University of York EIBF Competition

Posted on 4 May 2021

Five finalist teams recently took part in the next round of the Engineers in Business Fellowship cross-Departmental York competition.

Following on from the departmental ‘Dragon’s Den’ style round last month, five finalist teams from CS and TFTI recently took part in the next round, the Engineers in Business Fellowship cross-Departmental York competition. The students taking part opted to study the Business, Innovation and Entrepreneurship course, which has allowed them to explore and develop their business concepts and pitching skills.

On 22 April 2021, each team was stretched further when taking part in the EIBF York competition, where they re-pitched their business ideas to four Dragons who responded with a series of challenging questions, designed to test our teams on their knowledge of their concepts.

The qualifying teams were:

North Star - WINNER

North Star is a product developed by a team of five 3rd-year Interactive Media undergraduates from the Department of Theatre Film & TV. Their tracker device and associated bespoke software pinpoints and alerts their trusted carers, when vulnerable individuals leave a designated ‘safe zone’.

Rocker – JOINT RUNNER UP

Rocker is a team of two 1^st-year Computer Science undergraduates. Their solution provides a platform for musicians to get more fans, sell merchandise and raise their profile.

Balancely – JOINT RUNNER UP

Balancely is a team of six 1^st - year Computer Science undergraduates. Their digital platform uses AI technology to organise work and life tasks during the day, providing a more balanced mix of both for the user.

Cultour.ly – COMMENDED FINALIST

Cultour.ly is a team of five 3^rd-year Interactive Media undergraduates from the Department of Theatre Film & TV. Their solution provides a rich cultural VR subscription experience for those people who can’t physically visit a place.

Hungri – COMMENDED FINALIST

Hungri is a single Computer Science undergraduate. This solution Hungri, is a mobile application that can generate recipes based on the user’s choices and their lifestyle.

All competing teams performed at a level that seriously impressed all who attended the event, including members of staff, the dragons and senior representatives from the York Science Park.

A cash prize of £1,500 was awarded to our winners and £750 to our runners up, along with the chance to take part in the final national Champion of Champions event, which will take place later this year.

Some of our competition runners-up have commented:

“Awesome! Just wanted to thank you for teaching this course because it’s definitely been my favourite module of the term. I loved it and it’s been so fun! Today was great and really looking forward to the next stages.” James, Rocker

“I’m really looking forward to continuing with the project, it has honestly been one of the few highlights of this locked-down term.” Amelia, Balancely

The Business, Innovation and Entrepreneur (BIE) course is open to York CS/TFTI students of all years who have an interest in developing their teamworking, business and pitching skills. If you have any questions about this module then please contact cs-bie-admin@york.ac.uk.