The national final of the Bio‑based Innovation Student Challenge Europe (BISC‑E) 2025 was held on June 30 at the School of Chemical Engineering of the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA). This year marks the third consecutive year that the national competition was organized in Greece by NTUA, under the umbrella of the Greek Technology Platform for Sustainable Chemistry, SusChem GR.
Following the teams’ presentations, the scientific evaluation committee announced HYDROTWIN: Digital Twin Platform for Optimizing Hydrothermal Liquefaction of Heterogeneous Biomass as this year’s winning concept.
The HYDROTWIN team—Dimitrios Liakos, Konstantinos Mexis, Georgia Altiparmaki, and Nikolaos Falaris, supervised by Prof. Antonis Kokosis and Prof. Stergios Vakalis—impressed the committee with a sophisticated digital‑twin solution that models and optimizes hydrothermal liquefaction processes for diverse biomass feeds. By digitally replicating the reactor environment, their platform can fine‑tune operating parameters in real time, significantly increasing bio‑oil yields while lowering energy consumption and greenhouse‑gas emissions.
The scientific evaluation committee for the 2025 Greek final was composed of Effie Markoulaki, Evanthia Nanaki, and Panagiotis Madesis, who evaluated the competing teams based on scientific quality, innovation potential, environmental and societal impact, and market viability.
The Greek BISC‑E final celebrates breakthrough ideas that apply bio‑based solutions to pressing environmental, economic, and social challenges. The competition provides young Greek innovators with a unique stage to showcase their concepts and compete for a €5,000 cash prize. Additionally, the winners of the national final will each receive a tablet as a prize.
As the national winner, HYDROTWIN will now represent Greece at the European BISC‑E 2025 finals later this year, competing against the top teams from across Europe.
The organizing committee extends its congratulations to all participating teams for their inspiring projects and thanks the mentors, and evaluation committee members whose support makes this initiative possible.
For further information, interested parties may contact Prof. Kokosis and Ms. Konstantina Kosmidou at: kosmidou@mail.ntua.gr