Barcelos engineers' textile-waste project wins Guimarães hackathon and €7,500 prize

A project called "Novelo", created by Barcelos engineers Flávio Fernandes and Hélder Gonçalves, won the overall Hack4Guimarães 2035 competition and the TextVitrus challenge on textile waste, set by Guimarães municipal company Vitrus Ambiente. Each challenge winner received €1,000, and the overall winner took a further €7,500. The proposal offers a new way of managing textile waste and is meant to prompt thinking on circular-economy solutions. Both men studied at the Polytechnic University of Viana do Castelo and trained in cycling at a Roriz club; Gonçalves raced professionally until 25. Prizes were presented during Guimarães' Economy Month.