May

What's the Big Idea Winners 2013

The winners of the ‘What’s the Big Idea?’ awards were announced at a special ceremony on Wednesday 1 May where an impressive £2,500 was distributed.

The aim of the annual competition, which is now celebrating its sixth year, is to encourage students to come up with business ideas that they think could be successful.  This could be a new product, a new service or even a new market for an existing product or service.  Student Enterprise received hundreds of entries from students from a diverse range of departments across the University.

The ‘Best Overall Business Idea’ accolade sponsored by Stena Line, was awarded to four entrepreneurial students Sam Barret, Ciaran McKinley, Jonathan McKee and Chris Law for their product idea ‘Spider Barrier’, an effective, temporary, portable non-structural barrier system, which earned them a prize of £500.

The ‘Most Innovative Idea’ award sponsored by Ormeau Business Park, was presented to Jonathan Pollock along with £500 for his innovative ‘Windshield Warmer’ idea, a hassle free, greener solution to ice problems for automobiles.

Following the announcement of the prize winners, Queen’s Students’ Union Enterprise and Development Officer Lynne Weir remarked that “the quantity and quality of ‘What’s the Big Idea?’ entries always impresses the judges but this year set the highest standard by far.  We have a rich heritage of student and graduate start-up businesses and I am confident that many of this year’s entrants could go on to replicate and even better the success of our previous winners.”

This year’s winners are hoping the awards will propel them to even greater things.  Sam Barret, Ciaran McKinley, Jonathan McKee, Chris Law and Jonathan Pollock are all delighted to have received their awards and are positive that this will create exposure for their ideas.

Commenting on the standard shown by the students involved, Diane Poole OBE, Head of PR and Communications at Stena Line said, “Creativity and innovation are two essential components of business success.  It is truly inspiring to see how imaginative and focused the finalist’s ideas were and I am delighted that Stena Line had the opportunity to be involved in this event.”

Patricia McNeill, CEO of Ormeau Business Park, attended the ceremony as the main sponsor of the awards.  She said, “We are delighted to sponsor Queen’s Students’ Union’s ‘What’s the Big Idea?’ awards for the sixth consecutive year.  The calibre of innovative applications continues to grow each year, highlighting the importance of nurturing entrepreneurial talent at undergraduate level.  The competition provides a platform for students not only to showcase their ideas but to encourage them to further develop market ready business proposals with real potential.”