Alumni who picked up awards are:
Innovation in Construction – 3D Concrete Printing
A notable highlight of the University’s resilient infrastructure research, 3D Concrete Printing is a pioneering technology invented at Loughborough which has shaped the international research landscape of large-scale additive manufacturing for construction.
The project is led by Professor Richard Buswell, an alumnus (course, year) and current Professor of Building Systems Engineering at Loughborough. Currently, the research into these digital manufacturing approaches is crucially aligned to the Industrial Strategy’s demand to optimise innovation and skills to build faster, more effectively, and more productively.
Innovation in Technology – Tzuka
Tzuka has designed and is currently engineering what it reports to be the world's most durable sports earbuds, to be launched later this year.
Founded by alumnus Tom Jelliffe (BSc Geography and Business Management 2018), the earbuds aim to be the first in the world with an impact resistance certification as well as being totally waterproof and shock proof, with built-in storage for directly uploading 4GB of music or podcasts. Tzuka is based in the University’s incubator, LU Inc on LUSEP. Read more about Tzuka in our #LboroInnovation feature.
Medical and Health Innovator of the Year – HIVE Composites
Answering the call to expedite new products to support the response to the Covid-19 pandemic, HIVE has created an innovative material that contains antiviral and foaming agents that has been used to manufacture disposable gloves that can be washed off in hot water, thereby safely reducing the amount of contaminated plastic waste.
HIVE is co-founded by alumnus Gerry Boyce (MSc Materials Engineering 1980) and is based on LUSEP.
University Student Innovation – BeoBia
Learning that intensive meat production was responsible for 25% of the world’s greenhouse emissions, alumnus Thomas Constant (BSc Industrial Design and Technology 2018), spent 10 months researching possible solutions before launching his startup BeoBia to manufacture a closed-loop system that turns food waste into protein, including sustainable pet food, and also plant fertiliser.
BeoBia has very recently raised investment and graduated from LU Inc.
Two further alumni were also nominated for awards:
The People Deal, founded by alumna Louise Lennon (MSc Business Psychology 2019), the organisation development consultancy behind the Fairness First Framework™, a nationally unique research-evidenced framework to advance fairness in the workplace.
Alcuris, founded by alumnus Alex Nash (MEng Product Design Engineering 2016), the assistive technology company behind Connec+™ and MemoHub®, is a proactive, next generation solution for social care that is already adopted by several health care authorities.
In addition to his nomination at the Innovation awards, Alex was awarded Business Entrepreneur of the Year at the LeicestershireLive Business Awards 2020/21.
Congratulations to everyone on their achievements.
Read the full piece featuring more Loughborough affiliated award nominees.