winners of this year’s Young Innovator Award for their innovative business enterprises amongst the best in the field.
They are:
– Kate Walker, 24, who used her dissertation project at Loughborough University to design and manufacture a 3D printed prosthetic – called ExpHand – which costs just £50 and is aimed at children in the developing world, where most of the prosthetics are ill-fitted second-hand devices. Her design – a past winner at the Leicestershire Live Innovation Awards – can be extended as children grow, to give them their independence back.
– Madelaine Dowd, 25, who designed the Embark® pilot ladder for the Grand Safety Challenge at the Royal College of Art which asked entrants to address general safety down the Thames. The ladder reduces the potential risk in a ship to ship transfer at sea by 80 per cent.
– Michelle Best, 28, from Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, the founder of Blossom & Best. Michelle’s daughter’s struggle with incontinence inspired her to design and produce innovative handmade disability clothing for children and teenagers with disabilities or medical conditions, including Magic Pants, which help remove some of the stigma of incontinence.
The 3 winners were from a group of 64 aspiring youngsters and each of the 3 will receive a grant of British Sterling Pounds 5,000/-, one-on once business coaching and an allowance covering the cost of living.
This programme is expected to be in effect at least until 2023 and the recipients of this award will be young entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds.
It is noteworthy to mention that this year’s records indicate 49% of the winners being females. Nearly a third of them were females of color, Asian or from the ethnic minority backgrounds and an astonishing 17% of whom were differently abled.
Michelle said: “My daughter Yasmin suffers from urinary and faecal incontinence.
“I understand the challenges and pain faced by parents of children with disabilities. They struggle to find suitable clothes in mainstream markets.
“I applied for the programme to help take my business to the next level and start manufacturing my products.”
Madelaine Dowd said: “I am excited to gain support to commercialize my life-saving product and to shake up the maritime industry with our innovation as a global solution to one of the most in demand and dangerous jobs.”
Emily Nott, head of equality, diversity and inclusion at Innovate UK says: “With 2020 proving to be an incredibly difficult year, maintaining our focus on Young Innovators was a priority for Innovate UK since finding the great entrepreneurial minds of the future is more important than ever.
Working alongside this year’s winners, Innovate UK will help them grow and develop their business idea to make the world a better, and more innovative place. We can’t wait to see what they achieve this year.”
Science Minister Amanda Solloway said: “While the past year has brought significant challenges for us all, it has also shone a light on the best of British ingenuity, with young people across the country harnessing their entrepreneurial spirit to help the UK respond to these challenges.
“From mobile apps supporting our brilliant NHS staff to online mentoring tools helping graduates find employment, the inspiring business ideas we are backing today will help to unleash our next generation of innovators as we build back better from the pandemic.”
