THREE ENGINEERING STUDENTS FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON WIN INNOVATION AWARDS IN THE EIBF 2022 CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS COMPETITION

Three engineering students from the University of Southampton won business innovation awards in the Engineers in Business Champion of Champions Final. 

Mechanical engineering student Tamara Ivancova swept the board winning three prizes – First Prize in the Big Ideas category and two People’s Vote Awards for her eco-friendly Elecy e-bike and was awarded £4,000.  

Tamara, who is the founder of Amara Automotive which will make the Elecy e-bike said, “I’m thrilled to have won three prizes.  It’s great to have the recognition of the judges and the public. It has been a wonderful experience.

“We are rethinking how we travel, and want to create truly sustainable vehicles without compromise, focusing on minimising emissions during the production and operation stages of our vehicles. Elecy, a four-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.  The money and mentoring will help me to speed up Elecy’s development process.”

Christian Toma and Grace Lam, two other engineering students from the University of Southampton won the runner-up prize in the Business Startup category and received £1,500 towards the ongoing development of AMRSS.  AMRSS will provide AI solutions for real-time aerodynamic performance analysis – this will help engineers to improve their decision-making throughout the design, testing and deployment stages of new technology.

Representing the AMRSS team, Christian said: “It’s amazing to be selected the runner-up in the Startup category – to be recognised by such a prestigious community as Engineers in Business Fellowship is incredible.  I’m leaving the event with insight, information and prize money that will help us to grow our business significantly and build our brand.”  

Amara Automotives and AMRSS will benefit from mentoring from Sainsbury Management Fellows, engineers who received a £50,000 scholarship to study for their MBA at a top international business school. Both winners will also receive professional CV packages from PurpleCV and a popular entrepreneurial book from Cambridge University Press.

Head of the Judging panel, SMF Chris Shelley, Chief Executive Officer, SolarBotanic Trees said: “We had an exceptionally talented group of finalists, and it was very difficult to separate many of the presentations.  Amara Automotives and RMSS won by demonstrating a clear vision, sound research and high motivation to take their product forward.”

Engineers in Business Fellowship is a registered charity that champions business education for engineers and supports not only qualified engineers to gain business education, but also supports universities by giving them grants to award prizes to engineering students who develop ground-breaking 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.