Institutional case study · Costa Rica

Universidad Fidélitas: Three Editions and an International Victory at Mars Challenge

Since its first participation in 2024, Universidad Fidélitas has hosted a Costa Rican national phase, supported multidisciplinary teams and taken part in three consecutive editions. In 2025, its Sibú team won the international final in Spain; in 2026, AEGIS M4RS was selected in Costa Rica for the next final.

Three editions, three moments

2024 · First national phase

Universidad Fidélitas hosted the Costa Rican phase at its Edificio de la Innovación in June. The team of Sofía Mena Quirós, Santiago Castillo Campos and Gabriel Mairena Granera (Fidélitas), together with Allan Bolaños (Tecnológico de Costa Rica), won the national competition. Alejandro Gavarrete Brenes and José Mario Pantoja Ocampo completed the delegation. At the 2024 international final, Alejandro joined a recognized mixed team and Sofía received an individual leadership recognition; neither distinction was an international victory for the national team.

2024 national winners · Fidélitas · 2024 international distinctions · Fidélitas

2025 · Sibú wins the international final

The university prepared the Sibú team with engineering and psychology students. Their proposed automated algae bioreactor addressed converting carbon dioxide into oxygen. Sibú took first place internationally at the final held in Getafe, Spain, in October 2025.

Sibú and its preparation · Fidélitas · 2025 international result · Europa Press

2026 · The journey continues

Universidad Fidélitas again hosted the national phase. AEGIS M4RS was selected to represent Costa Rica with a proposal for an anaerobic bioreactor focused on soil. National selection does not predict the outcome of the 2026 international final.

2026 national selection · Fidélitas

Sibú: six students across disciplines

The team brought together industrial, electromechanical, mechatronics and systems engineering, alongside psychology. The university describes support from Marco Corrales Chacón, director of Basic Sciences, and Alejandro Gavarrete Brenes, a laboratory assistant, with the project document and model.

The Sibú team

Brandon Ugalde RiveraIndustrial Engineering
Emanuel Jiménez NavarreteElectromechanical Engineering
Ghazeel Morales MoraElectromechanical Engineering
Yair Navarro SalmerónMechatronics Engineering
Endry Rosales BonicheSystems Engineering
Andrea Alfaro SolísPsychology

People behind the project

The university published stories about Ghazeel Morales Mora and Emanuel Jiménez Navarrete. It also documented the involvement of rector Emilia Gazel Leitón and dean Marcos Alvarado Monge. The rector offered her perspective on the team's learning and collaboration; this is an institutional view, not a measured impact result.

Ghazeel's story · Fidélitas · Emanuel's story · Fidélitas · Institutional video interview

2026: AEGIS M4RS and a new delegation

According to the university, Daniel Elizondo, José Zamora, Meylyn Irola Flores and Sharon Valenciano make up the university team. Victoria Rocha Ramírez and Gabriel Bonilla Mora, from Colegio Técnico Profesional Vásquez de Coronado, complete the Costa Rican delegation. The school students should not be presented as Fidélitas students.

Explore the edition 2024 Explore the edition 2025 Explore the edition 2026

Original publications and external coverage

What the evidence establishes

The cited publications document participation, projects, selection and competition results. They do not, on their own, establish scientific effectiveness of a prototype, technology adoption or causal educational impact.