Talent and Innovation Recognized with the Frisa–UDEM Award

• The fourteenth edition of the award recognizing students from the School of Engineering and Technology was held with the participation of six finalist projects.

With the purpose of acknowledging students who transform their surroundings through applied knowledge, the fourteenth edition of the Frisa–UDEM Award took place on the Universidad de Monterrey campus.

Present at the ceremony were Mario Páez, Rector of UDEM; Carmen Garza T, General Director of the FRISA Foundation and Executive Board Member of UDEM; Carlos Basurto, UDEM Academic Vice-Rector; as well as students and faculty members.

During the event, held on the afternoon of September 4 in Room 3 on Level B of Estoa, Felipe de Jesús Rodríguez, professor at the School of Engineering and Technologies, highlighted the quality of the six finalist projects participating in this edition of the award.

The winning project was developed by Industrial and Systems Engineering students Frida Maltos, Valeria Crespo, Ana Amézaga, Leslie Ruíz, and Pamela Palomo. Their project, Optimization model for the reorder point in the beer supergroup and the cigarette category to minimize inventory costs in the regions of Querétaro and San Luis Potosí, proposed an applied solution with real impact on regional supply-chain efficiency.

UDEM Rector Mario Páez González expressed his gratitude for the support of the Garza T Junco family and the Frisa Foundation, emphasizing that this recognition embodies the spirit of active learning at the University.

“Each project reminds us that knowledge, when placed at the service of others, has the power to change the world”, he stated.

“The truth is that no project is better than another; they are all extraordinary projects. They are innovative, they use state-of-the-art technologies, and, most importantly, they have real and practical applications”, he added.

In her remarks, Garza T recalled that the initiative emerged after a Board meeting in which the need to recognize young people who, in addition to learning, dare to create and propose, was raised.

Dream big; you never know how far the projects you saw today can go, the process you lived through, your frustrations, your worries — this is what any entrepreneur faces every day, or any collaborator”.

“At Frisa, we are convinced that success must be shared. It is one of the company’s most important values, a value that has been around for 53 years; it’s not something invented recently. But to share success and each one of our values, we must create experiences that bring them to life — the value of respect, honesty, and teamwork,” she noted.

This is the seventh consecutive year in which the event has been held, celebrating two editions per year. For the Fall 2025 semester, a total of 52 projects participated, of which six were selected as finalists.

The award has brought together more than 1,450 students across 460 projects that have impacted communities and industries, consolidating itself as a platform that drives creativity and social commitment.