Eleven "la Caixa" Foundation fellows are meeting up in New York and Boston with the 65 winners of The Challenge by EduCaixa, a programme that promotes the talent of students committed to tackling the challenges of the 21st century. 

The Challenge by EduCaixa invites students from secondary schools in Spain to develop and share their own initiatives and includes a training visit to the United States. A few days ago, the winning students presented their projects at the United Nations, an event attended by the UN High Representative, Miguel Ángel Moratinos, and the Spanish Ambassador to the United Nations, Héctor Gómez. 

And there's more. For two weeks, from 30 June to 12 July, the students have the opportunity to contextualise their learning, get to know globally renowned experts and organisations and present their initiatives to other young leaders committed to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

And what better experts than members of our own community of talent? 

During these weeks, eleven fellows will open the doors of what they already see as their home from home: places such as Google, MoMA and MIT... institutions where they currently work. Without doubt, this is a unique opportunity for the winners of The Challenge to get to know international talent first-hand. 

• Josep Carner Marsal, Machine Learning engineer, will receive the students at Google New York, will spend a morning with the award winners and explain his work at one of the largest companies in the world.

Winners of The Challenge 2024 by EduCaixa, with Josep Carner.

• Paula Vilaplana de Miguel will guide the students around the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), where she's employed as a Curatorial Assistant. MoMA is a "must see" when visiting New York and one of the world's havens of modern and contemporary art. 

Guided tour by Paula Vilaplana at the MoMA.

• José Carlos Casado Mancha, visual artist and Consultant Art Director for New York University, will host an artistic and creative activity for the winners. Casado's work, which combines video, 3D animation, photography and sculpture, creates unique experiences. What surprises will he have in store for our winners? 

Winning students of the contest at the studio of Jose Carlos Casado.

In Boston, they'll get to know:

• Mercè Balcells-Camps, a researcher at MIT's Institute for Medical Engineering and Science.

• Roger Pallares López and Lucía Castelló, doctoral students in biomedical engineering.

• Adrián Rodríguez Muñoz, a doctoral student in electrical engineering and computing.

• Pablo Omeñaca Muro, an industrial engineer specialising in the energy sector and digital transformation.

Together they'll visit the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), one of the world's foremost universities, which has played a key role in the development of modern technology and the training of leaders with global impact in a range of areas. 

Mercè Balcells-Camps showing the MIT facilities to the winners.

And to complete the experience, Alfonso Sánchez-Moya, a Doctor in English Linguistics and AI Data Linguist at Amazon Alexa; Ester Calvo Fernández, a doctoral student in pathobiology and molecular medicine, and Irene Font Peradejordi, Assistant Director of Trusted AI at Liberty Mutual will take part in a round table on Artificial Intelligence. This session will provide the winners with greater insight and a vision of the future regarding the impact of this powerful tool on various spheres of knowledge. 

Thanks to all the fellows taking part this year! You're truly a source of inspiration.