A team of Loughborough University industrial design students has won an international competition run by global company Philips.

The ‘Innovation Open’ competition invited inventors from across the world to put forward their ideas for new products.  Hundreds of entries were received from more than 45 different countries.

Finalists were selected to present their ideas to a panel of judges that included Philips executives from marketing, innovation, research and Intellectual Property.

The Loughborough team – students Alex Ballantyne, Catherine Bliss, Nicholas Booth and Caitlin Boyland from the Design School – presented a fresh approach to oral healthcare that uses ultrasonic technology and a modern design to clean teeth.

Their pitch clearly impressed the judges and the team was awarded first place and a cash prize of €25,000.

Speaking about their success student Catherine Bliss said: “Taking part in this competition has been an amazing experience – and we are all still in shock at winning.  To know that we beat off competition from across the world makes us all feel very proud.”

Professor Tracy Bhamra, Dean of the Loughborough Design School added: “It is incredibly impressive that a team of undergraduate students from the University has won such a high profile global design competition.  Inventors from across the world put forward their ideas, but it was our students’ concept that impressed the judges the most.  This is testament to the high calibre of students we have here at Loughborough.”

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