PRESS
RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
16TH November 2012
Stow College students honoured for innovative mobile safety app
Enterprising students from Stow College have taken part in a
UK-wide competition aimed at finding the next big ideas in business.
The group, dubbed Salus Solution, beat off competition from scores
of other teams and were invited to the finals of the Market Maker Experience
after devising an app that prevents the use of mobile phones when driving.
The five-strong team – Barry Gillespie, Tony Mitchell, Elio
Coletta, Andy Cawte and Geoff Nduru – were selected by Stow College’s own panel
of judges after competing against fellow students within the college whose
ideas included a mobile app that takes brain signals to alert epilepsy
sufferers of potential seizures, a voucher card that combines all loyalty
points in one place and even pizza scissors with a connected tray to collected
the slices!
After they were selected, the winning group travelled to London
where they had to pitch their ideas against teams from across the country in a
Dragons’ Den style event.
Stow College student and team member Barry Gillespie said: “We
came up with the idea as a safety solution to eliminate the use of mobile
phones when driving. Because of the wording of the law, employers can actually
be held liable as well as the individual driver if they require employees to
use a hand-held phone while driving. With that in mind, the idea was that we
would aim the new app at local businesses such as logistical companies,
corporate companies with fleet vehicles and local authorities. The product
works by preventing incoming and outgoing signals when the car is in motion, a
tracking feature to measure usage and a message alert system to inform the
driver if a call is coming through and allow them to pull over and use their
phone safely. We were delighted to be asked down to London and were thrilled to
come so close to winning the top prize. Hopefully our concept will actually be
further developed and could soon become a big success.”
Dr. Robert McGrory, Principal of Stow College, added: “Team Salus
Solution came up with a great, innovative concept and we’re all incredibly
proud of their achievement. Stow College is focussing more than ever on
developing entrepreneurship in all of our students. We have a range of new
courses and new partnerships, including the pioneering Peter Jones Enterprise Academy.
Now, more than ever, we need to equip young people with the knowledge,
confidence and drive to get out and flourish in the business world and Stow
College is at the forefront of this.”
-ENDS-
Image: L-R – Tony Mitchell, Geoff Nduru, Barry Gillespie, Elio Coletta, Andy
Cawte.
For more
information, contact: Brian O’Neill, Halogen Communications, (T) 0131 202 0120 (F) 0131 225 3757 (E) brian@halogencom.com
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