IE Students claim Honors Prize with Blockchain Solution for Fairer Resell Market

A team of students from IE University’s School of Science and Technology (Sci-Tech) and IE University Business School have earned the Honors Prize at the prestigious EPFL Hackathon, an event that draws the brightest innovators and problem-solvers from around the globe. Their winning project, SUISEATS, introduced a novel approach to streamlining resell transactions using cutting-edge blockchain technology, particularly the Move language and SUI blockchain.

The EPFL Hackathon, hosted by École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), is an intense 36 hour competition that challenges participants to develop innovative solutions for real-world problems with an emphasis on emerging technologies like blockchain and AI. Teams worked tirelessly to execute their projects, with guidance from mentors and feedback from industry experts. The team thrived in this high-energy environment, drawing on the collaborative and entrepreneurial culture that is a pillar of IE University’s academic philosophy.

“IE University has a strong focus on entrepreneurship and innovation as well as tech, which really helped us,” remarked Ismail Lahlou, a member of the team. “We have had lots of experience doing group projects, hackathons, and case studies. Because of this we were able to solve problems from different angles and work effectively under the tight deadlines. At IE we have learned to collaborate and work with teams, making us well prepared to compete in the competition.”

For the IE team, composed of bachelor students in Business Administration and Data Science, Iúri Ilhéu, Ismail Lahlou, Ahmad Elbaba, Lareen Barghouthi, and Micah Obiang-Obounou, participation in the event was a chance to implement their learning and creativity and combine their technical expertise with entrepreneurship. Their solution, SUISEATS, leveraged blockchain technology to create a fairer and more efficient system for reselling high-demand products, such as event tickets and limited-edition goods, ensuring transparency and compliance.

“We were motivated by the challenge and the opportunity to work with cutting-edge technologies, especially the Move language and SUI blockchain,” said Ismail. “Our goal was to solve a real-world problem by improving the resell market, protecting consumers from excessive price markups while ensuring fair pricing and legal compliance. It was super exciting for us to build something impactful, while working alongside top talent at the Hackathon.”

The team also benefited from the support of IE University School of Sci-Tech´s resources, including access to mentors, workshops, and the opportunity to collaborate with peers. “The School of Sci-Tech helped us organize and fund the trip, which meant we were able to focus entirely on the competition. It was amazing to have the university’s backing.”

Congratulations to the students for their tremendous achievement at the EPFL Hackathon, and for tackling the very real issues impacting the resell retail market today.