Sponsored by the Engineers and Scientists in Business Fellowship (ESBF), the event, held on Wednesday 13 May in Diamond Lecture Theatre 4, brought together six multidisciplinary student teams who competed to pitch innovative engineering solutions addressing major global and societal challenges.
The finalists were selected from a cohort of more than 1,447 second-year engineering students and over 246 teams who participated in the Faculty’s flagship Engineering You’re Hired (EYH) programme in February 2026.
Each team delivered an eight-minute pitch to a panel of industry experts, followed by a five-minute question and answer session. The competition highlighted students’ ability to apply technical expertise, and also to demonstrate commercial awareness, strategic thinking and entrepreneurial skills.
This year’s projects tackled a diverse range of challenges, including sustainable housing, disaster response, wildfire prevention, smart agriculture and advanced materials for space technology.
Finalist Teams
- HabitAdd: 3D Printed Accessible Housing: Additive manufacturing solutions for affordable and accessible housing.
- Superhydrophobic Materials for Biomimetic Domestic Buildings: Innovative water-repellent materials inspired by nature.
- AERIS NETWORK: Autonomous aerial systems for early-stage wildfire detection and containment.
- HydroSoy: A smart farming solution designed to improve agricultural efficiency.
- Robot Rescue: Swarm robotics technology developed for earthquake rescue operations.
- Self-Healing Tiles for Space Re-entry: Advanced self-healing materials designed to withstand extreme aerospace conditions.
The presentations featured detailed engineering designs, CAD models, cost analyses, business strategies, funding plans and in some cases, working prototypes.
Dr. Raja Toqeer, who hosted the event, said: “These teams have not only applied their technical knowledge, they have demonstrated real entrepreneurial thinking. Tonight’s pitches showcased the ingenuity, creativity and teamwork that define modern engineering.
“The event provided students with valuable opportunities to network with industry professionals, receive expert feedback and gain insight into bringing engineering innovations to market.”
Competition Winners
1st Place: HabitAdd: 3D-Printed Accessible Housing - Prize: £1,500
(Nkeiruka Jennifer Ezirim, Phillippa Gallard, Benjamin Cowdy, Jayla Jayne Jara, Elliot Marks, Ray Thorpe)
2nd Place: Self-Healing Tiles for Space Re-entry - Prize: £1,000
(Ivy Duong, Abdulrahman Elfarrash, Alexander Ng, Isabel Dee, Tom Desmond)
3rd Place – AERIS NETWORK - Prize: £500
(Muhammad Izz Amani bin Mohd Zulkifli, Xinyi Zhang, Tehya Beighton, Saoirse Barron, George Bulmer)
The competition prizes were funded by the Engineers and Scientists in Business Fellowship to support and encourage the commercial development of student-led innovations.
The top six teams are eligible to compete in the Champion of Champions Grand Final, against leading student teams from universities across the UK.
