PRESS RELEASE
Monday, 30th July 2007
NISP ANNOUNCES YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS IN 2007 £25K AWARDS FINAL
Julian Ward Ara, Jonathan Francey iMAS, Roisin Clancy NISP and Richard Lyttle SCI
The top ten university finalists for this year’s £25K Awards for new entrepreneurs have been revealed by the competition’s organisers, the Northern Ireland Science Park (NISP).
The £25K Awards, now in its seventh year, aims to encourage students and researchers from the University of Ulster, Queen’s University Belfast and Loughry College to transform their research, ideas and enthusiasm into marketable products and new business solutions.
Previously run by Investment Belfast, the competition is now organized by the Northern Ireland Science Park and sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers, Invest Northern Ireland and the Northern Ireland Centre for Entrepreneurship.
Norman Apsley, Chief Executive of the Northern Ireland Science Park, said:
“The Science Park is delighted to have incorporated the £25K Awards into its remit to encourage hi-tech ventures. The calibre of entrants this year has been extremely impressive, reflecting the quality of the research base in Northern Ireland.
“In particular, the ten finalists have produced excellent and unique products, some of which will undoubtedly be very successful in the marketplace. The £25K Awards showcase Northern Ireland’s potential to succeed in the knowledge economy and create the indigenous, high value enterprises which the economy needs.”
The 2007 finalists representing Queens and the University of Ulster, comprise some fascinating and innovative ideas.
Over half of the products developed by finalists this year are online-based, one iMAS addresses issues of mobility and another, Synergy Design focuses on reducing injury among hospital staff through strain caused by moving heavy hospital beds.
Ara Sports is developing a Studguard for athletic footwear. The product, a lightweight compact adjustable accessory allows athletes or golfers to make the transition from the sportsfield to clubhouse or car without damaging flooring and at the same time protecting spikes. Aerochill saw the need for environmentally friendly refrigeration systems and has developed a system which uses everyday air as the refrigerant.
Some of the online finalists include Total Recut, an online service for fans and creators of video recuts, remixes or ‘mash-ups.’ SOPHIASearch Ltd has developed a technology for businesses to search documents using a clustering methodology.
The next stage of the process involves each team of finalists submitting a detailed business plan. The second round judges consists of high profile people from the business community, academics and government. In mid September the teams go through to the final stage of the judging process presenting their products to a panel of judges.
Last year’s runners up Sengenia, who specialise in advanced sensor solutions which detect early warning signs of deterioration in buildings and bridges have gone onto receive backing by a Venture Capitalist and are in the process of raising funds for the company. Previous winners have gone onto secure six figure sums of development finance to develop prototypes in preparation for the marketplace.
The Awards ceremony takes place on Thursday 18th October at the Ramada Hotel, Belfast. On the night the winning team will collect a cheque for £10,000, two runners up will receive £2,500 each. £2,500 is awarded to the winning Faculty, £2,500 goes to the best Undergraduate team and all of the finalist teams receive £500 each. For more information on the 25K Awards please contact Roisin Clancy at the Northern Ireland Science Park on 028 9073 8000.