UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL
Media release
And the winner is . . .
Bristol Enterprise Centre Business Plan Competition - Prize Winner
Dr Michael Cowin, researcher in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, has won over £15,000 in Bristol University's Bristol Enterprise Centre (BEC) Business Plan Competition.
Dr Neil Bradshaw, Director of BEC, made the announcement at a Gala Dinner hosted by Professor Eric Thomas, Vice-Chancellor of the University, at the Victoria Rooms last night [Monday, July 1].
The winning project, MetroCom, aims to commercialise a device that will speed up Internet connection and allow users to download large amounts of information more quickly.
Tom Buckler, a fourth-year undergraduate student in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, won the second prize of £10,000 for his project, ACNet Ltd.
Joint third prize was awarded to Kevin Potter, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Dr Chris Setchell, Research Assistant in the Department of Computer Science, for Imetrum; and Dr Jeff Odell and Dr Steve Carrington in the Department of Physics for MicroRheology. Each project won a cash prize of £1,500.
The prizes sponsored by an internationally renowned group that includes Citigate Dewe Rogerson, Deloitte & Touche, Fortis Bank, Osborne Clarke, STMicroelectronics and Sulis Innovation, will help the winners to bring their ideas to market.
Dr Bradshaw said: "Congratulations to all the finalists on the originality of their business ideas. We hope MetroCom's success will encourage many other enterprising students and staff to enter the Business Plan Competition in the future."
The Business Plan Competition is part of the University's aim to develop a culture of entrepreneurship and enterprise and to build on the University's outstanding track record in forging links with industry and generating entrepreneurs.
The 11 finalists in the Bristol Business Plan Competition were:
Josh Howlett - Roam Technologies
Jeff Odell and Steve Carrington - MicroRheology
Mike Cowin - MetroCom
Tom Buckler - ACNet
Richard Wall, Kieren Pitts and Isla Cruickshank - Strikewise
Remmert Schouten - Terrable Products
Kevin Potter and Chris Setchell - Imetrum
Nawaf Baraya - 3D Tours
Simon Rae, Tim Milstead and Darren Boyce - Iktrix
Cathy Fuller, Samantha Franklin and Robert Colborne - EquihaB
Nicky Ferguson - 234car
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Email: public-relations@bristol.ac.uk
Copyright: 2001 The University of Bristol, UK
Updated: Tuesday, 02-Jul-2002 10:05:42 BST