Winners Announcement - RS Innovators Championship

Congratulations to the Winners of RS Innovators Championship

First, we would like to congratulate all ten teams for successfully reaching the finals. A wealth of solutions have been developed as a result of this competition. To celebrate the winning teams, we are awarding the following prizes to the winners:

1st place : £10000 Cash Prize

2nd place : £5000 Cash Prize

3rd place : £3000 Cash Prize

Background

The world is currently faced with constantly evolving environmental and social complex challenges which require multi-disciplinary engineers who have a strong awareness and skillset to innovate sustainability. Competition within the business environment is an unavoidable reality and we are continuously looking to find ways to do our bit. To do this we recognise we need diverse schools of thought, especially from young people on how we can be and remain the first choice to our customers.

As key players in the market, we want to be able to solve problems faster, meet our ambitious ESG goals and navigate tighter environmental compliance regulation.

Global competition for young innovators (18 – 30 years) to work in teams of their choice to design solutions to solve our ESG goals aligned with UN-SDG. The competition is designed to allow young people to showcase their skills whilst developing problem-solving skills with the consideration of the impact of what we do throughout the product or project lifecycle.

To refresh yourself about the RS Innovators Championship read more here!!!!!!

The Journey

Since the competition launched in October 2022, the teams have gone through different phases to support the development of their solutions.

Virtual Showcase:

Information session to all the interested participants to give further insight into what the competition is about and the challenge streams. The participants got the opportunity to ask the challenge stream providers questions to gain further understanding and decide which stream they would like to submit a solution to.

Applications Review

Teams had to submit a written application which was reviewed by a group of selected reviewers. Furthermore, the teams also submitted a video to give a summary of their solution and an introduction to the teams' structure. After the two-stage review process, a selected shortlist of 10 teams proceeded into the next phase of the programme.

Masterclasses + Mentoring

The shortlisted teams participated in Masterclasses and Mentoring programme for 6-weeks to help them develop their idea in preparation for the Virtual Final Pitch Day. The Masterclasses were focused on assisting the teams to build a strong value proposition and business fit for the solution with consideration of people, planet and profit.

The teams were assigned a business mentor each with whom they arranged coaching sessions and offered guidance and business links to sense-check their ideas.

Virtual Showcase

Finally, during the Virtual Showcase, the teams pitched their ideas to a panel of six judges which included the initial challenge stream leads. Each team was given ten-minute pitching slot and five minutes q/a from the judges.

Summary

Attached pdf here.

1st Place: NextGen Engineers - South Africa

A modular gravity filter that tackles the undesirable features of other filtration methods in use around the world. Our proposed design has the following innovative features. The filtering part of the design will consist of four different stackable layers. These layers were chosen due to the mechanical function of rock and sand that helps to remove impurities. Due to their global availability, low cost, high efficiency, and neutrality, (i.e doesn’t add toxins to the water) these materials make ideal candidates for a natural water filter. The main potential users of our filter solution will be low-income and displaced people around the world that do not have easy access to clean water. These users, therefore, need to optimise their water usage by recycling it as much as possible.

The team managed to design, test, review and improve their design showing strong evidence of functionality.

2nd Place: PiliSeal - Philipines

Pili Seal offers a superior sealant with effective adhesion and sealing properties that resist moisture contamination and higher temperature & heat using the waste of organic components in a cost-effective manner that is environment-friendly and ensures worker safety during application. It is simple in use yet powerful in performance whilst contributing to sustainability and waste reduction management. Aside from that, what is interesting about this Pili Seal product is its 2-in-1 function as a sealing material while performing its adhesion function as well which is known as a Hybrid Sealant.

It is a pioneering study and a revolutionary activity in the adhesive and sealant industry that uses waste material as the base ingredient for sealant production. One of the unique features of this invention is that it offers safe & non-toxic effects on the user’s health including the mechanics & technicians since this product has undergone a Toxicity Test. This product is beneficial & effective for the aviation, construction & building sectors, particularly in the metal sheet materials

3rd Place: The Three Sustaineers - U.K

The Three Sustainers solution focuses on easing the customer procurement experience while reducing single-use plastic in packaging. The solution comprises two main parts: a standardised component rack that is without drawers, and a range of RS Pro consumables supplied in durable cardboard boxes that turn into the drawers in the component rack. Standardised boxes of common consumables such as nuts, screws, standoffs, washers, and cable ties can be shipped within standard supply chains, and then placed immediately into the component rack upon delivery.