2018 winners and runners-up
Winners
Best Growth Business
Djanomi Headley-Fulani - Mosaiqe
School of Creative Arts
Djanomi won the Best Growth Business Award for her unique handmade wooden watch business.
Djanomi and her co-director Kassai currently operate five outlets across the city of London, employ seven members of staff and run an online shopping portal. They recently partnered with Trees for the Future to help improve the livelihoods of impoverished farmers in East and West Africa.
Best Business
Ekene Ukemenam - Aerial Icon
School of Engineering
Ekene was awarded the Best Business prize for his aerial photography and filming company, Aerial Icon Productions.
Launched in 2017, and with an initial focus on drone photography, Ekene is now looking to further his expertise by adding thermographic surveying to his business services.
Best Idea
Chiara Angerame – People’s Laundry
Hertfordshire Business School
Chiara won the Best Idea prize for her social enterprise, People’s Laundry. Chiara is planning to deliver low-cost laundry services to rural villages in Myanmar.
Providing non-electric, portable washing machines at very low prices, the business will operate a franchising model that will encourage entrepreneurship and, in turn, have a positive impact on the local economy.
Healthcare Innovation Award
Antinda Toh – Memory-Band
School of Life and Medical Sciences
Antinda was awarded the Healthcare Innovation Award with her medical devices business, Antinda Helps.
Currently in development is Memory-Band, a wristband designed to aid and improve the quality of life for both people with Alzheimer’s disease and those looking after them. Worn by the patient the wristband works in conjunction with a mobile app to detect when a person is agitated and requires assistance.
People's Choice Award
Saira Omar – The Crêpe and Waffle Bar
School of Life and Medical Sciences
Saira received the People's Choice Award for her business The Crêpe and Waffle Bar. Launched in March 2017 to fulfil the need for a dessert outlet in the Hatfield area, Saira’s bar offers reasonably-priced indulgent desserts that are both low-fat and low in calories.
Since winning this award Saira has gone on to secure her own café space in the University’s Oval building; she has now renamed the business as Coffee and Crêpes.
flare Ignite
Students who show entrepreneurial promise are nominated by members of the academic staff within their schools. They do not have to adhere to any set criteria in order to be nominated, but examples of enterprising activity include in-school competitions, problem solving exercises, and enterprising extra-curricular activities.
flare Ignite prize
Malinda Bir and Nathaniel Balakumaran
Hertfordshire Law School
The flare Ignite prize was awarded to Malinda and Nathaniel, who jointly organised the 2017 Festival of Diversity to celebrate the diverse range of cultures within the Hertfordshire Law School. With catwalk shows, guest speakers and dance performances from around the world, the festival proved to be a hugely inspirational and memorable student experience.
flare finalists
NutraDense
Waleed Almauly and Merita Toble
School of Engineering
NutraDense is an online health food store, offering natural, botanically enriched foods and cosmetic products, aimed at consumers who are looking to supplement their diets the natural way. Products range from powder-based consumables to cold-pressed oils that can be used cosmetically.
RoamWild Studios
James Carpenter and Adam Cheer
School of Creative Arts
RoamWild Studios is a multimedia production company, specialising in web-based content. More recently the team have expanded their focus to include two new projects, the Awake Project, an original 3D motion-capture animated web-series, and the G.E.N.E Programme, a technique of animating narrative entertainment using videogame engines.
Airrow
Menachem Fehler
School of Engineering
Airrow are developing a self-sufficient, smart infrastructure to support and accelerate the future of drones and robotic vehicles. Menachem and his team have created Dronehub which will allow drones to autonomously swap out their power source and payload, enabling them to operate for long periods of time, without the need for time consuming battery charging. Dronehub’s design includes a patented locking system and an autonomous robotic arm, to remove a drone’s battery without human assistance.
The Audio Journey
John Holt
School of Creative Arts
Audio Journey is a music production business, offering free online music tutorials via a dedicated YouTube channel. John’s business is targeted at individuals who want to learn to make their own music, but who have little experience, and DJs looking to take their career to the next stage by producing original pieces of music.
Suzero
Sam Marchant and Oliver Vagg
School of Life and Medical Sciences
After Ollie made a bet with Sam in 2014 to give up sugar for a month, Sam set to task on completing the challenge. The many benefits Sam experienced during this time led him to start producing home baked low-sugar snack bars, as other bars advertised as ‘healthy’ contained too much sugar. Over the last four years Ollie and Sam have worked to refine Sam’s original recipe into a range of tasty health food bars.
Taggtech
Vishal Mistry
Hertfordshire Business School
Taggtech is a technology start-up targeting the major events market. Vishal and his team have developed a digital solution, designed to reduce the need for paper based materials at large-scale events. Taggtech is currently in the process of applying for a patent, with trials of the service underway at a few select organisations.
flare Ignite nominees
This year 10 student groups were chosen to represent their respective schools, to be nominated for a flare Ignite award. Nominees were:
Cage Boons
School of Humanities
In his role as BME Ambassador, Cage has worked hard to ensure that the BME students within the School of Humanities and Joint Honours are well represented. Cage is currently in the process of organising a bespoke employability event for BME students which he plans to deliver in the coming academic year.
Rebecca Mackley
School of Physics Astronomy and Mathematics
While carrying out a summer internship Rebecca worked on a project to ensure that when a patient goes for radiotherapy treatment they receive the correct level of radiation. Rebecca has built on this work to turn it into a longer term project, with clinical trials planned in the next few years.
Halina Akhtar, Raees Ahmad, Kasem Jawad, Sejal Patni, and Jehan Wardere
School of Life and Medical Science
Pharmaceutical Science students Halina, Raees, Kasem, Sejal and Jehan worked on a project to produce a novel, generic medicine for the market, as part of the final year project. The team pitched their idea to a panel of notable industry experts, impressing them with their pharmaceutical development proposal, regulatory approval strategies, and business planning skills.
Anna Shahin
School of Creative Arts
In her final year of study Anna created a glove that works with MIDI - Musical Instrument Digital Interface - allowing the user to control effects and lighting cues, wirelessly with their hands. Having worked in a number of voluntary music production roles during her studies, Anna is now embarking upon a career as a freelancer and has a long list of clients wanting to work with her.
Mecnun Karayigit
School of Computer Science
In his final year University project, Mecnun developed a footfall counter, to collect data and feedback from students. Looking at trends and peak times when students are on campus, Mecnun hopes to use this data to ensure that offices are sufficiently staffed to help and advise students during busy periods.
Anna Matthews and Jude Kennedy
School of Education
Jude and Anna conducted a literature review with the Hearts Milk Bank (HMB), investigating the support for mothers in lactation following perinatal loss. They have since presented their findings to delegates at a National UNICEF conference and have had their work published in a highly regarded midwifery publication. Jude and Anna continue to work with HMB and to share their research with future midwifery students.
George Newton
School of Engineering and Technology
George used his placement experience with Marshalls to create a new Avionics ARINC converter, specifically focused on saving weight on an aircraft, by reducing the amount of cabling used. In a highly competitive market, a weight saving device such as this could have huge potential for airlines looking to carry additional passengers on board.
Adam Kent
School of Education
As chairman and founder of the Teacher Training Society, Adam has organised a range of workshops to assist students interested in teaching as a career. He has also designed and delivered seminars to address the lack of support for teachers working alongside children with mental health problems, raising the profile of these needs within the teaching degree programme.
Ngozi Gloria Broderick
Hertfordshire Business School
Ngozi Gloria Broderick was nominated by the Hertfordshire Business School for her eagerness to share her knowledge, mentor her classmates and negotiate with a training company to provide free enterprise resource planning training to her MSc Project Management peers. Ngozi received excellent feedback from all of those who attended the training sessions.