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STEM skills to help improve sustainability of pharma industry

On 28-29 January 2021, and building on the success of the European Commission's 2020 DigiEduHack, JA Europe partnered with Johnson & Johnson for a second Online Innovation Camp with the objective to spark curiosity and foster long-term interest in STEM education, especially amongst female students. The initiative focused on innovation, STEM skills and entrepreneurship, with the aim of finding new and creative solutions to sustainability challenges within the pharmaceutical industry.

A total of 38 team applications were received by the STEMEduHack, out of which 22 teams from all over Europe were selected to participate in the online innovation camp. The challenge sent to the teams was to make the pharmaceutical industry more sustainable by using a combination of entrepreneurial and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) skills. Over two days, the teams of talented students worked online with business mentors from Johnson & Johnson and presented their solutions to a high-level jury.

The winning team from Russia was called cFighters1228. They impressed the jury with their idea to cut down on pollution by reducing medicines packaging through the use of an automatic pills machine instead of buying the products in a wasteful packaging. The second place was awarded to the Green Girls from Israel, and the TeamRocket from Romania came in third.

We are proud to have built on this successful experience during the last months, and thank Avanade for their technical support during the organization of the event. In case you missed it, watch the full Johnson & Johnson career talk here!