11/03/10
Faculty students scoop prizes for healthcare innovations
Three students from the Faculty of Health and Social Care Sciences have been awarded prizes in a recent 'Bright Ideas' competition aimed at identifying and encouraging young entrepreneurs.
Run by the WestFocus Centre for Knowledge Exchange
and now in its sixth year, the Bright Ideas competition invites students with innovative ideas for a new or improved product or service, or a social enterprise project, to present their ideas to a panel of judges.
Students from the Faculty of Health and Social Care Sciences scooped two of the six top prizes of £1,000, and a runner-up prize of £250, in recognition of their innvovate ideas:
- Nursing student Neomi Bennett received the award for her proposal for a vital aid for the prevention of deep vein thrombosis. Neomi developed her idea during a practice placement as part of her nursing studies, initially scoping it out as part of an assignment. She has now further developed the concept and is hoping to apply for further funding to support the product development required to bring her idea to market.
- Caron Ireland was awarded a top prize for devising a brightly coloured, single-use, disposable product for children aimed at providing comfort and support while they undergo intravenous (IV) therapy.
- Faculty student Shane Churcher received a runner-up prize for his idea of a drip rate calculator for manual intravenous (IV) infusions.
As well as offering students the chance to win cash prizes, the competition also gives advice to young entrepreneurs on developing their ideas and provides workshops on how to pitch them to potential investors. In the past, participants have successfully developed their ideas into projects and businesses.
This year the competition attracted more interest than ever. Entries were received from almost 300 students from the seven universities across south and west London involved in the WestFocus venture.
Our congratulations to all of the winners, who were up against some tough competition!
- Find out more about this year's Bright Ideas competition including a full list of winners
- For details of future competitions please contact Suzanne Corbett, Faculty of Health and Social Care Sciences, email s.corbett@sgul.kingston.ac.uk
