Five finalists revealed in business innovation contest

A social network for pet lovers and a unique car buying website are among the new business ideas from students who have made it through to the finals of the Go, Innovate! competition.

Five students will compete for the top spot and a prize worth $20,000 when they pitch their innovative ideas to the judging panel at an event on the Albany campus on June 30.

Although the exact details of each idea are still under wraps, the competition organisers, Massey University Business Student Group, have revealed the finalists.

They are: engineering student Jarrod Burton who designed an innovative keyboard; biochemistry student Mack Saraswat with Zoomapper.com, a social network for pet lovers; engineering student Mark Tomlinson with Second screen, a business application which allows you to work on two screens simultaneously; business student Rosanna Ede with a concept of a unique car buying website; and computer science student Ricktus Loke with his idea of a computer and network security system.

The entries were shortlisted by the University’s business innovation centre – ecentre – which helps people with innovative ideas create successful global companies.

The overall winner will receive a $5,000 fees bursary from Massey University and a space on the ecentreSprint programme, worth more than $15,000, to further develop their idea.

Go, Innovate! which is now in its second year, encourages Massey University students from all disciplines to submit their most innovative business ideas or product concepts.

Ecentre marketing manager Sabrina Nagel, who was one of the preliminary judges, says: “It is great that we have received entries from disciplines ranging from engineering to information systems to business.” “This drives the cross-college collaboration we strongly encourage, as the most successful businesses are driven by multi-disciplinary teams.”

Steve Corbett, chief executive of the ecentre, says he was very impressed with the quality of the presentations and the enthusiasm of the students.

The final will be held on June 30 at 6pm in the Sir Neil Waters lecture theatre. For more or to attend the Go, Innovate! final please contact Sabrina Nagel sabrina@ecentre.org.nz