The 'Startup meeting and demoday' event of the Inno-Eut+ project, an initiative aimed at universities of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT HEI initiative), held in February 2022 during the week of meetings in Cartagena of the European University of Technology, was the beginning of the entrepreneurial career, marked by multiple awards, of Miguel Linares, a student of the degree in Naval Architecture and Marine Systems Engineering at the UPCT.

"Since I discovered my vocation for entrepreneurship, I had read many books but I didn't really know where to start", recalls the student from Almeria at the Polytechnic. "The Inno-Eut+ course was just what I needed to know how to develop and present a business idea," he recalls. "I loved it, it was spectacular", he stresses of that experience in which he was already distinguished, which allowed him to present his project to other entrepreneurs at the European University of Technology.

He liked it so much that he convinced another classmate from the Naval School, Roberto Carlos García, to join him in the UPCT's Community of Resolvers (CORE) entrepreneurship programme. Both won the first and second prizes in the 2022 call for applications.

Their business project was already outlined by then: using Artificial Intelligence to optimise the electrical performance of renewable energy installations. "I came up with it while monitoring engines during an internship in the navy," he says.

"After coming second in the CORE they contacted me from the European Business and Innovation Centre (CEEIC) in Cartagena because they were interested in my Global Electric project and offered me to participate in the Smart Industry 5.0 programme", he says of his penultimate training in entrepreneurship, in which "I took my revenge on Roberto Carlos and this time I won", he says jokingly about the award obtained in the category of best business model, financed by Repsol, which was presented to him in February.

Linares does not miss out on the many opportunities for entrepreneurs at the UPCT and has also participated in this year's CORE challenge, a social impact hackathon to come up with entrepreneurial proposals to help extend services for people with disabilities. "I learned a lot about the subject and it served me as teamwork practice to develop a solution against the clock," he says. "It's very useful as professional training," she adds, noting how the successive trainings have helped her to progress in various transversal competencies. "I wasn't very good at public speaking," he says.

The student is currently focusing on completing his academic studies before turning his efforts to Global Electric. "There are already customers interested in the opportunities to maximise the efficiency of photovoltaic installations by adapting consumption to the weather situation and in the advantages of using batteries only when necessary to extend their life span," he says.