PrepaTec students triumph at international competition in Oxford

Out of 18 teams from seven different countries, students from the PrepaTec Morelia campus have won first place in ‘The Masters’ international competition held at Oxford’s Bradfield College.

The competition consisted of creating an enterprise that addressed a global or community issue. Students participating were from Panama, Honduras, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Italy, and six other Mexican institutions.

The PrepaTec Morelia team presented their sustainable proposal that aims to address two problems at the same time, one environmental and one social.

“We created a plan to remove excess water hyacinths from Lake Patzcuaro and use them to produce biodegradable feminine pads,” said student Fernanda Cárdenas.

The team included students Valeria Romero, Fernanda Cárdenas, Zuleika Medrano, Sofía Padilla, Marcela Zavala, Paula Padilla, Annet Castillo, Julieta Castillo, Amparo Flores, and Norma Barriga.

Also participating were students Jesús Fabela, Alain Rangel, Fernando Bravo, and Carlos Sosa.

An innovative and sustainable idea

“Our idea began out of concern for Lake Patzcuaro, which was being overrun by water hyacinths. Not only was it endangering fishermen, but it was also impacting flora, fauna, and tourism,” said Fernanda.

Liliums was born as a proposal to solve this environmental problem. The next challenge was to figure out what to do with the water hyacinths.

“Our idea was to transform the water hyacinth into a viable and innovative product,” said student Jesús Fabela.

When the team started to conduct their research, they discovered the properties of the water hyacinths.

“Non-biodegradable feminine products represent a pollution problem, and that’s where the feminine pads idea came from,” added student Valeria Romero.

But the competition did not end there. The team says they were asked to develop a complete financial plan, from initial investment to becoming profitable, as well as the marketing strategy.

After three elimination rounds, the team managed to position themselves among the best proposals and reach the final round.

“At PrepaTec, we aim to give students the opportunity to take part in these types of international competitions, where they discover the unparalleled academic quality of their education.” – Aída Borja.

“The other countries didn’t expect much from the Mexican teams. But in the final, three of the five finalist teams were Mexican,” said Jesús.

In the final round, the PrepaTec Morelia team was surprised to learn that their proposal was the winner.

“It was really satisfying to be there and win. The other teams were saying that Mexico was not going to qualify, and we managed to win first place for our country and Tec de Monterrey,” said Fernanda.

“Everyone had a specific task to perform. This helped us do a good job,” said Aída Borja, director of PrepaTec’s Foreign Language Department.

A formative competition

“I wanted our students to participate in this competition because of all the skills they can acquire,” Aida said.

The Masters is an international competition organized by Oxford International for students between the ages of 16 and 19 to develop business skills and improve their English proficiency.

This competition consists of a two-week program, in which students receive mentoring sessions, spaces to develop their projects, and on-campus and cultural activities. 

These sessions are taught by Oxford faculty. Students learn different topics such as introduction to business, marketing, finance, and how to pitch an idea.

The road to victory

“We knew we had a group with different profiles, who were also not from the same school year and didn’t know each other,” said Yunuén Tena, professor of Languages and Humanities.

The teacher explained that a short weekly training session was held at the beginning of the semester to introduce business topics to the students.

“These sessions were to ensure that when they arrived at the competition, students would have the creativity and critical thinking to be able to distinguish a proposal that contributed from one that was just going through the motions.”

“In the end, it was gratifying to see how they were aware of their growth and achievements in such a short time,” Yunúen concluded.

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