Students celebrated by renowned national and international organisations for their solutions to real business issues

More than 800 London students have had their hard work and creativity celebrated by leading industry names after they were asked to devise solutions to real business problems.

From exploring how Sports Interactive can develop its Football Manager (FMdB) app, to looking at how Mobike – ‘the world’s first and largest smart bike share company’ headquartered in China –  can expand its operation in the UK capital, a wide variety of briefs were set by over 30 national and international organisations as part of the Collaborative Project.  

The popular Loughborough University London module, now in its fourth year, brings together postgraduate students from different disciplines to address contemporary challenges through team-based action-learning with a focus on creativity and innovation.

The 2018/19 project partners included big names such as Chelsea FCWaterAidVersus Arthritis, Mott MacDonald, Tianrong Sport, London SportImpact Marathon Series, London Stadium, the West Ham United Foundation and Girl Effect.

NHS England once again joined the module and this year asked students to think of ways it could develop a social innovation culture within the organisation and to identify the current barriers it faces.

The students came up with a number of ideas including creating ‘innovation teams’ made up of innovation experts and local partners and a portal to empower NHS staff to share and transfer ideas.

An NHS spokesperson commented: “The project leads were very impressed at the detail and understanding of the healthcare system during the short duration of the project and given that many of the students had little personal experience of the NHS.

“It was a pleasure to work with the University students and staff alike who were well organised and ensured that the outputs were of a high quality. We are working with the winning project to allow them present and share their ideas further.”

Students at the Collaborative Show 2019.

Loughborough University London students have been celebrated by leading industry names.

Ogilvy Health set a brief that entailed designing a pilot study specification for a digitally-enabled, behavioural intervention that increases use of stairs instead of elevators in the workplace.

David Davenport-Firth, Managing Partner of the Brain Sciences Centre at Ogilvy Health, said: “I was privileged to come onto campus each week and to see such a level of proactivity and engagement was a really positive surprise.

“We are now looking at how we further develop collaboration so we’re really excited.”

EMSOL, a data-focused air and noise pollution monitoring solution that enables businesses to drive interventions based on live data to reduce road transport pollution, asked students to draft a framework and strategy to assist with international expansion.

Co-founder and CEO Freddie Talberg said he received “amazing responses” and he plans to share the students’ ideas with company investors.

Freddie said: “We are big fans of nurturing young talent that think and look at things differently to me and my co-founder. 

“It really is great having so many people look into your business and seek to challenge and help you. It has been a refreshing and rewarding experience.” 

The Collaborative Project is open to all full-time and part-time students at Loughborough University London.

A Collaborative Project banner.

The Collaborative Project 2019 "has been a refreshing and rewarding experience".

Diplomacy Business and Trade student Kyle Paisley said of the module: “The Collaborative Project gave me valuable experience leading a diverse team to solve a real-world problem.

“By creating an innovative solution as a team, everyone’s unique skillsets became clear and it also highlighted areas for future development which will be helpful for our careers.”

Loughborough University London’s Learning Partnerships Manager Ashley Gray, who manages collaborative operations on the module, commented: “The Collaborative Project has established itself to be a highly-valued low barrier to entry opportunity for organisations of all sizes and industries to join our Collaborate community and adventure into strategic innovation with Loughborough University London.

“My colleague Dr Daniel Graff, the academic module lead, and I have been excited to follow the journeys of 166 diverse student teams as they’ve worked on 32 contemporary industry challenge briefs, with outputs having the potential to stimulate societal impact locally, nationally and internationally.”

Partners are now being sought for the 2019/20 Collaborative Project. Organisations hoping to be part of the module are asked to register their interest before 12 May via the submissions portal.

Notes for editors

Press release reference number: 19/32

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Loughborough is one of the country’s leading universities, with an international reputation for research that matters, excellence in teaching, strong links with industry, and unrivalled achievement in sport and its underpinning academic disciplines.

It has been awarded five stars in the independent QS Stars university rating scheme, named the best university in the world for sports-related subjects in the 2018 QS World University Rankings, top in the country for its student experience in the 2018 THE Student Experience Survey and named University of the Year by The Times and Sunday Times University Guide 2019 and the Whatuni Student Choice Awards 2018.

Loughborough is in the top 10 of every national league table, being ranked 4th in the Guardian University League Table 2019, 5th in the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2019 and 7th in The UK Complete University Guide 2019. It was also named Sports University of the Year by The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2017.

Loughborough is consistently ranked in the top twenty of UK universities in the Times Higher Education’s ‘table of tables’ and is in the top 10 in England for research intensity. In recognition of its contribution to the sector, Loughborough has been awarded seven Queen's Anniversary Prizes.

The Loughborough University London campus is based on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and offers postgraduate and executive-level education, as well as research and enterprise opportunities.

It is home to influential thought leaders, pioneering researchers and creative innovators who provide students with the highest quality of teaching and the very latest in modern thinking.

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