Glyndŵr University students looked the business as they finished ahead of other Welsh institutions in a prestigious 24-hour challenge.
A six-strong team from the Wrexham-based University took on 15 Business Schools from across the UK and finished among the runners-up at Flux 500.
Team Glyndŵr – representing the smallest and newest institution in the contest – more than held its own and came first in a vote by students attending the popular event, held at Lancaster University.
Glyndŵr University – which has campuses in Northop, St Asaph, and London – was number one in Wales, as the group impressed judges with their product knowledge and debating skills.
Supported by Consumer Psychology lecturer Gareth Harvey and Glyndŵr’s Zone Enterprise Hub, they were asked to create an item of wearable technology with a medical application, before being given 24 hours to come up with a product, pitch and business case.
Their invention – the IdMe – was a RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) band that could locate the medication of someone who suffers from visual impairments, reducing the burden upon the care sector as the technology was scalable to other domestic tasks.
The team later had to come up with solutions to a crisis scenario and branding issues.
Among the students was Damian Wynn Conde, who said the experience and result was deserved due to their “hard work and determination”.
“We competed against teams with different backgrounds and from all over the UK, including postgraduates, psychologists and much bigger business schools who had already taken part – we all offered something to the challenge,” said Damian.
“Our idea was inspired by the methodology of keeping things simple – this way we would combat any questions asked in a much more comfortable way, allowing the team to present the idea with a higher level of confidence.”
He added: “When we were told we had made it through to the final – beating Bangor, Lancaster and Bolton universities in the process, we were nervous going forward but everyone put in an amazing performance and engaged with the audience in a way that everyone thought was unique – the ‘Glyndŵr way’.”
Suzanne Dempsey, Zone’s Enterprise Support Programme Assistant, said the effort put in by all of the students showed how driven they were to succeed on the day.
“We are very proud of how they handled themselves, and the fact they were ranked number one by their peers shows just what potential they all have,” said Suzanne.
“They were up against students with far more experience from some of the UK’s biggest universities who had a lot longer to prepare, so it was some achievement.”
Gareth added: “I was exceptionally proud of all of the students, who performed fantastically against stiff competition.
“Within the space of just 24 hours they all demonstrated resilience, resourcefulness and passion – all without sleeping. They were true ambassadors for Glyndŵr University.”.
