The Sun Concept company wants to produce more sustainable solar boats and, for that, has the researcher Cândida Rocha, the new head of the Sustainability department at the Algarve shipyards.
Despite already producing 100 percent electric vessels, the company from Olhão wants to go further and become even more “green”, betting on new construction materials.
«We want to take sustainability even further and we are counting on Cândida, who is an Environmental Engineer with a PhD in Climate Change. We are thinking of moving towards a research project on building materials, so that they cause as little impact as possible”, he revealed to Sul Informação the managing partner of Sun Concept Manuel Brito.
The idea of investing in this sector, an area in which the Algarve's shipbuilders want to be "pioneers", arose as a result. of Sun Concept's presence at the Boot Fair, in Düsseldorf. «We think that there is the possibility of using cork, as well as natural fibers and resins, for the construction of the hulls and deck», he exemplifies.
The also professor and researcher at the Lusófona University of Humanities and Technologies (ULHT) will contribute her know-how to this goal, while it is hoped that she will be able to build bridges, given the recognition she has «nationally and internationally», taking into account his academic career and his connection to APEA – Portuguese Association of Environmental Engineering, of which he is general secretary.
With the entry of Cândida Rocha, who is linked to Sun Concept as a consultant, the company now has a total of 17 employees, as it already had 14 employees and two managing partners, Manuel Brito and Manuel Braz.
And, despite this being a relatively young company, the hirings should not stop here and may even have to start being made soon.
The Sun Concept won the contest «Chivas The Venture» at national level, and will compete with 30 other startups from around the world for the attractive prize of 1 million dollars, in the international aspect of the contest, whose winners will be announced in March.
This opportunity, as well as being in an Accelerator Week at Oxford University, organized by The Skoll Center for Social Entrepreneurship, led those responsible for Sun Concept to get down to work and think of a faster growth plan for the company, which includes larger facilities and more workers.
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