Meet the Finalists -Intercampus Enterprise Challenge

Over 4000 students from across SERC have spent their first two weeks of the new academic term developing exciting and innovative solutions to real world challenges, working tirelessly on projects for the inter-campus enterprise challenge.

From the initial 600 teams that took part, nine teams made it through to the final, having previously impressed the judges at the Campus heats which took place last week. 

The first phase of the challenge took place during the two-week induction, with internal and external judges voting and deciding who got through to the final. The Enterprise team also shortlisted projects based on their pitches and their student portal. The nine finalists have been working to adapt, tweak and perfect their concepts.  The following talented groups have made it through to the finals and have shared a brief outline of their projects: 

Babbling Bins 
Our team members are Dedee Brown, David Spratt, Archie Nield and James Mallin. We are in our second year of studying Level 3 Electrical Installation in SERC's Newtownards campus. Our innovative idea is an improvement on a device we should be using almost every day, waste disposal bins. A few 'talking' bins have been installed in Lisburn but they require maintenance by replacing the batteries every few weeks. This obviously has a hugely negative environmental impact so we have come up with a positive solution. Fit these bins with a solar powered battery back up device that requires almost zero maintenance.   

Buy it, cook it, eat it Our names are Maisa Muir and Catrina Stanfield and we are studying Level 3 diploma in professional cookery in SERC Bangor campus. Our challenge was to help local business’ to sell their produce, to support the local economy and educate the public to try new food and dishes. We teamed up with local butcher Corries for the Ards and North Down council Tide and Turf event in Portavogie, whereby the public would buy meat from the butcher stall and we would cook it fresh to create one of the meals we had planned for the event, taking into consideration cost and speed to ensure we made a profit and that the costumers had fast food. Going forward, we hope to work with other local suppliers to further promote their business and local Northern Irish produce.   

Forget-Me-Not Boxes 
Forget Me Not Boxes provide support to children and young people who have just lost a parent or guardian and are designed to help them learn to healthily process their grief and cope with the dramatic change to their lifestyle. We wanted to come up with a product that would help support individuals experiencing hidden harm.

Hallowed Grounds   
Our team member names are Gerard Campbell, Conor Melville and Helen McFarlane. We are in our first year of studying level 3 Access diploma in SERC Ballynahinch Campus. Our product is a coffee-based exfoliating soap, reusing coffee grounds, natural essential oils and soap base. Our project is unique as using coffee grounds that would otherwise be disposed of in landfill gives them a secondary use, unlike other natural exfoliants.   

Mini Pyramid Co. 
Our team members are Levi Murphy, Kevin Boland, Simeon Thompson and Jack Mussen. Levi is in her second year of studying Level 3 National Extended Diploma in Construction and the Built Environment and Kevin, Simeon and Jack are in their first year of studying Level 3 National Extended Diploma in Construction and the Built Environment in the Bangor Campus.   Our idea is a pyramid shaped hut made from recyclable materials such as timber, plastic and bamboo. The hut will also have a detachable opening by using a plastic buckle, making it an easy form of opening and closing. We wanted to provide SERC with an eco-friendly space where you can study peacefully or even if you're not feeling yourself that day, you can take a few minutes in the hut. It can also be used for educational needs such as reading, writing etc. The hut itself can be used in places outside of SERC, for example, Schools, Colleges, Youth Clubs and more! 

Eco Lab Cosmetics 
Our names are Maria Orocolato, Katie Martin and Jenny McCready and we are studying Level 4 HNC in Applied Science. Working as a healthcare assistant through COVID we experienced very dry, cracked hands due to constantly sanitising. We were fed up with using hand sanitisers and decided we needed to replace these.  We came up with the idea to develop an eco-friendly cream that would not only moisturise our hands but also protect us from COVID and other viruses. One of the main selling points of our product is the desire to be as eco-friendly as possible, offering a refilling service as well developing bio-degradable packaging.  

Self-heating Meals use Phase Change Materials 
Our names are Christopher Mooney, Alex Tailford, Cara Colvin, Abbie Shaw, Morgan Finlay. Our project was to create a self-heating meal using sodium carbonate and a water mix. The sodium carbonate would react with the water to heat up the chosen food. The self-heating meals are a quick and efficient way of providing people with safe to eat hot food where there is a lack of access to heating facilities. This could be used by a large customer base including the emergency services, hikers or the homeless.  

The Red Wrigglers Wormery
We are going to promote recycling within the college campus by building a wormery. A wormery is a compartmentalised box that is designed to recycle efficiently using worms to break down biodegradable refuse. The wormery is built in our Newcastle campus and we hope to build more wormeries and workshops in the very near future.   

The Story of The Pigeon Our names are Ellen Magee, Jonathan Pratt and Keri Maginn and we are studying Level 3 Diploma in Art, Design and Media practice. We as a group were challenged with modernizing the tale of the 'Ten Bulls', a traditional Zen Buddhist story used by practitioners as a guide on their path to enlightenment. As a group we decided our reinterpretation of the story should be more user friendly and so we simplified many aspects, both aesthetic and narrative, in the hopes that it would be easier to understand for all ages and reading levels.
    

Teams will be using media that they are most comfortable with such as PowerPoint, flip charts or a practical demonstration, to pitch their ideas to the judges in the final in a Dragons Den style event. 

The judging panel will  include representatives from SERC Senior Management as well as guest judges from local businesses including Colin Jess of Social Enterprise NI, Robert Ferguson of Four Gears Media, Marianne McKennerley of Boom! Studios and Gemma Drinkell, SERC Alumni and Entrepreneur.  

The winning team will need to demonstrate how their idea is innovative, creative and shows strong teamwork. The viability of the business idea will also be taken into consideration.    The prizes up for grabs include iPads, Echo Dots, wireless earphones and much more!  

SERC recognises the incredible hard work that all students who have participated through the competition have produced so far and wishes the very best of luck to all the students competing at the Enterprise Showcase Final on Wednesday 6th October at 12pm in the Bangor Campus.  The event will be streamed live on the SERC intranet.