Winners of HackathonAGRO in Uruguay announced

The winners of the Hackathon AGRO competition, which is ran in Uruguay each year, will be visiting the UK, including a trip to Harper Adams University, as part of their prize.

The competition is an open competition for Uruguyan teams made up of researchers, entrepreneurs and experts in IT, agriculture and business.

This year saw 40 people solving challenges related to agriculture in Uruguay through the use of technology. This year's challenge was given to the participants at the beginning of the contest and then they only had 48 hours before having to to present a business model and a prototype demostrating their solution. 

The idea behind Hackathon AGRO is to promote entrepreneurship and innovation in general terms, and in the agricultural production in particular; to find an innovative/commercial solution to a real social problem in the agricultural area in Uruguay; to promote team work among peers, and to strengthen multidisciplinary work in the industry, the academy and the government; to demonstrate the potential and the development of the IT industry in Uruguay, among others.

The winners:

Manuel Lorenzo y Losada

My name is Manuel Lorenzo. I am a 23-year-old student. I was born and raised in Montevideo but most of my family live in either other cities or other countries.

I am currently attending Universidad ORT Uruguay studying business management and working at Tata Consultancy Services as a finance team member for an outsourced client in Canada.

Besides this, I also work as a volunteer in a local school during weekends making activities for children and as part of the staff of my university commission for receiving international students. I consider myself a very social person that loves challenges and willing to work hard for his goal.

Joao Antonio Martins

My name is Joao Antonio Martins, I'm from Brazil, am married and have two children. I graduated in agronomy in Brazil and did a Masters degree in agricultural systems management in New Zealand.

I worked as a university professor (great experience!), and for the last 18 years I've worked as a farmer, farm manager, and farm consultant in Uruguay and Brazil. The main farming activities in my region are grass-feed beef production, irrigated rice, soybean, as well as Criollo horse breeding. I like to be around enthusiastic people, and I love the challenge of using 'state of the art' technology to solve problems in agriculture. I am a proud member and founder of the Nuffield Farming Network in Brazil, that gives opportunities for young farmers to build networks and travel overseas to learn about agriculture.

Emilio Sarturi

My name is Emilio Sarturi and I´m 29 years old. I was born on in Artigas, Uruguay. I currently live in Montevideo with my sisters while my parents live in Rivera.

I´m studying systems engineering in the ORT university because I´m really into technology and computers. Some years ago, I got a degree as programmer analyst and I work as it.

I consider myself a very sociable person and realistic. I have a lot of friends who I go out with and I also study with some of them.

Having a realistic personality leads to being a cautious person and I like that, so I’m prepared for situations.

I´m looking forward to getting my degree as an engineer.