POWAR STEAM, Finalist at SpinUOC 2025 Entrepreneurship Programme

POWAR STEAM was one of eight finalist projects at SpinUOC 2025, the 13th edition of the entrepreneurship programme run by the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), representing EduTECH Emprèn.

A programme backing talent from across Spain

SpinUOC supports entrepreneurial initiatives born from the UOC community —students, alumni, faculty, research staff— with personalised mentoring and a €23,000 prize fund split across three categories: best entrepreneurial project, greatest social impact (Ramon Molinas Foundation), and audience favourite. The final gala took place on 26 June 2025 at UOC's Poblenou campus in Barcelona.

A climate simulator for farmers, adapted for classrooms

In a later UOC feature about the project, Pablo Zuloaga explained POWAR STEAM's unusual origin: it wasn't originally built for schools.

"The project started as a climate simulator meant for farmers who wanted to understand the climate of the future in different cities." — Pablo Zuloaga Betancourt

The idea evolved toward the classroom when the team decided to bring those same climate simulations into schools, so students could experiment and collect data — data that could, in the long run, also prove useful for the agricultural sector the project started from.

"It's no use telling kids that climate change is here if we don't let them propose solutions." — Pablo Zuloaga Betancourt

At the time of the feature, the project already counted 8 pilot schools (5 in Catalonia and 3 in Croatia), with more than 350 students and 50 teachers involved, and a stated goal of reaching 1,500 schools and 90,000 students within five years.

Learn more

UOC covered both the SpinUOC gala and, later, an in-depth feature on POWAR STEAM. You can read both directly on the university's website:

• SpinUOC rewards digital entrepreneurial talent at its annual gala
• An entrepreneurial project brings the fight against climate change into classrooms through experimentation