Three business school students were part of the winning team which won the 'student' category of the Enterprise Challenge.Three business school students were part of the winning team which won the 'student' category of the Enterprise Challenge.
There was also a 'researcher' category. Competing against more than 300 participants to reach the final stages, the winning teams of both categories were deserving of their prize of £1,000 and a 7" Kindle FIRE HD and gained much more from their experience than they had ever anticipated.
The winning student team, Essential Vitality, comprised Lisa Markussen (MBM), Ross Henderson and Matthew McClintock (second year undergraduates), Andrew Alcorn (law, 4th year) and Ilario Romano (Naval Architecture, 5th year). They had Gill MacAulay as business mentor and their idea, Postura, was for a supportive undershirt with a sensor/app system to improve posture over time.
Lisa, who has a bachelor degree in product design and innovation, explained, "I got involved after one of the competition coordinators, Joshua Sauter, presented the pathway challenge in class, outlining that we would receive evening classes in entrepreneurship and professional practice such as networking and presentation skills. We generated our idea during a weekend workshop. Our idea is for a posture supporting undershirt using a sensor/app system to improve the posture of office workers, minimising the huge cost of back injuries from continuous strain for business and for individuals.
"The competition was in three stages: evening lectures, weekend workshop and evaluation. This involved a video pitch, 'Apprentice' style interviews and a presentation at a Strathclyde 100 event. As well as winning the Kindle and the money, we got to have lunch with Sir Tom Hunter."
Lisa added, "This was one of the best experiences I've had during my 5 years at Strathclyde. I managed to apply almost all the skills I've learned throughout my Bachelor and Master degrees in a practical manner. The networking opportunities alone are worth the additional work. I would recommend the Enterprise Pathway competition to anyone."
The other team, Trakit, was mentored by Alasdair MacKay and their idea, Integrated Transport, was for "an integrated transport tracker, locating suitable buses, trains and taxis based on your origin or intended destination with an integrated alarm setting based on real-time arrival times and availability."