With eight licensing contracts signed with the business sector over the past year, involving nine technologies, the Faculty of Chemical Engineering (QEF) from Unicamp was the Outstanding Unit in Technology Transfer of the Unicamp 2025 Inventors Award, promoted annually by the Innovation Agency Innovates UnicampIn total, the University transferred 31 technologies to the market in 2024, with FEQ accounting for approximately 29% of this total. The School of Food Engineering (FEA), for the fourth time, is recognized as the teaching unit with the highest number of patent applications. In 2024, FEA led the way in filings, with 22 applications out of a total of 78 filed by the University, representing almost 30% of the year's total production.
FEQ's performance was celebrated by the Faculty's dean, Professor Dirceu Noriler. "This recognition is very important for FEQ. Within such an innovative environment as Unicamp, it is a great pleasure to lead this technology transfer process and realize that, in fact, our research has practical applications and will contribute significantly to society. All of this is recognition that our policies are on the right track," he states.
Associate Director Professor Leonardo Fregolente echoed Noriler's words and highlighted the factors that contributed to this recognition. "This award is a result of our culture of innovation, the historic relationship between FEQ faculty and researchers and industry, our efforts to foster innovation in teaching and student development, and our commitment to strengthening relationships with Inova. We are pleased to see that we have achieved this significant role in innovation and a significant role in generating solutions for society."
This is the first time that FEQ has excelled in the Technology Transfer category, created in 2018. However, in the Outstanding Unit in the Protection of Intellectual Property category, FEQ has already accumulated four achievements, in the years 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2014.
Historical relationship with the industry
Among the factors that led to FEQ's recognition this year, Noriler highlights the School's long-standing ties with industry—particularly with sectors such as petrochemicals, food, and agriculture—which fosters an innovative culture present in the unit's teaching and research: "The award reflects collective work and a solid history of collaboration with the industrial sector, which has been cultivated for decades. FEQ has always been an applied engineering unit. We have partnerships with companies—some large ones—both in research, development, and innovation (RD&I) and in the provision of specialized services, which fosters an atmosphere of innovation."
In this regard, Fregolente adds that "we have several professors with market experience, as well as alumni who hold strategic positions in the industry and maintain ties with FEQ. All of this helps build bridges between the business sector and the Faculty, which strengthens the desire for continuous innovation."
Culture of innovation
According to the directors, winning this award is also a result of efforts to instill the concept of innovation in the College's curriculum. Fregolente explains that "in our undergraduate program, the program was redesigned with a focus on competencies, not content. Thus, the course was organized so that, upon completion, students are able to develop a practical project and communicate it effectively, based on the competencies we foster. This contributes to developing an innovative spirit in our students," adds the professor.
Noriler also states that, in recent years, FEQ has been reflecting on the modernization of its postgraduate program, which resulted in a proposal to join the new Postgraduate Improvement Plan (PAPG), which presupposes the creation of training paths. One of them will emphasize innovation and entrepreneurship. "We are introducing a postgraduate path that will train professionals prepared to innovate, which should be offered in early 2026. New postgraduates will be able to choose between a more traditional curriculum or one focused on innovation. In the latter case, the program will require a stage in partnership with a company to develop an applied project. This approach will give students research skills and lead them to write dissertations aligned with real societal needs."
FEA and the institutional incentive program
The recurrence of the award from the Faculty of Food Engineering — obtained by the unit also in 2019, 2022 e 2023 — reinforces the consistency of its actions to promote innovation. In 2024, however, the difference goes beyond the numbers: it lies in the concrete effects of SCHEDULE institutional incentive for intellectual property, launched with the direct support of Inova.
With training, awards, and technical guidance, the program promoted a leap of over 70% in invention communications (ICs) submitted by the unit in 2024, compared to the previous year, in addition to improving the quality of the documents submitted, accelerating the protection procedures with Inova.
The program initiative was conceived as a response to a recurring challenge among research groups: the difficulty of identifying the innovation potential of research in time for it to be protected.
"Many researchers only realized the possibility of protection once the project was complete. Communicating the invention is the first step, and we wanted to encourage this movement from the beginning," explains Professor Anderson Sant'Ana, director of FEA.
To this end, the unit created a model that rewards papers submitted to Inova and distributes part of the royalty proceeds to the most active graduate programs in protecting intellectual property. The evaluation criteria consider the number of papers submitted during the period, and the funds are allocated directly to research groups. "It's a direct stimulus to applied research, which returns to the community itself," says Sant'Ana.
The initiative is in line with Brazilian Innovation Law (Law No. 10.973/2004) and to Unicamp Innovation Policy, which recognize the protection of intellectual property as a strategic step for the transfer of scientific knowledge to society.
"By encouraging more consistent and early invention communications, the program facilitates the transformation of this knowledge into technological solutions," adds Professor Ana Sílvia Prata, associate director of FEA.
Furthermore, courses on intellectual property have been incorporated into the program's graduate catalog, allowing students throughout Unicamp to access this content. The program offers workshops and training on intellectual property, from identifying inventions to forms of protection, such as patents, computer programs, know-how and cultivars. It also includes consulting services, with strategic support from Inova Unicamp, to assist inventors in developing CIs and protecting their intellectual property.
The program avoids mandatory requirements and focuses on community engagement. "Our focus is not to impose, but to spark researchers' interest in protecting intellectual property as a strategic step in research, which can bring the knowledge produced to the market," Prata emphasizes.
Culture change
The program highlights a significant shift in the unit's culture: intellectual property protection is no longer seen as a bureaucratic step and has become part of the natural cycle of applied research. "We are training a new generation of researchers with a keener eye for the practical application of knowledge.". Many students didn't realize their research had the potential to become a technology. This movement is already beginning to take hold in graduate programs and should also expand to undergraduate programs, with new initiatives focused on scientific entrepreneurship," Sant'Ana emphasizes.
Among the unit's next steps are the launch of a masters professional focused on the interface between academia and the business and industrial sector and the creation of training paths in innovation for undergraduate courses.
Despite the progress, challenges remain. One of them is encouraging students and alumni to take a leading role in entrepreneurship. "Many still choose the academic path, which is legitimate, but we want to show that they can also directly apply their research," adds Prata.
Much more than food
Although the acronym FEA refers to Food Engineering, the unit's scope of action extends far beyond the food sector. "We work with technologies applied to cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, agribusiness, and other strategic areas, always focusing on sustainable, low-cost solutions aligned with the real demands of industry and society," Prata emphasizes.
Another notable invention in 2024 exemplifies this diversity: the creation of essential oil-infused nanofibers, capable of absorbing sweat and combating odor. These serve as the basis for products such as deodorants, masks, bandages, and anti-acne products with antibacterial action.
For Sant'Ana, this diversity reinforces FEA Unicamp's role as a hub that transforms science into technological solutions aimed at real-world societal challenges. "This breadth allows our actions to be relevant in different markets and sectors, both national and international, increasing the University's reach and responsibility," adds the director.
The 2025 edition is sponsored by ClarkeModet e FM2S.
Read more:
FEQ Unicamp receives award for outstanding Technology Transfer for the first time
For the fourth time, FEA Unicamp leads the protection of intellectual property at the University
