The 4th edition of the European Hackathon took place on 25 March at the Hôtel de Roquelaure in Paris, headquarters of the French Ministry for Ecological Transition. This Hackathon was organised jointly by the Gustave Eiffel University and the French Transportation Infrastructure Financing Agency (AFIT). The event brought to a close the work carried out by students from Gustave Eiffel University and partner European universities, including PIONEER Alliance members, on decarbonising freight transportation.
The European Hackathon at Gustave Eiffel University
The European Hackathon was created in 2021 through a partnership between AFIT France and the Gustave Eiffel University. Its aim is to get students from France and other European countries to work together on the transition towards more sustainable mobility. The event with distance learning sessions, followed by a four-day intensive session organised at the Ecole des Ingénieurs de la Ville de Paris (EIVP), at the end of which participants present their projects to a panel of judges.
Each year, the event brings together around forty Masters students from the different schools and faculties of the Gustave Eiffel University, as well as from universities in other European countries, including PIONEER Alliance members. The participating students are divided into multidisciplinary teams from different countries. The diversity of approaches and cultures enables them to compare solutions and develop innovative projects. The teams are supported throughout their work by coaches and experts, to guide them and prepare them for the final presentations in the form of pitches.
The aim of the scheme is to get students to work on practical issues and come up with solutions to current challenges. The European Hackathon represents an original and intensive course of collective and international entrepreneurship:
“I appreciated the opportunity to work with students from different backgrounds. The Hackathon allowed us to consider new perspectives, to think about our future careers and to develop soft skills. It also allowed us to confront different opinions and to work these differences out together.” Mariangela Durigon, a design student at IUAV in Venice.
The 4th edition of the European Hackathon
This 4th edition of the European Hackathon was devoted to the decarbonisation of freight transportation and logistics. Students from four universities, Gustave Eiffel University (France), University of Bologna (Italy) and two PIONEER member universities, ISCTE – University Institute of Lisbon (Portugal) and IUAV University of Venice (Italy), were able to develop innovative projects to meet this challenge over four days, from Friday 21 to Monday 24 March 2025.
The 36 students, divided into eight teams, proposed projects ranging from a certification system to measure the ecological footprint of e-commerce, to more sustainable parcel delivery and transportation solutions. The feedback from these projects highlighted the diversity of approaches and the creativity of the students.
“As an intern in a Start-Up, this allowed me to gain a new perspective on my professional development. The Hackathon requires that we develop soft skills, such as communication and teamwork. I enjoyed the multiculturalism and the focus on European challenges, and I’m grateful that the universities supported us throughout the experience.” Maria Beatriz Ramos Filipe, student at ISCTE, Portugal
Awards were given following the final presentation of the projects to the panel of judges at the Ministry of Ecological Transition and on AFIT France’s 20th anniversary. The panel of judges was composed by the Chair, Mr Franck Leroy, President of the Regional Council of the Grand-Est Region and Chairman of the Board of Directors of AFIT France, as well as Fabienne Keller, Member of the European Parliament, Renew Europe, Antoine Robichet, Supply Chain Advisor, Freight and Logistics Mission – General Directorate for Infrastructure, Transport and Mobility, Ministry of Ecological Transition and Town and Country Planning, Gilles Roussel, President of the Gustave Eiffel University and Sylvie Chevrier, Deputy International Vice-President of the Université Gustave Eiffel.
Three of the eight projects were awarded prizes by the jury. The students who won first place also had the pleasant surprise of receiving a special prize from Fabienne Keller, Member of the European Parliament. Indeed, on 07 May, the Ecoloop team is invited to present their project to the European Parliament in Strasbourg as part of the 20th anniversary of AFIT France and the 5th anniversary of “Mai à vélo”.
Focus on award-winning projects
3rd Place: Project CARGOFIT
Festus ADEKU – ESIEE Paris, Gustave Eiffel University
Maria Beatriz RAMOS FILIPE – ISCTE IUL – Lisbon University Institute, Portugal
Vladelina GRATI – IUAV University of Venice, Italy
Rayan KOROGHLI – École d’Urbanisme de Paris, Gustave Eiffel University
CARGOFIT is an innovative project aiming at bringing together demand and offer for the retrofitting of cargo ships in a market that is very fragmented and suffers from lack of access to solution providers.
The judges valued the ambition of the team to address the issue of sustainability for cargo ships and the potential scalability to other types of modes of transportation.
These students received an InterRail ticket for 7 days’ travel throughout Europe over the course of a month.
2nd Place: Project E-motion
Francesca Romana DORIA – IUAV University of Venice, Italy
Gabriel LEJEUNE – École d’Urbanisme de Paris, Gustave Eiffel University
Elena TRABUCCO – IUAV University of Venice, Italy
Clément TYCHYJ – ENSG – Géomatique, Gustave Eiffel University
E-MOTION represents the transfer of the TOSA power supply technology used on buses to trucks in order to optimise recharging, particularly in logistics zones, thereby enabling the spread of electric vehicles for urban delivery.
The judges appreciated the analysis of the technology’s transferability and the potential for its implementation in the logistics zones identified.
The students in this team received an InterRail ticket to travel for 10 days over two months throughout Europe.
1st Place: Project Ecoloop
Abhishek BHARDWAJ – ESIEE Paris, Gustave Eiffel University
Mariangela DURIGON – IUAV University of Venice, Italy
Jacob Luke GRILES – ISCTE IUL – Lisbon University Institute, Portugal
Elisa PEYRARD – ENSG-Géomatique, Gustave Eiffel University
Bianca VITALE – IUAV University of Venice, Italy
ECOLOOP aims at shifting consumer habits towards more sustainability in e-commerce by offering a return system and a rating system to highlight the flows and the ways to improve them.
The judges appreciated the team’s holistic approach, giving consumers a role in making supply chains more sustainable, particularly e-commerce.
The students in this team received an Interrail ticket to travel for 15 days over two months throughout Europe.
Congratulations to all the students for the quality of their work!
