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Awards for Enterprise showcase staff and student business flair

14 May 2010

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  • Sunday Times: Get smart with a student
  • The business flair and achievements of UCL students and staff were recognised at the 2010 Awards for Enterprise held by UCL Advances last night.

    Doug Richard, the entrepreneur best known for his appearances on BBC's Dragon's Den, presented the awards in the UCL Bloomsbury Theatre.

    The Awards for Enterprise were established to recognise the efforts and accomplishments of UCL's most innovative and entrepreneurial academics and students, and bring together all of the entrepreneurship and business elements of UCL.

    Tim Barnes, Director of UCL Advances, said: "UCL's Awards for Enterprise are unique among UK universities in providing a showcase for all the entrepreneurship and enterprise activities that we are engaged in at a single event, from academic-led spin-out companies to student business plan competition winners. The breadth of UCL's business engagement makes it a leader in the university sector."

    The winners were as follows:

    UCL Business Award: Professor Quentin Pankhurst (UCL Physics and Astronomy) for his endeavours in the establishment of Endomagnetics Limited, which aims to improve healthcare through magnetic sensing technology.

    UCL Consultants Award: Professor Tadj Oreszczyn  (UCL Bartlett School of Graduate Studies and Director of the UCL Energy Institute), who has championed consultancy work and UCL Consultants since its inception in 2003. 

    London Entrepreneurs' Challenge Awards

    The London Entrepreneurs' Challenge Awards are a workshop programme and business plan competition open to all members of UCL and the London Business School that aims to show participants the process of starting a business by helping them do it for themselves.

    Winner:  36Zero, an off-road no-snow mountain board company, started by two UCL undergraduates, who have already submitted a patent application for their first design.

    Runner-up (undergraduate): Gourmandie, an online shopfront for farmers and producers of organic and wholesome foods.

    Runner-Up (postgraduate or staff): H2NRG, which has developed an innovative solution for hydrogen-based energy storage.

    London Entrepreneurs' Challenge 2010 Provost's Prize: H2NRG

    London Entrepreneurs' Challenge 2010 Innovation Central Bursaries:

    • Kit for troops, a website where soldiers can create a personal profile, review types of equipment, and save a 'wishlist' of items they need purchased
    • Alive and Giving, a charity comparison fundraising website
    • Aaas Steering, a breakthrough in steering technology
    • Tigersense, a user experience agency

    UCL Provost's Spirit of Enterprise Award: Professor David Shima (UCL Institute of Ophthalmology)

    Professor Shima's work led to the world's first treatment for VEGF-induced disease. He has contributed greatly to UCL industrial collaborations with GSK and other major companies, and successfully combined entrepreneurial opportunities with academic objectives.

    UCL Enterprise Partner of the Year Award: Arup

    During the last three years, Arup has engaged in an imaginative way with UCL, including representation on the Research Challenge Board and involvement with projects and training initiatives at the UCL Faculty of Engineering and the UCL Bartlett School of Architecture.

    UCL Bright Ideas Awards:

    • ZOoZa: a European single product, high sales website
    • AAAS Steering
    • Three O Nine Custom Clothing, which makes clothing based on customers' own ideas
    • 36Zero
    • The Sport Review, one of the most widely read UK sports blogs

    Social Enterprise Project of the Year Award (new for 2010): The UCL Refugee Project: Noor Alyassin (UCL Biochemical Engineering) and Yasmin Grewal (UCL Geography)

    The Refugee Project aims to help integrate those who are struggling with adapting to life in the UK and help improve their language skills. The volunteers visit the Refugee Advice and Support Centre (RASC) regularly and host activities which aim to encourage conversation, and build vocabulary and confidence.  

    UCL Knowledge Transfer Partnership Award: UCL Bartlett School of Graduate Studies and SpacelabUK

    The project developed a business process examining links between space and effectiveness in the workplace, enabling a better service to be provided to clients in analysing the working environment.

    Lifetime Achievement Award: Sir Derek Roberts

    Tim Barnes, Director of UCL Advances, said: "Six months ago we hosted a dinner for 30 individuals who had started a business during their time at UCL. When we asked everybody why there were here, one man's name came up more often than any other reason. Sir Derek changed the culture at UCL and, as Provost, he helped establish many of the mechanisms in place to encourage effective working with industry, including the forerunner of UCL Business."

    Professor Mike Spyer, who retired from Vice-Provost (Enterprise) on 1 May 2010 was presented with a DVD of a short film 'This is your UCL Life', which was also shown at the event. During a 30-year career at UCL, Professor Spyer held a variety of senior posts within the university, including Dean of Life Sciences.

    Images from top: Professor Mike Spyer, former Vice-Provost (Enterprise) and networking in the UCL Bloomsbury Theatre


    UCL context

    UCL's enterprise structure enables the university to help organisations get involved with staff and students at any stage of business development, from initial networking to strategic collaboration.

    UCL Advances stimulates the culture of entrepreneurship and business interaction and brings business and UCL together. UCL Business maximises the commercial value of UCL's intellectual property assets and carries out commercial transactions. UCL Consultants help provide access to the wealth of expertise at UCL and manage bespoke consultancy contracts.

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