dr Rainer Stetter, Managing Director of ITQ GmbH.

Why Gran Canaria as the venue for the festival?
With its diverse climate zones, Gran Canaria offers ideal conditions for a sustainable and self-sufficient energy supply from renewable sources. With the SMART & GREEN Projects on the island, ITQ GmbH is pursuing the goal of advancing the digital transformation and promoting international networking. This is a decisive step towards counteracting the global shortage of skilled labor.

More Information:
ITQ GmbH
Dr. Stetter ITQ S.L.U
SMART GREEN ISLAND MAKEATHON
Gerda Stetter Foundation – Technik macht Spass!