Alfonso X el Sabio University (UAX) continues to strengthen the training of future professionals through its UAXmakers educational model, which connects students with leading companies to develop innovative solutions to real-world challenges.
Since this educational model was introduced five years ago, more than 15,000 students have taken part in interdisciplinary projects alongside around a hundred leading companies such as Talgo, the Jiménez Díaz Foundation, GSK, Ibercaja, SACYR and Mercedes-Benz, as well as institutions of the calibre of the Government of Canada, Villanueva de la Cañada Town Council and the SM Foundation, amongst others. This programme not only contributes to academic and practical training aligned with the needs of the labour market, but also to a better future for all by fostering a more responsible and sustainable generation of talent.
“The key to the success of our model lies in involving students in real-world projects from day one, ” says Luis Couceiro, director of universities at the UAX Group. “Getting our students to work alongside companies and institutions on real challenges creates a win-win situation: they apply what they have learnt, discover their professional purpose and understand how they can make a positive impact on society; whilst companies identify and attract young talent by seeing them work in environments very similar to those they will encounter when they enter the labour market.”
Distinctive, purpose-driven projects
During the current academic year, UAX has launched more than 40 UAXmakers projects with a significant social, technological and environmental impact, involving students from 48 degree programmes and around a hundred lecturers. All of these are coordinated by the Pedagogical Innovation Team, which works actively and closely with companies and organisations to create initiatives aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the 2030 Agenda. Furthermore, these projects reinforce students’ acquisition of soft skills and competencies, and help companies identify the talent of the future whilst preparing them for a more effective transition into the labour market. A testament to this is that this educational model achieves employability rates of around 95 per cent and is underpinned by the more than 10,000 agreements that UAX has in place with companies, demonstrating its strength as a key bridge between higher education and the business world.
Among the most notable projects for the 2025–26 academic year within the UAXmakers model is ‘360° Medical Record’, a UAXmaker project developed in collaboration with Humaniza Social Care and Mensajeros de la Paz, which enables nearly 1,000 students from the Faculty of Biomedical and Health Sciences to design a comprehensive clinical record for patients in a home care setting, integrating different healthcare disciplines. In ‘Roadmap’, a project in collaboration with the pharmaceutical company GSK, students of Biotechnology, Business Administration, Marketing and Law are working on creating a plan to facilitate the implementation of innovative CE-marked products in hospitals across Spain, tackling real-world challenges in the healthcare sector.
Meanwhile, Avanade and Ibercaja are joining forces with students of Industrial Design and Marketing to create an innovative ‘pop-up store’ that can be reused as an office in depopulated areas, whilst also exploring ways to monetise these sponsorships. In ‘UAX Solidarity Incubators’, organised in partnership with Medical Open World, Biomedical Engineering and Electronic Engineering students are designing low-cost incubators for deployment in areas with significant healthcare needs, an initiative supported by the Volunteer Office of the Alfonso X el Sabio University Foundation (FUAX).
Other successful UAXmakers initiatives continuing this academic year include, for example, the ‘School of Innovation’ with Avanade, which each year challenges students to develop innovative technological solutions to global social problems. This year, UNICEF will be responsible for setting the challenge for its next hackathon. Also, the ‘Landscape Itineraries’ programme, run in partnership with the Official College of Architects of Madrid ( COAM), which is studying regions devastated during the Spanish Civil War with the aim of bringing historicalto the wider public, and the ‘Fin Design’ project in collaboration with the SeventyTwo Sports motorsport team – an interdisciplinary project for the creation and optimisation of competition fins, which are tested in a wind tunnel and for which 3D-printed prototypes have been produced.
All these projects reflect UAX’s commitment to practical, interdisciplinary learning that is connected to the professional world, where students can contribute innovative solutions with a real impact whilst boosting their employability.
AULA welcomes the UAXmakers
The AULA event, taking place from 11 to 15 March at IFEMA, will give all attendees the chance to experience the UAXmakers model first-hand – a model committed to educational innovation, employability and social impact. Madrid Education Week will also provide a unique opportunity for prospective university students to see how UAX connects its students with the business world, preparing future generations to tackle the challenges of the labour market they will face in the coming years.
