Dundee medical student scoops £10,000 prize at SIE Student Summit

Published On Fri 27 Mar 2015 by Grant Hill

University of Dundee student Christopher McCann has been awarded £10,000 to develop his business idea at this year’s Scottish Institute for Enterprise Student Summit in Edinburgh.

Ten entrepreneurs shortlisted from hundreds of entries in SIE’s Fresh Ideas and New Ventures competitions were awarded prizes ranging from £500 up to £10,000.

Christopher, who is currently studying medicine at the University, scooped SIE’s New Ventures top prize. He will use the £10,000 prize fund to develop ‘snap40’, a wearable patient health early warning system and an idea he composed while working on wards of busy city hospitals.

The device monitors a wide-range of patient health indicators, analyses the information and sends on signals if there is deterioration in the patient. The wristband will help cut the number of unnecessary admissions to hospitals, helping the NHS reduce waiting times and bed-blocking. 

Christopher said, “It’s an honour to be recognised at the SIE Student Enterprise Summit. SIE competitions like New Ventures and the Young Innovators Challenge have been incremental in giving me the support and advice necessary to progress my idea into a real business.

“The New Ventures prize money will be invaluable in allowing us to bring snap40 to trial in the NHS later this year.”

Since 2004, SIE’s annual summit has brought students and entrepreneurs from across the country under one roof to learn from established entrepreneurs, celebrate the success of new business ideas and inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs.

Throughout the day, attendees also heard from inspirational Scottish businesses including Brewdog and MBN solutions, as well as Scottish based tech start-up Malzee and past New Venture winners, Swipii – a company that has since gone on to bring its loyalty scheme for local businesses to market and now employs 11 people.

There was also an employability panel at the event, allowing guests to ask questions to a group of experts on what businesses really look for in their staff and how enterprise skills are valued by employers.

Fiona Godsman, chief executive of SIE, said, “It’s of huge importance that we recognise and inspire young entrepreneurial talents in Scotland. We have to give the next generation of business people as much support as possible in order to succeed in this increasingly competitive global economy.

“Equally, we want to demonstrate the importance of having an enterprising skillset, not just for those wishing to go it on their own, but to the organisations who employ people every day.”

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