Interview with Electromechanical Engineering Student, Rachel Simms – First Prize Winner in Swansea University’s Invent for the Planet Hackathon

Congratulations to Rachel Simms and her H2Grow team members, one of three teams of engineering students from Swansea University to win an Invent for the Planet innovation award.  H2Grow were awarded a £1,000 Engineers in Business prize. Rachel is a huge supporter of innovation competitions for engineers and she shares her feedback on the Invent for the Planet Hackathon.

Since the culmination of Swansea University’s Invent for the Planet competition, the H2Grow team competed in the Invent for the Planet Global Grand Final at Texas A&M University and won the first prize of £5,000 on top of their Engineers in Business prize.  H2Grow competed against seven other teams from the USA, Pakistan, Thailand and Qatar and presented to a panel of judges from academia and industry.

Why did you take part in the Invent for the Plant Hackathon?
I am very interested in the intersection of engineering and business and wanted to meet a group of like-minded entrepreneurs and wanted to try my hand at what it’s like to be an entrepreneur.

Can you tell us some key things that you learned from taking part in the competition?
Time management was essential for this competition as it is quite a lot to complete within the 48-hour time frame. Teamworking skills were also important as we went from strangers to pitching an idea together within the weekend. I really surprised myself as I learned how to edit a video, something I had never really thought I had the skill set to do.

What elements of the competition did you find most challenging?
The time crunch was invigorating – forcing us to quickly adapt and try out new skills. It was also super cool getting to see the live stream, knowing that students all over the globe were tackling the same issues we were.

Would you recommend the Hackathon to other students?
I would definitely recommend participating in this competition as it’s honestly fun. You get to learn so much about yourself and stretch yourself to do something that sounds crazy.  No one thought they could come up with an idea at the beginning, but 48 hours later everyone had amazing presentations and ideas.

What were the benefits of taking part?
This taught me how to work well in different team environments as well as prioritise tasks. There’s a lot to do – create a video, presentation, technical white paper – on top of coming up with an idea.  You have to focus on what’s important and manage your time well.

How will the skills you learned help you in the future?
These skills will definitely help me as I go forwards, both with my coursework and in industry. Working in teams and time management are two very important skills that this competition brings out, but other skills like public speaking or technical writing are also critical takeaways for me.

Has the experience inspired you to take your business idea further or to develop new ideas?
I’m interested in entrepreneurship and looking at working within the product development sector. I find it exciting to be working towards something new and hope to continue to do so in the future.

Will you be taking any further business courses to increase your knowledge of how to bring an idea to market or how to run a business?
I have taken entrepreneurial courses before and am considering taking additional ones. I think these courses are very important, especially for engineers, as they cover the logistics of running a business beyond having an idea. Some of the best ideas, almost for sure, have been missed just for falling short on how to sell the product.

Find out more about H2Grow here.