Xjenza Malta together with the EIT - European Institute of Innovation and Technology EIT have launched the EIT Regional Innovation Booster. 

This programme is designed to support high-potential Maltese Start-Ups and SMEs with market-ready solutions, helping them to expand internationally and accelerate their growth with financial support of up to €90,000 throughout the programme stages. Selected participants will have the opportunity to get expert guidance from European innovation leaders.

For more information visit the Xjenza Malta website:

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Elenya Spiteri scoops €10,000 top prize at EU award.

A Maltese medical technology entrepreneur has won a top EU award after inventing a device inspired by her great-grandmother's struggle to manage her medication. 

Elenya Spiteri, 20, won the AmCham EU Youth Entrepreneurship Award 2026 with her ‘Medilert’ automated medicine dispenser, beating two other finalists from Albania and Latvia.

The award comes with a €10,000 cash prize and a year of mentoring. 

Spiteri’s invention combines an automated dispenser with app-based monitoring and voice reminders, aimed at improving patient care for elderly patients.

“The idea started out in my great-grandparents’ living room," Spiteri said.  "I saw my great-grandmother struggle with her medications, and I saw the constant worry and stress it put on my family when she forgot to take her medication or took double the dose.”

“Medilert is that ‘living room moment’. I took that idea and built a company out of it,” she said, adding that she started the company last year before entering her invention into competitions around Europe.

Describing the win as “surreal” and a “moment of pride”, Spiteri said the award would help build Medilert’s credibility and support the scaling up of its operations.

'Dream to have my own company'

The Saint Martin's Institute of Higher Education student said her long-term plan for the company was to expand into other European markets and work on Medilert full-time.

“It has always been my dream to have my own company; working on the company doesn’t feel like a job to me, but rather a mission. I also plan to keep studying, as knowledge is always the door to achieving your dreams.”

The AmCham award, now in its 14th year, was created by the American Chamber of Commerce to the European Union. Since 2021, it has focused on start-ups with female founders, co-founders or lead team members.

Spiteri was declared competition winner after delivering a presentation about her company and facing a grilling from a panel of senior business leaders, policymakers and EU-US representatives.

'Strong example of a young woman entrepeneur'

She received the award at this year’s AmCham EU Annual Gala, which featured the participation of European Commissioner Glenn Micallef’s cabinet, EU Commissioner Maria Luís Albuquerque and senior members of the US mission to the EU.

AmCham EU CEO Malte Lohan called Medilert a “strong example of how young women entrepreneurs are bringing fresh thinking to Europe’s economy”.

“Elenya has shown what is possible when a clear business idea is matched with the determination to bring it to market. We are pleased to recognise her achievement and the example she sets for women entrepreneurs across Europe.”

Other finalists included Albanian entrepreneur Bora Selenica, who was recognised for her ‘Pigi’ financial education app aimed at children aged five to 14, and Latvian entry Marija Ručevska for her early-stage venture capital fund investing in pre-seed and seed tech companies across Baltic and Nordic states.

The competition was held in collaboration with JA Europe, a leading European organisation providing teaching, volunteering and mentoring experiences.

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PREMIERTOGO tackles this problem head-on. Prof. Ing. Philip Farrugia leads the project, treating the lower-limb prosthesis as a system that can be designed, monitored, and adapted for each person. ‘Most existing prosthetics are still largely passive. They don’t capture what’s happening during use, nor do they adapt to it. We wanted to change that baseline,’ says Mr Adrian Mercieca, who works as an RSO on the project.

This ambition shapes every part of the project, from the cover to the knee, ankle, foot, and the sensors inside. The result is more than just one improvement. It is a new way to think about prosthetic design. The most obvious change is the fully 3D-printed cover, which is not just for looks. It shows how 3D printing can make prosthetics better and easier to produce.

Form Follows Force

The team started by looking at the old design. The previous cover was bulky, complicated, and hard to put together. It used standard fasteners, offered little room for personalisation, and had too many parts. The redesign aimed to use fewer parts, make assembly easier, cut weight, and improve its appearance without weakening it.

The cover was designed for 3D printing from the start, rather than being adapted later. That decision matters. Additive manufacturing rewards different shapes, connections, and internal features. ‘If you design for 3D printing from the start, you stop thinking in terms of traditional constraints,’ Mercieca explains. ‘You can simplify structure, reduce components, and integrate features directly into the geometry.’

Two main ideas shaped the cover: modularity and generative design. The modular system breaks the cover into separate parts, including interchangeable front panels. Users can change how it looks without touching the main structure. In a field focused on function, that offers something rare: choice.

Generative design provides the engineering logic. Instead of solid surfaces, the structure uses algorithm-driven patterns. Material goes where it is needed and is removed where it is not. The goal is not decoration. It is efficiency. ‘We’re not removing material for the sake of it,’ Mercieca says. ‘We’re placing it precisely where it needs to be.’

The design then moved into parametric CAD. Parts were shaped for efficient printing. Snap-fit connections replaced bolts and glue, making assembly faster and maintenance simpler. The cover was also aligned with the existing prosthetic system, avoiding a full redesign.

From there, the design was refined step by step. Wall thickness, pattern density, and connection points were adjusted to balance strength, flexibility, and manufacturability. Generative features were used only where they made structural sense. The final cover is lighter, easier to assemble, and visually distinct, without added complexity.

Material choice followed the same logic. The design was optimised for widely available printers such as PRUSA and Ultimaker. ‘There’s no value in a design that can’t be produced reliably. We had to make sure it works with real-world equipment,’ Mercieca notes.

Continue reading this article by clicking on the below link.

The PREMIERTOGO project was funded by Xjenza Malta’s MCST FUSION R&I – Research Excellence Programme (R&I-2024-013L).

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The Clean Energy Transition Partnership Joint Call 2025 is officially launched.

🔍What is the CETPartnership?

The CETPartnership is a strategic Horizon Europe initiative that aims to drive and empower clean energy transition and contribute to the EU’s goal of becoming the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. The programme brings together funding from 50 programme owners across 30 countries, supporting a broad range of technologies and systems necessary for this energy transition.

ℹ️2026 Joint Transnational Call Details

The joint call is structured into 11 Call Modules covering various thematic areas and scopes. The key thematic areas addressed include: 

• Integrated energy system resilience in a changing environment

• Energy system flexibility (renewables, storage, integration)

• Advanced renewables for power production (ROA)

• Advanced renewables for power production (IOA)

• Industrial carbon management

• Hydrogen & renewable fuels

• Stationary battery technologies and systems

• Heating & cooling technologies

• Regional energy systems

• Industrial energy systems

• Clean energy in buildings

The application process is two-stage, first with Project Consortium choosing one call module and submitting a pre-proposal. Following an independent evaluation, selected pre-proposals will be invited to submit a full proposal.

Further details can be found in the 2026 Call Text.

🌍 Eligibility and Funding Details for Malta Entities

Entities in Malta are eligible for up to €500,000 to participate in CETPartnership proposal consortia. Applicants must apply in a consortium of at least 3 beneficiary partners from at least 3 participating countries. Interested applicants are encouraged to use the Partner Search Platform to connect with potential partners for your pre-proposals. 

📅 Important Dates:

• Information Session: 19 June 2026 [Register here]

• Prep-proposal Deadline: 8 October 2026

For further information please visit the Xjenza Malta CETPartnership Webpage and the CETPartnership Website. 

If the CETPartnership call has sparked your interest, we encourage you to reach out to us for more information. Kindly contact us on eusubmissions.xjenzamalta@gov.mt or contact the Programme Managers: 

• Ms Margherita Muscat at margherita.muscat.1@gov.mt and (+356) 2360 2339

• Ms. Christy Baldacchino at christy.baldacchino.2@gov.mt and (+356) 2360 2158

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