Students' invention wins top award

Prince Ansah, studying mechanical engineering at the university, is leader of a team of engineering students which has produced ‘Recall’, a wristband that sounds an alarm should you stray 10 metres from your phone. 

The Recall team collected first prize in the Santander Universities’ 60-second pitch awards which support and encourage university students and graduates to present their business ideas in a creative manner. 

Brighton was the only university with two finalists – Melanie Smith, a graphic communication graduate from the university’s partner college Sussex Coast in Hastings, was shortlisted for her pitch about her new idea ‘Story’, a mini suitcase full of ideas to help children find their imaginations to develop stories.

Prince and his co-founders Jhonny Herrera, Alex Harrison,  Atharsh Jeyanandam, Benedict Bowen, James Thompson, Kevin Raivire-Grisot, received support from beepurple, the university’s entrepreneurship programme.

Prince, who is featured in the video pitch, said: “We are still amazed by the result. I would like to thank Santander Universities on behalf of the group for this award. This helps us look forward to the next chapter. It is a great opportunity for us and we are ready to put 100 per cent of our efforts to launch this product into the market.”

Simon Bray, Managing Director Santander Universities UK, said: “Mobile phones have become indispensable in our daily lives and losing it means losing our contacts, agenda, photos, emails and more. Recall is a great idea to ensure you never leave your mobile phone behind. In addition, the University of Brighton team did a great job in pitching the idea in just 60 seconds which is one of the main judging points of the competition. We hope the award money helps the team launching the product into the market.”