Starting a Business – 2022
Back to Competitions | The University of Warwick’s Starting a Business module examines how businesses are established. The module gives second-year Engineering Undergraduates the opportunity to understand and appreciate the challenges involved in setting up their own business. The module takes a hands-on approach in teaching students how to think and act like an entrepreneur, covering areas such as developing and testing a business idea, pitching the concept to industry experts and writing a business report based on feedback and insights. |
Winner: Next Door Team
Sanad Abueideh, Engineering Business Management; Gustave Denis, Mechanical Engineering; Shankavi Sivakumar, Civil Engineering; Akshata Lambu, Electronics Engineering and Umar Kakingarai, Engineering Business Management – £1,500 Engineers in Business Prize
The Next Door team created a free app available on Apple and Android devices with a two-sided platform that provides a solution for students and young people who are looking for a part-time job. On the one hand, this solves the problem for students who are looking for well-paying part-time jobs and on the other hand, it solves the problem for people who have time-consuming jobs and must balance this with everyday tasks such as domestic chores and grocery shopping.
Winner: Bills4Me Team
Ginda Karam, Automotive Engineering; Hasti Fazli, General Engineering; Azeem Aminudin, Systems Engineering; Arjun Mohindra, Mechnanical & Manufacturing Engineering and Noby Roys, Mechanical Engineering – £1,500 Engineers in Business Prize
Bills4Me is a solution (an app plus a meter) which allows users to have access to their data analytics on energy usage and thus attempts to address the problem of energy wastage by helping users in shared accommodations (like students) monitor and manage their energy usage.
Positive feedback
While EIBC prize money is a welcome and encouraging financial incentive, the value of the competition is much more in terms of an opportunity for our students to learn how to pitch to a panel of seasoned potential investors (including Sainsbury Management Fellows) and at the same time get detailed feedback on the potential of their business ideas. This mentoring is much more valuable than the actual prize money. Many thanks to Engineers in Business Fellowship and Sainsbury Management Fellows for their continued focus on encouraging entrepreneurship amongst engineers!
Ketan Goswami
Assistant Professor, Entrepreneurship & Innovation Group
University of Warwick