NEWS | TWO TEAMS OF ENGINEERING STUDENTS FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON MAKE THE FINALS OF THE ENGINEERS IN BUSINESS 2022 INNOVATION COMPETITION

Not one, but two teams of engineering students and graduates from the University of Southampton have secured a place in the final of the Engineers in Business Champion of Champions innovation competition, which will be hosted by TV presenter Rob Bell at the Royal Academy of Engineering on 28 October 2022. 21-year-old mechanical engineering undergraduate Tamara Ivancova, the founder and director of Amara Automotive, has reached the final, alongside mechanical engineering graduates, 23-year-old Christian Toma and 23-year-old Grace Lam, from team AMRSS.

Tamara founded Amara Automotive with the aim of developing low-cost, low-emission transport. She has developed The Elecy, a 4-wheeled e-bike, designed to run in the cycle lanes.

Christian (CEO), and Grace (CTO) founded AMRSS to develop AI solutions for real-time aerodynamic performance analysis, which aims to help engineers improve decision-making throughout design, test and deployment stages of new technology.

Tamara and Christian will be pitching their innovations against eight other teams of student and graduate innovators in the national final. A sum of £15,000 is up for grabs, providing vital seed money to help the winners develop their innovation. The winners will also receive mentoring from business leaders who are members of the Sainsbury Management Fellows (SMF) network, plus CV packages from PurpleCV and entrepreneurial books from Cambridge University Press.

The competition is organised by the registered charity, Engineers in Business Fellowship which champions business education for engineers and supports universities by giving them grants to award prizes to engineering students who develop ideas that can make a positive impact on society. The grants enable universities to inspire more engineering and technology students to participate in innovation and entrepreneurship, skills that they take into their careers.

Amara Automotive

Explaining the concept behind Amara Automotive, Tamara comments, “We are rethinking how we travel, and want to create truly sustainable vehicles without compromise, focusing on minimising emissions during both the production and operation stages of our vehicles. Elecy, our 4-wheeled e-bike has been designed for cycle lanes, and will help city commuters minimise their travel cost, time and emissions without compromising on comfort, safety or practicality. Elecy's aerodynamic body provides weather and impact protection as well as room for a child or 300L of storage!”

AMRSS

In the case of AMRSS team, Christian explains, “We wanted to offer real-time aerodynamic performance analysis, at any stage of the process, that can be employed within the automotive, aerospace and renewables sectors, to solve problems ranging from increasing electric vehicle range to control system optimisation for wind turbines. The product combines physics-based simulation data with modern machine learning methods to learn the aerodynamic trends around a system. From a limited number of measurements, we apply these trends to fill in the gaps to give engineers a complete insight into what is happening, all in real-time.”

Asked to comment on why there is a need to teach engineering students about business, the two finalists said:

Amara Automotive:

Tamara said, “Business skills are paramount for engineering students and graduates. The skills needed to successfully start and run a business are completely different to those taught in engineering courses, and will be useful in any place of work, enable you to perform better as an engineer, even if you do not start your own business.”

AMRSS:

Christian said, “Understanding the requirements of a particular customer or sector is crucial to success in business. The addition of business skills to an engineering degree helps ensure that you have the right mix of skills to identify and meet those requirements.”

The dragons’ den style competition will be compered by TV presenter, Rob Bell. Competing against eight other teams, Tamara and Christian will each have six minutes to convince the judges, through their presentation and Q&A session, that they and their teams should be crowned Champion of Champions and take home a cash prize. Amongst other criteria, the judges will be assessing the potential benefits to the user, and in particular the cost savings and environmental benefits of Elecy, and the potential of AMSSS to improve aerodynamic performance analysis.

The members of the judging panel are:

SMF Caroline Cake, Entrepreneur in Residence at Oxford Science Enterprises

Dr Terri Holloway, Ingenuity Lab Manager, Entrepreneur in Residence, University of Nottingham

SMF Kwok Ng, Strategy Programme Manager, The Crown Estate

SMF Chris Shelley, Chief Executive Officer, SolarBotanic Trees

Commenting on reaching the Engineers in Business Champion of Champions Final the teams said:

Amara Automotive

Tamara said, “I am trying to make an impact, to introduce a better way of commuting in cities, and so the recognition and encouragement I have received from Engineers in Business combined with the mentorship opportunities and credibility that this brings to my business is very important to me.”

AMRSS

Christian added, “Being recognised by Engineers in Business Fellowship through the Champion of Champions Competition is a great privilege and will help to build our reputation and credibility as a start-up in engineering. The potential to secure additional funding and a mentor will also help us to continue our business development.”

The two teams will be competing for an Engineers in Business Champion of Champions title against eight other teams from Imperial College London, University of Birmingham (two finalists), Queen’s University Belfast, University of Oxford, Lancaster University, University of Nottingham, and the University of Greenwich.