Foundation Year “Business Case for Engineers” Project

Project:

The Vendi-Go team was awarded a £1,500 Engineers in Business Prize.  The team members are pictured top left to right, Douglas Potter (Mechanical Engineering), Fareed Hakeem-Habeed (Computer Science & Electrical Engineer) and bottom left to right, Krzysztof Wierzbicki (Computer Science & Electrical Engineering), Thanush Gunalan (Mechanical Engineering) and Sam Ross (Mechanical Engineering).

Vendi-Go aims to transform the beverage machine business in an environmentally friendly, sustainable, and cost-effective way. Introducing a ‘bring your own bottle’ concept for vending machines, would remove all single-use plastics from Vendi-Go vending machines leading to a reduction in waste produced (from the 170,000 vending machines which dispense 2.5 billion items a year). Vendi-Go vending machines will fill a customer’s water bottle with a drink of their choice for a discounted fee including an increased discount when using a Vendi-Go water bottle (these bottles can be recycled at any machine and a replacement will be given at no extra cost.

Vendi-Go team members are enthusiastic about their learning experiences and commented: 

“I found the business project to be a fantastic opportunity to test our creative minds and come up with a business idea, which is not only feasible but also able to make a positive impact on the environment”.

“I found the project an interesting insight into the challenges of working with small teams, to achieve agreed objectives.”

“The cash prize from EIBC was one of the best ways to motivate young people to think creatively and outside the box. I found the whole experience great as I was learning key skills like being able to work in a team and at the same time working towards a goal that gave me motivation to do my best. I believe that giving young people motivation like cash prizes and healthy competition can create a great learning environment that better prepares young people for the real world.

Project:

The Easy Grips team was awarded a £1,000 Engineers in Business Prize – they are pictured top left to right, Callum Daniel (Sustainability, Civil & Environmental Engineer), Brooklyn Buci (Mechanical Engineer) and bottom left to right Boaz Ekunyan (Chemical Engineer), Andre Guerra (Sustainability, Civil & Environmental Engineer) and Kadeen Webley (Sustainability, Civil & Environmental Engineer).

Easy Grips is a modernised grip designed to attach to glasses and tableware, improving grip and independence. This will slide onto the bottom of bowls and plates and the top third of drinking glasses to still maintain comfort and hand room.

This is a growing market in which this product has no direct competitors and allows the consumer to use already-owned tableware. This gap in the market coupled with predicted low production costs leads to a promising future product.

Easy Grips will reassure the elderly, aiding their independence and removing the embarrassment of dropping fragile objects with their safety at the forefront. Going through dementia, Alzheimer’s or musculoskeletal conditions can be stressful and difficult to deal with, particularly on top of ageing in general. Our grips may just make this time in people’s lives that little bit easier to handle.

Two members of the  Easy Grip said: 

“I found the whole experience very rewarding. It has helped to develop my teamwork and communication skills. I think that the cash prize incentivised the group as a whole to put in more effort towards the making of the business.”

“As this was only our second group project at the university level, I found the experience to be quite valuable. Enabling us to develop teamwork abilities for the next projects, whether they be at a university or professional level. I also had never designed a business before, so I found it to be fascinating and fulfilling.”

Project:

The Leafcharge team won a £500 Engineers in Business Prize.  The team is pictured top left to right, Nicholas Wing (Maths & Physics), Mustafa Nagial, (Maths & Physics) and Milan Sukes (Mechanical Engineering) and bottom left to right, Ethan Clayton (Maths & Physics), Robert Hire (Mechanical Engineering) and Eric Williams (Computer Science & Electrical Engineering).

Leafcharge aims to provide a durable, modular and fast solution to charging a mobile phone whilst on a bicycle. The product consists of a dynamo, fast charger and phone case holder that can be installed on bicycles separately or installed with a newly purchased bike alongside being fitted to public hire bicycle services like the Santander hire bikes in London. Our product will allow anyone using a bicycle installed with Leafcharge to charge their phones whilst on the move, which may be critically important for delivery drivers or anyone returning home from work whose battery is lower than expected or foreseen.  Initially, the product will be tested in London and surrounding areas with hire bicycle services but the team hopes to expand to the rest of the UK and overseas.

Feedback from the Leafcharge team included:

“The experience was one of excellence, the team was well balanced in terms of work distribution and all mentors assisted greatly with the development process of both the business report and the following PowerPoint. Cash incentive helped in ensuring team members worked all through the project instead of dropping out and away after the first 2 weeks.”

 “Personally, the research about the project was tiring but we reached some good results and ideas which is good.”

“The experience was a good way to work as a team and it was difficult at first to find an idea due to the little to no boundaries but once we fixated on leaf charge the ideas flowed. We worked well as a team delegating each member to a section of the project to ensure there was no confusion and to keep us all on track to complete the project within the time frame. Overall, we were very happy with our product and the presentation to show off our product, so we were ready to pitch it and it went perfectly. I did enjoy the experience a lot.”