Victory at the IE Honours Program 2025

In this challenge, our team had to analyse the environmental spillovers from establishing a data centre in Orellana la Vieja, Extremadura. The objective was to present rational, data-driven arguments against the proposal while considering the consequences for the different stakeholders such as the local community and environmental NGOs. Over the span of two days in the snowy city of Segovia, our team researched the consequences of data centres on water accessibility, quality of life, biodiversity, economic development, employability, and long-term ramifications. As a result, I learnt a lot about the particularities of the Orellana Reservoir and the closed-loop mechanism used for cooling systems in data centres.

Afterwards, I had the opportunity to present our findings to all the audience at the IE Honours Program. It was a pleasure to develop my public speaking skills, and demonstrate how 1 euro can change how we perceive the world. Thank you Javier Bernad for the masterclass on public speaking, I learnt a lot from the lecture!

I would like to thank my whole team (Team 4) for their dedication and effort over these two days: Marina Devotto Pimenta, Camila Gutierrez Lunstedt, Danil Galkin, Juan Pablo Garcia-Casals, Mia Leonardo, Raquel Franco Sampaio, Silvia Gosálvez Comunión, and Tilla Victoria Balogh. Moreover, I want to extend my gratitude to our mentors, who advised us throughout this journey and helped us reach this achievement: Ana Belén Sánchez and Aurora Gomez. Also, I would like to thank the judges for their feedback: Isabel Sánchez Henry Bradford Enrique Peña.

Finally, I would like to thank the organisers of the Honours Program 2025 for allowing me to experience such an amazing program: Juan Alcalde Margarita García Castañeda.

It was a pleasure meeting so many incredible people in the Honours Program, and I am truly humbled to have been a part of it.