On Wednesday 22 March, University of Kent students and three Medway-based businesses came together to celebrate the culmination of eight weeks of teamwork and innovative thinking at the Innovation i-Teams Grand Final.
This is the fourth year that Innovation i-Teams has taken place at the University of Kent. It gives students the chance to tackle challenges faced by industry, whilst exposing businesses to fresh, creative thinking and raising their profile amongst talented Kent students. This year the programme was kindly sponsored by Medway Council, enabling Medway-based businesses to showcase their ambitions through three distinct challenges:
BAE Systems
BAE Systems asked their team to consider the challenges for businesses that create space junk and what opportunities there are to prevent further contamination of the Earth’s orbit. As well as considering practical ways to remove space junk from our atmosphere using harpoons and nets, they also proposed societal solutions, such as launching a campaign to raise awareness of the risks that space junk poses, and instigating legislation to control what organisations are able to release into our atmosphere.
Vesper 247
Vesper 247 challenged their team to develop a range of solutions as part of a roadmap for growth for their international fashion brand. During the process, the team were given the opportunity to visit Vesper’s premises in Medway and were impressed that all of their dresses are made on site – with one dress maker able to produce a high-quality garment in less than 30 minutes! On this basis, they recommended that the company make this their unique selling point, as well as making some insightful suggestions around the diversity of their models and various ways they could track and engage customers through customer loyalty schemes.
The Docking Station
The Docking Station, a new creative arts facility being developed in Chatham Historic Dockyard, asked students to put forward solutions and concepts that could make the facility commercially sustainable. Following a visit to the site, students were inspired by the vision for what was once a police station, and came up with a range of solutions to make it not just a space for creative arts, but for co-working, learning and, with the addition of a washing machine, doing your laundry in your lunch break!
Over the past 8 weeks, the interdisciplinary student teams have been addressing these challenges with help from the Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce. Tudor Price, CEO of the Chamber, has been the driving force behind the programme, equipping students with design thinking skills and techniques to boost their all-important pitches at the Grand Final. His team of business advisors, Andrew Stevens, Graham Card and Julia Card, have also provided invaluable insight and support as voluntary mentors for each of the teams.
The Grand Final was an opportunity to celebrate the ideas that the i-Teams had come up with and recognise the hard work of everyone involved. Representatives from each of the businesses were in attendance to listen to and exchange ideas with their respective teams, as well as Medway Council, for which Social Media Expert and Chair of Business for Medway, Zoe Cairns, was able to remark on the fantastic outcomes of the programme.
We wish to extend a huge thank you to everyone who contributed their time, helping to making this programme successful for another year running. Special thanks goes to Matt Cook Photography for capturing the magic of the evening.
If you’re interested in finding out more about Innovation i-Teams or any other ways in which we connect students with industry to enable knowledge exchange, boost industry-relevant skills and raise the profile of local and international employers within our community, email us at businessrelationships@kent.ac.uk, or register your interest directly with our Careers and Employability team via this form.