ENGINEERING STUDENT’S BUSINESS INNOVATION IN SQUASH UP FOR NATIONAL AWARD

An innovation which could revolutionise the sport of squash has been shortlisted for a national award after being designed by a Lancaster University student.

Mechanical Engineering graduate Gruffydd Gozali, 21, has designed Squaser – a laser line detection system which will help referees to determine if the ball is considered in or out of play.

Unlike tennis and cricket which have Hawk-eye and Snicko respectively, squash doesn’t yet have the technology to support referees in their judgment calls.

Gruffydd, who lives in London, founded Squaser while at Lancaster University during a module on Engineering Business Development. His business idea has now been shortlisted as one of the finalists in the Engineers in Business Champion of Champions competition.

Squaser has already undergone testing at the National Squash Centre in Manchester and been piloted during the final of the Canary Wharf Classic tournament earlier this year.

Gruffydd said: “I’m an avid squash player, and watched many professional matches, so the problem immediately stuck out to me. I’d seen laser sensing systems in similar situations used before, so it was not such a hard jump to see them being applied to squash. It will make the sport fairer and more enjoyable for both players and spectators.”

Gruffydd will pitch his idea against nine other teams of student innovators at the event at the Royal Academy of Engineering on 3 November 2023. A sum of £16,000 is up for grabs, providing vital seed money to help the winners develop their innovation.

Winners will also receive mentoring from business leaders who are members of the Sainsbury Management Fellows network, plus CV packages from PurpleCV and entrepreneurial books from Cambridge University Press and Double your Price, a book by David Falzani MBE, which covers how pricing works with practical insights, tools and actionable guidance.

The event, hosted by TV presenter and engineer Rob Bell, is the culmination of a year of enterprise competitions held across UK universities, with thousands of undergraduate and graduates taking part.

Each year, Engineers in Business Fellowship champions business education for engineers and supports universities by giving them grants to award prizes to engineering students who develop ideas that can make a positive impact on society.

After participating in Lancaster University’s enterprise competition and looking ahead to the final, Gruffydd said: “I’ve always had business ideas, but this was the first time I had to prepare and argue my case in front of others. Getting to the final gives me the opportunity to present my ideas to a crowd of successful people, and feedback from them will be very valuable.”

Professor Allan Rennie, who runs the Engineers in Business Fellowship competition at the Lancaster University School of Engineering, said: “The competition has become an integral component in our teaching of business to engineering students. Being able to invest in great ideas brought forward by our students provides an excellent opportunity to further develop skills outside of those traditionally taught within our programmes, and to witness the entrepreneurial flair that many of them have. Gruffydd is a prime example of what our students are capable of, when presented with the right opportunities.”