Students from Tanaka Business School and the Royal College of Art win top prize of £25,000 in Imperial's New Business Challenge

The StickSafe, which could reduce needle stick injuries in hospitals and embed safety in medical practice was the idea behind the winning entry to the College's biggest multi-disciplinary business plan competition.

The New Business Challenge, run by the Entrepreneurship Centre at Tanaka Business School, held its prize-giving ceremony on Wednesday night.

A group of five students from Tanaka Business School and the joint Imperial/RCA Industrial Design Engineering (IDE) course received the first prize of £25,000 for their business concept, THE LIFT. When launched, this company will commercialise a portfolio of products which will focus on infection prevention in healthcare. The first product in development is the StickSafe hospital tray, which uses a simple method to load and unload medical needles safely. This will reduce accidental injuries to nurses, which can result in the transmission of diseases such as HIV from the used needle.

Michael Korn, a second year IDE student, came up with the original idea. He said: "We are delighted to have won the New Business Challenge. Our winning team is multi-disciplinary, bringing together industrial design and MBA students, and combines product development and design with business knowledge."

Rector of the College, Sir Richard Sykes, announced the winners. He said: "The enthusiasm and work put in by the students amazes me. This competition really epitomises what Imperial and its Business School are here for. In our Centenary year we are celebrating 100 years of working with industry and commerce, a key part of our original mission statement."

The two runner-up prizes of £5,000 were awarded to Dynamic Therapeutics Ltd and VIRITIDE. Both teams contained students from Tanaka Business School and Imperial, highlighting the importance of marrying business savvy with technological expertise in order to create successful enterprises. Dynamic Therapeutics is currently developing a product to administer 'saturation-driven' oxygen therapy for sufferers of respiratory diseases, using a proprietary system which adjusts the oxygen flow to match the patient's measured oxygen need at any given time. VIRITIDE aims to apply a new platform technology developed at Imperial College to produce therapeutic proteins to treat sufferers of diseases such as multiple sclerosis, providing a better quality of life. Both concepts could prove extremely cost-effective to organisations such as the NHS if launched.

This year saw two new prizes awarded.  The Tanaka Centenary Prize of £500, awarded by Prof. David Begg, Principal of the Tanaka Business School, was given to VIRITIDE.  The Voller Energy Sustainability prize of £2,000, awarded by Stephen Voller himself, went to the greenest business plan. Treadsonic, a group of undergraduate students from Imperial's Physics Department won this prize with their business plan to provide an innovative solution to vehicle CO2 emissions and safety, centred on detecting tyre inflation levels and tread depth.

The New Business Challenge has been running for seven years and is one of the biggest annual events in Imperial's calendar. It is part of the Entrepreneurs' Challenge, an annual business plan competition run by Tanaka Business School's Entrepreneurship Centre.  It is open to all Imperial students, and is divided into two stages: the Ideas Challenge in the Autumn term, and the New Business Challenge in the Spring term.

Dr Tim Meldrum, Manager of the Entrepreneurship Centre, said: "Education is at the heart of this competition. The Centre runs a series of events and seminars to help students develop the business acumen needed for success in the Challenge. The knowledge and expertise that the participants of the Challenge acquire will stand them in good stead in their future careers, whether or not they decide to launch their own business products."

A total of 35 teams from Tanaka Business School and right across Imperial College entered the competition this year, and 21 judges including entrepreneurs, professional investors, intellectual property lawyers, and innovation managers evaluated the teams as they presented their business ideas, giving vital feedback to help students improve their plans.

For more information about the Entrepreneurs Challenge please visit the website, http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/entrepreneurship/entrepreneurschallenge

Press contact:

Eoin Bedford

Tanaka Business School
T:  +44 (0) 20 7594 9154
E:  e.bedford@imperial.ac.uk