CPL sponsors Hughes Hall Enterprise Award

The annual Hughes Hall Enterprise Award builds upon the principles of the College, the promotion of university education to support practical, positive and progressive change in the world, beyond academia. It celebrates the contribution that the entire University community makes to the modern world.

The Enterprise Award is a business idea competition, bringing together great minds to develop a practical business plan. Teams comprise undergraduate and postgraduate students studying any subject. At least one team member has to be a a current student or alumni of Hughes Hall.

Each Business Plan is judged in one of three categories: generic, engineering/biotech and sustainability/social impact projects, and then the overall winner is chosen from the best in each category.

Cambridge Precision Ltd are sponsoring the 2019/20 Enterprise Award. As a global leader in the field of precision engineering CPL has become the partner of choice for companies that innovate and develop critical technology.

On 6th February,2020, six engineering, Biotech and MedTech businesses competed in an event, hosted at the Oxford and Cambridge Club, Pall Mall, London. They presented their ideas to a judging panel in five-minute pitches that showcased the problem, identified target markets and proposed an innovative solution. The judges commented that they were thoroughly impressed with the quality of the ideas and the pitches.

The winner, with its revolutionary approach to neural interfaces, was Neurowire (pitched by Nathan Jay). The team behind the venture hopes that their solution will soon shake up the deep-brain stimulation industry, in order to address conditions such as Parkinson’s and the numerous causes of deafness more efficiently. The team secured a prize from the sponsors and a place in the grand final.

The event,ended with a speech from the evening’s guest of honour, Sunil Shah – CEO of o2h Ventures and 2019 winner of the prestigious Investor of the Year Award. Sunil shared with the room the details of his journey from a dorm room at Cambridge to becoming a successful businessman. He spoke about the importance of perseverance, not being afraid to take big risks and taking time to enjoy the journey.

The next pitching event will focus on Sustainability and Social Impact and will take place at Hughes Hall, Cambridge on the 2nd of April.

From left to right:  Yingbo Li – Visionogy, Nicola Filzmoser – Puddle, Ismail Sami – AEMS, Nathan Jay – Nueurowire, Robert Kunzmann – AC Biode, Dr Sweta Adatia – PersonalizED