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Alumni Innovation Award Winners 2018/19
Award winners are supported by the Bath Alumni to develop their ideas into viable businesses, encouraging the next generation of entrepreneurs. Through these awards we aim to encourage a culture of change across the University, with students seeing an aspiration to become an entrepreneur as a clear and viable career choice. With the help of the SETsquared network and award winning business incubation programme, the scheme aims to help launch businesses which have the potential for truly global impact. In 2018 there were three winners of the bursary award and you can follow their inspiring entrepreneurial journeys below.
Eoin Sharkey
The BioFactory
Eoin graduated from the University of Bath with a MEng (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering (with industrial placement) on the 10th July 2018.
Eoin’s start up ‘The BioFactory’ has designed an all-in-one latrine and waste processing plant that utilises biodigestion to convert human waste into cooking fuel and soil conditioner. Their system is rugged and easily deployable without the need for construction, and will be ready to use within an hour.
Parimala Shivaprasad
retra
Parimala is currently in her fourth year of her PhD Research Programme in Chemical Engineering at the University of Bath.
From festivals to weddings, flowers in India take centre stage in celebrations and religious ceremonies. Flowers are so dominant in Indian culture that they make up one third of the country’s total solid waste. Discarded flowers litter land and waterways, a problem which has inspired Parimala to set up Retra, a company creating a product from flower waste.
Nia Simpson
Compact Cane
Nia graduated from the University of Bath with a MEng (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering with Advanced Design & Innovation (with Industrial Placement) on the 10th July 2018.
Nia’s start up ‘Compact Cane’ has designed a discreet, electronic ‘white cane’ device for blind people. Powered by an embedded system of proximity sensors and vibration motors, a blind person can use Compact Cane to detect and avoid obstacles, imitating the white cane. Compact Cane can empower blind people with more control over their identity in society, addressing the stigma around the white cane.