News
Shared Thinking - A new student business which found its feet at Glasgow
Nicholas Bowskill, a Kelvin-Smith scholar, based in the School of Education at the University of Glasgow, came up with a learning design based on belonging to groups. He calls it Shared Thinking and it's already being used in universities around the UK.
Shared Thinking can improve your learning by thinking more about the learning of others. This is particularly the case if those others are your group of classmates. Why? This is because we almost always seek to act and think appropriately in social settings.
The challenge is to know what 'appropriate' looks like in some situations. Making the shared beliefs public and visible obviously helps everyone adapt to the situation. And that's the trick!!
When people belong to a group and can see what they think it means they usually compare their personal thoughts with the thoughts of the group. There are 2 outcomes. First, it makes them all feel even more like they belong. And second, they learn and take action to adapt their thinking.
So, by focusing on your group you might learn more - as long as you know and can see what's appropriate in the social situation.
"a fantastic feel-good experience" (student)
"It made me think about some of the very basic assumptions we make." (support tutor)
"a master-class in group learning" (university professor)
"the first sign of hope for higher education" (student)
Shared Thinking has been used for faculty induction at Glasgow University. It was a huge change from presentations and everyone really enjoyed using technology to understand their classmates.
This encouraging response has prompted Nicholas to set up a web site and a consultancy to develop the interest into a business. (See http://sharedthinking.info)
So far, he's had paying customers in Scotland and England. He's also had interest from universities as far away as Australia. Things look good for this scholar entering into the business world
The BIG BASH 2010 results for The University of Glasgow
For those of you unable to get there because of the snow.....
Confidence and Creativity Challenge
We have three prizes for Triple C: best team, most Creative and Confident individual and Best Team Player individual.
And we’re delight to announce that the winner’s of this year’s Best Team is
Enigma- Simone Campbell, Sarah Massie, Julie Gregory, Ammar Khan, who between them win £100.
The winner of most creative and confident individual is Robbie Wils, who wins £50.
The Big Idea Competition
The Big Idea rewards students for developing new and innovative business ideas that they think would be successful. Entrants have to consider what problem or need their idea addresses, its unique selling point, who the customer is and how it will make money.
We received an excellent quality and quantity of entries this year and our judging panel have been working hard over the past week or so to determine the winners.
This year the competition was split between undergraduate and postgraduate students.
Undergraduate Big Idea Competition
For the Undergraduate Big Idea competition we have two ideas in joint third.
Go Shuttle by Gavin Wilson, and he wins £100
A reliable, efficient and safe method of transporting festival goers and their luggage from drop off points / car parks to the entrance of the arena / campsite.
Waterwise by Simon Tracey, and he wins £100
The Waterwise solution consists of a network of strategically located water cooler stations, fed by mains water. Each station contains unique Waterwise bottles of varying volumes for purchase.
In second place
Electrosurgery cutting handpiece Douglas Deans, and he wins £300
A cutting and coagulating BIPOLAR pencil for use during Electrosurgery. The product is easier to use and makes surgery safer, reducing the threat of burns.
And the winner …
Bacterial Removal of Tattoos by Radoslaw Kwasniak winning the top prize of £500
An alternative to laser removal of tattoos by genetically modify bacteria to break down the tattoo’s ink, providing a cost-effective and efficient method of removing tattoo marks.
Postgraduate Big Idea Competition
For the Postgraduate Big Idea competition we also have two ideas in joint third.
iGodo by Emanuel De Luca and Caterine Arrabal Ward, who share
£100
A multi-platform, multi-device software application that makes it easier
for people to deal with their nutrition in everyday life by acting as a cooking tutor and food organiser amongst other things.
Veggie Cleaner by Christina Theophilidou, and she wins £100
Aims to provide a soap for vegetables and fruit to clean them of pesticides, insecticides, for example, which cannot be washed off using only water.
In second place,
Walking Robot by Juan Fang and Chenhao Li who share £300
Provides assistance to individuals where spinal damage / illness has left them with leg paralysis. The product is fitted to the patient and allows them to walk again.
And our winner …
The Plate Grip by David Rodgers who wins the top prize of £500
An innovative solution to repetitive strain injuries amongst scientists
Congratulations to all our winners. More information about the evening to come soon!
Student Enterprise Strikes Gold 7 times at the SIE Gala Awards!
It was a sensational night for the University of Glasgow on Wednesday 17th March who scooped half the available prizes at the Scottish Institute for Enterprise Gala Awards.
The national awards, which were held in the opulent surroundings of Supper Club in Glasgow’s Royal Exchange Square, are an annual celebration of the cream of entrepreneurial talent in all of Scotland’s higher education institutes.
Student business ideas from Glasgow were up for awards in four out of the six categories of the SIE New Ideas Competition sponsored by Enterprise Rent-A-Car. The ideas, which had all won the University of Glasgow’s Student Enterprise Big Idea competition, ranged from new medical devices to historical role playing products.
The E-Commerce and Retail category was awarded to Kian Golzari, a final year Management Student for his idea KG Covers, a business which will sell car headrest covers branded with the insignias of major English and Scottish football teams.
Postgraduate War Studies M.Litt student Ben Kerr’s won the Arts and Cultural Enterprise category with his business Corsairs Wares, an enterprise which specialises in supplying and developing products based on historical items.
Ian Guy, a final year student of the Product Design Engineering course run in conjunction between the University of Glasgow and Glasgow School of Art, won the Science, Technology and Engineering category with his idea Air Free, a device that will prevent air entrainment or embolisms occurring in intravenous drips in hospitals worldwide.
Samuel Smith and Andrew Morrison, also final year students of Product Design Engineering, came first in the Product Based Business category with their idea, Vac-U-Loc a novel bike carrier system that is easy to use, flexible and highly secure.
Excitingly, Vac-U-Loc also went on the overall New Ideas Competition picked from all the category winners and a £1500 cash prize to help them set up in business.
To add to his pool of prizes Samuel who is also the University of Glasgow’s Student Enterprise Intern also won the Scottish Institute for Enterprise’s first ever Intern of the Year Award for his enthusiasm, professionalism and cross-institutional work.
To finish off an impressive night, Greig Sinclair the Innovation Network’s Student Enterprise Manager and Management Department teacher, was presented with the Enterprise Educator of the Year Award. Greig who has worked for the university for the past 7 years, was praised for his innovative approach to enterprise teaching and his commitment to students.
An interview with enterprising student Ross McKinstry
Age 19
Year 2nd year
Degree Mathematics
Company ei42
Tell us about your enterprising scheme.
It’s hard to explain but here goes. 'ei42' is a comparison website similar to 'compare the market' etc, where companies give you a rebate (basically a discount.) The difference with ei42 is that when you purchase a company’s product through your own ei42 website you make money by getting people to register their ei42 website through yours. Moreover, every time they purchase a product through their own website both parties get a rebate. This continues for 7 levels. It’s a win-win situation.
How did you get involved?
My father showed me the website and I could see the potential in the company immediately so it interested me research further into the business.
Who is your entrepreneurial hero and why?
I don't know very many entrepreneurs so my view is quite narrow but I would go with Peter Jones as he started his own tennis academy at the age of 16 so he was always interested in entrepreneurship right from early age. I particularly admire the quick wit he uses on Dragons Den.
Your best work experience?
Fruit picking in at a local farm. It showed me how hard some people work just to make ends meet. And they do it with no complaining!
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
My own man made island, just kidding, probably America, perhaps New York.
Your best holiday?
When I went skiing in Norway, it was very cold but completely worth it for the experience!
Tell us a joke.
The Busy and Important Entrepreneur
A young businessman started his own firm. He had just rented a beautiful office and had it furnished with antiques.
Sitting there, he saw a man come into the outer office. Wishing to appear busy and important, the businessman picked up the phone and started to pretend he had a big deal in the works. He threw huge figures around and made giant commitments.
Finally, he hung up the phone and asked the visitor, "Can I help you?"
The man said, "Yeah, I'm here to install the phones..."
An interview with student entrepreneur Fraser Gibb.
Age 22
4th year GSA Student
Tell me about your company.
In this early stage, I aim to offer layout and visualisation services for students who need to give their work that extra edge... quite simply to 'stand out from the crowd'. I use professional software to design, structure and develop effective solutions for all manners of printed, projected or web based work - be it essays, reports, presentations, CVs, or any other requirement. It is currently an independent venture but with many links in the creative industries. Design thinking and visualisation of work in all mediums has become hugely important in communicating a piece of work and also showing it in its best possible light.
What inspired you to start?
It came about after doing my dissertation when I realised the benefit I could bring to other students from offering a service that could enhance their presentation of work. Apart from being a graded element of every submission, presentation and communication of written work is a serious consideration to allow your work to be shown at its best and grab the attention and interest of the reader. I can also offer similar services for CV presentation and preparation, reports and visual presentations.
Who is your entrepreneurial hero and why?
Barrack Obama. Nothing to with business, just an inspiring thinker and doer, with a presence and enthusiasm like no other.
Your best work experience?
Service designer, strategist and visualiser for Skills Development Scotland.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Running my own business having gathered experience from many different ventures. Other than that I may be a famous rockstar, but watch this space...
Where and when was your best holiday?
Thanksgiving 2008 in LA. What a ridiculous, but incredible place it is. Love it.
Your first celebrity crush?
'Lightning' in Gladiators. Once you could see past that 1990s frizz, she was perfect.
If you are interested in using Fraser's design service please contact him at design@frasergibb.com
Ultimate Green Queen
Student Enterprise alumni Amanda Jones has been crowned Cosmopolitan's "Ultimate Green Queen" at the magazine's Ultimate Women of the Year Awards. Big congratulations to her although we are green with jealousy that she was photographed posing next to the gorgeous Lemar! To see the pics, click here.
Hot off the press!
Student Enterprise success stories have been all over the press.
Read about Jude Pullen's fantastic result here: http://www.gla.ac.uk/news/headline_129988_en.html
And the fabulous Martin and Phil from Safehinge have secured a lot of funding here: http://www.enterprisinglasgow.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=598&Itemid=81
Moreover, Amanda Jones from Red Button Design in a full feature from The Times here: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article6814750.ece