Two teams of engineering students who won Engineers in Business Competition (EIBC) cash prizes in the University’s Enterprise Project have been shortlisted to pitch in the EIBC Final on 26 October 2020. The students will compete against eight other university teams to win a share of £10,000 and mentoring from a Sainsbury Management Fellow. The online event will be compered by TV presenter and engineer, Kate Bellingham.
Isin Surekcigil and Manuel Grincho secured a place in the final with their innovation SimSurgeon, software that uses haptic VR technology to give medical students and surgeons a safe environment to practice procedures. The software, which uses machine learning to simulate the surgery process, is focused on cardiovascular surgeries, but could potentially be extended to other surgical fields in the future.
Euan Kirrage, Naj Ali, Enis Baty, Vasily Berdnikov–Levitsky, Rian Flanagan, Danishan Rahulan, Evans Stathatos and Sami Zemmiri developed SiteShield which protects against the theft of agricultural vehicles. Once fitted to a vehicle, it allows users to operate the vehicle within a pre-defined geographical boundary. If the vehicle breeches the boundary, the engine cuts off. SiteShield offers multiple benefits including the ability to track vehicles via GPS.
EIBC supports and promotes the idea of a combined engineering and business education and provides funds to universities to encourage more engineering students to get involved in innovation.
Amongst other criteria, the judges will be assessing the impact that SimSurgeon and SiteShield could have on their target customers and how the innovations may solve real problems.
Kat Mack, Surrey’s Student Enterprise manager who has been supporting the students with their application, says,
It’s fantastic to see not one but two student teams from our Engineering department bring their ideas to life with such excellent pitches showcasing how they can tackle real-world problems with engineering innovation! We look forward to joining them at the Grand Final and wish them and all the competitors the best of luck with their pitches. We know our teams will do their University proud!
You can sign up to watch the EIBC Grand Final on 26th October here!
