Bright Ideas is The University of Manchester’s annual student ideas competition and is open to students from across the whole institution. Hosted by the Masood Entrepreneurship Centre, the competition is for students new to enterprise and entrepreneurship who are interested in learning more about spotting opportunities and generating new ideas, with the opportunity to win a cash prize to help take their idea forward.
This year’s Bright Ideas competition celebrated the University's position leading the world on sustainable development. The quality and scale of our impact against the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has been ranked first in the world in the Times Higher Education University Impact Rankings in 2021.
From the many entries received, 20 finalists were selected from across all three faculties at the University to showcase their idea through a poster presentation.
Ten winners were chosen and announced by Tony Walker, Deputy Director of the Masood Entrepreneurship Centre, in a live-streamed celebratory event on Thursday 9 December.
Prizes of £200 were awarded to:
Alexandra Jones (School of Natural Sciences)
Battery to Advance Renewable Energy: a membrane-free low cost and efficient redox flow battery to address our global energy storage needs
Fatimah Garashi (School of Medical Sciences)
WatchMed: a smartwatch to monitor and support medication for people with memory illnesses or condition that needs constant care.
Gergana Ivanova (School of Materials)
NanoGraft: a device that allows a pressure sensor insole to provide pressure sensation to the stump of an amputee to make daily tasks such as walking, standing or driving easier.
Jacob Barthorpe (Alliance Manchester Business School)
Making plant-based dog foods to be available to pet owners in supermarkets and benefitting the environment by reducing emissions from cattle farming.
Lewis Penden (School of Biological Sciences)
Dynamic Botanics: a modular design for ‘living walls’ of container plants for a cost-effective low maintenance environmental benefit to urban buildings.
Mathieu Karatas (Alliance Manchester Business School)
HandiSport: an app providing tailored fitness programmes for disabled people.
Miguel Andrade Alvarez (Alliance Manchester Business School)
The Macro-Company: to add additional calories through genetic modification of carbohydrates to combat global hunger.
Ricky Winata (Alliance Manchester Business School)
Trashsure: a waste management platform for collection and re-cycling in Indonesia.
Emily Hemingway-Lawson (School of Biological Sciences)
Portable braille translator: a device scanning and translating into braille.
Rodosthenis Charalampous (School of Engineering)
LUNA: an ultrasound-based system for supporting wireless robots inspecting spent fuel ponds in nuclear power plants.
If you have an idea for a business and would like to learn more about enterprise and entrepreneurship, please contact the enterprise team at entrepreneurship@manchester.ac.uk.
