RIBI President, John Minhinick will attend the grand final of the Engineering Young Entrepreneurs Scheme (Engineering YES) at Birmingham Science Park on Wednesday 19 June to give a talk and present the prizes.
Engineering YES is a Dragons’ Den style training competition for research engineers now in its fifth year which teaches participants how to turn a research concept into commercial reality.
[IMG: 2053 border=”0″ alt=”Engineering YES small” align=”right” width=”180″ height=”118″]Researchers from 13 universities across the country work in teams in an intensive four day programme. They are supported by mentors covering finance, intellectual property, business planning and marketing to help them prepare a detailed business plan. This is then presented to a team of judges including venture capitalists, patent lawyers and business leaders. In 2013 the competition has attracted 23 teams from universities across the country, involving over 100 researchers. The grand final brings together the best eight teams in a head to head competition for a £2,000 prize provided by Rolls-Royce.Engineering YES is run by Rotary in partnership with the universities of Loughborough and Nottingham. All speakers, mentors and judges give their time free of charge, so the competition is a great example of how experienced business leaders can benefit the next generation of entrepreneurs.
The competition was initially set up by the Rotary Club of Loughborough Beacon and is now strongly supported by the Rotary Club of Sheffield and the Rotary Club of Solihull St Alphege. The support of additional Rotary clubs is now being sought to allow the competition to continue to expand in 2014.
In his address, John Minhinick will highlight the competition as one of the many ways in which Rotarians in Great Britain and Ireland are working with young people to help them achieve their potential.
Dave Scott, leader of the organising group said: “This competition gives participants a unique opportunity to step out of their academic environment and gain experience of what it is like to set up in the world of business and leaves budding entrepreneurs with the skills to take their ideas to the marketplace.”
For more information see www.engineeringyes.org
