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The Innovation Hothouse 2012
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A
partnership of The Royal
Academy of Engineering,
Institution of Engineering
Designers, Institute of
Materials, Minerals and
Mining, and Institution of
Mechanical Engineers are
pleased to support this
initiative aimed at
fostering the
commercialisation of student
design projects.
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An event to
showcase the very best final year
student design projects and provide
an opportunity for those involved to
present their work to a panel of business angels who
will offer advice and potentially
funding to develop the project into
a commercially viable product. The ultimate
aim of the Innovation Hothouse is that
participants are encouraged by their
involvement to start-up and create
flourishing businesses.
Entries are
welcome from final year Undergraduate and
Postgraduate MSc students on
all engineering, materials and
product design degree courses in the
UK.
Projects will
be assessed at a series of regional events
which will be held in June and July 2012. Full details are available
from the
regional event schedule,
including locations, dates and
details of the organiser.
One project
from each region will be selected
for the Innovation Hothouse Final
which will be held on 21 September 2012 at
The Royal Academy of Engineering, 3 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1, as part of
the London Design Festival.
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What
form will the assessment
take?
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At the
regional event each entrant or team
of entrants will be expected to make
a presentation on their project for
no more than 10 minutes to a team of
two judges, who are both senior
industrial designers with a track
record of innovating new products in
several industrial sectors. This
will be followed by a Q&A session
lasting no longer than 10 minutes.
The judges will rate each project
using the standard set of
criteria and providing each team
with appropriate feedback on their
project and presentation. They will
select one project to take part in
the final at each regional event.
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What
form will the final take?
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The final will
be very different from the regional
events. Each finalist will be given
10 minutes to pitch their project to
a panel of four people who are
business angels. Finalists will not
be allowed the use of PowerPoint and
will need to rely on their spoken
language skills to deliver a concise
and coherent case. There will
however be the facility to show
short film clips about projects,
particularly where the end product
is too big to display or involves a
service.
Following each
presentation, the panel will have up
to 20 minutes to address the project
from a commercial perspective as
potential investors in terms of
either development funds or venture
capital. The members of the panel
are busy people and the opportunity
to secure potential investment for a
project is very real. Any financial
interest will be declared at the end
of the programme. The final will be
followed by a reception at which the
Judges, finalists and others can
meet and network less formally.
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What
help will finalists be given
to make their projects ready
for the final?
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Each finalist
will be assigned a Business Coach
who will help them work up their
project to a stage where it is ready
for presentation at the final. The
Business Coach will, as a priority
help register the Intellectual
Property if this has not already
been done. In addition they will
advise on both the technical and
commercial aspects of the project
and help develop the business plan.
They may also bring in other people
to help work up the project or
choose to act alone. The Business
Coach will ultimately become part of
the project team and support the
finalists at the final.
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Confidentiality Disclosure
Agreement
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All
participants, judges and members of
the audience attending the regional
events will be required to sign a
Confidentiality Disclosure Agreement
to protect the intellectual property
of the projects being presented. The
necessary form will be issued on the
day and need to be completed before
entry to the respective event. All
regional events will therefore take
place behind closed doors and access
will be strictly limited to those
who complete the necessary
documentation.
The final will
be a public event but by which time
all intellectual property will have
been registered.
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What do
I gain from entering this
event?
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Apart from the
possibility of securing funding or
venture capital should you reach the
final, there is the learning
experience of having your work
critiqued by a group of industrial
technical experts and financiers –
the sort of professionals you will
need to work with and for in your
subsequent career; the opportunity
to network cannot be understated. In
addition each entrant will receive a
certificate of attendance for their
CPD record.
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How do
I apply to enter this event?
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All
prospective applicants must submit
an
on-line application form. No
additional information is required
for entry to the regional events.
Once an application is received it
will be allocated to a region and
entered on the relevant programme.
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Are my
costs covered in entering a
regional event and if I get
to the final?
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Travelling
expenses incurred by those
presenting projects at both regional
events and the final will be
reimbursed.
The on-line
application facility will be closed
on the 7th June 2012 at 4pm.
All questions
should be addressed to Ian Bowbrick
at The Royal Academy of Engineering
E-mail:
Ian Bowbrick
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