After a busy day of pitching, networking, roundtable discussion and then some more pitching, the winners of the two categories in the Converge Challenge Open Innovation competition were announced last night, with awards handed out by Councillor Frank Ross.
Winner of Best Open Innovation Idea was Ruben Jubeh and Ilija Vukorep of Kassel University, Germany. This is their pitch:
Robotic assistance systems are usually ground based, meaning that any indoor moving robot is limited by obstacles in a room. SQUID is an upside-down assistance robot: suspended in ropes in a room’s corners, it can freely move in any direction.
SQUID is an autonomous, independent device and easy to install. Key features are self-reference in space and spatial recognition as well as a safety system. A modular concept of the SQUID widens it’s suitability and eases the adaption to various applications: monitoring, work support as light source or tools holder, flexible projection, nursery assistance, housekeeping, ordering, or as consumer gadget.
Ruben Jubeh and Ilija Vukorep with Olga Kozlova and Councillor Frank Ross
Taking the title of Best Open Innovation Business was Michael Fontaine of the Moredun Research Institute, with his proposal for ArxBio. The team has generated proof of concept data supporting the technology’s use in sheep, and a second vaccine for pigs has already been tested. Work has already begun on vaccines for horses and cattle. Michael estimates that the animal health market is worth $5billion (USD) globally. He plans to establish a company to further develop a number of products. Watch a short video about Arxbio here.
Michael Fontaine with Olga Kozlova and Councillor Frank Ross
Each winner will receive a market research report from each of the participating institutions.
The Converge Challenge Open Innovation aims to find the best examples of entrepreneurs successfully adopting Open Innovation principles and techniques to develop their business plans. Project partners nominated their own competition winners to compete in this North West Europe-wide business plan competition.
The Open Innovation Project is ERDF funded through the Interreg IVB NWE programme (www.nweurope.eu) – working with business, academia and communities from Belgium, England, France, Germany, Ireland and Scotland to promote collaborative approaches to innovation.
Congratulations to all our participants! We look forward to more of the same in 2013.
ConvergeChallenge 