Member Article

Brunel University partners with incubator to turn students' designs into reality

Students on Brunel University’s product and industrial design and design engineering courses are among the first to benefit from the university’s relationship with Hays-based incubator, the Central Research Laboratory (CRL), as they turn final-year projects into mainstream products.

Among them are 2014 Dyson Award winner Solveiga Pakstaite (pictured below), whose patent pending Bump Mark is a small gelatine filled fresh food label which feels bumpy to the touch when the food inside has spoiled.

Originally conceived as an aid for the visually impaired, the Bump Mark has turned from a degree project to a fully-fledged company. With field trials with a major retailer expected soon.

Slightly earlier in their journey are designers Cara O’Sullivan and James Atkins and Robert Cross. Cara is working on two aspects of her modular, evolvable walking aid.

The walking aid kit has the potential to generate significant savings for the NHS whilst empowering those with deteriorating mobility due to its innovative, low cost, modular system.

James and Robert are working together on a digital graphics “pen” called Chalk. Its novel technology does away with the need for a table top tablet, feels more intuitive to use and comes in at a dramatically lower price point than similar products.

CRL is housed in the former home of EMI Records on the Old Vinyl Factory development site and contains workshop facilities as well as office space.

Said Solveiga: “We’re shaping up to become West London’s answer to the early days of Tech City or the Silicon Roundabout in the East End but making real things rather than digital.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ellen Forster .