26 June 2012
Principal's Prize for Enterprise and Entrepreneurship
Photo opportunity: 3pm on Wednesday, June 27th at the Carnelly Building, University of Dundee. The Principal and entrepreneur-in-residence will be awarding Mhairi with her prize.
A biochemist who retrained in order to achieve her ambition of using animation to bring science to life has been named as the first winner of the University of Dundee's Principal's Prize for Enterprise and Entrepreneurship.
Dr Mhairi Towler was working as a postdoctoral researhcer at the University when she hit upon the idea of creating animations and using them in the lectures she delivered as a way of enhancing the students' learning experience.
After examining the marketplace, she decided there was an opportunity to establish a company that uses computer graphics from the entertainment industry to help academics, companies and public engagement organisations to communicate science more effectively for a lay audience.
As she had no formal artistic training, Mhairi matriculated on the MSc Animation & Visualisation course at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design as a way of obtaining the animation skills she required. At the same time, she enrolled on the 'Introduction to Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Small Business Start-Up' module.
She has been awarded the Principal's Prize in recognition of being the highest-graded student on the module, and has begun the process of creating her own company, Vivomotion.
Mhairi will receive a certificate and a cheque for £250 from Professor Pete Downes, Principal of the University, and Scott Brady, Dundee's newly appointed entreprenuer-in-residence, at the Carnelly Building at 3pm on Wednesday, June 27th.
Mhairi said she was delighted to have won the prize and to have gained so much insight into the process of starting her own business.
"When I was delivering lectures I would use animation to engage with the students and found this to be a really effective way of communicating life sciences," she said. "I started thinking about how there was an opportunity to provide such a service for lecturers, teachers, biotech companies and for people working in public engagement.
"I embarked upon the Masters in order to gain the animation skills and thought it would be good to combine this by adding some business knowledge as well. When I found out about the module I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to do this.
"Studying for this module fitted with my plans for starting up a company as I was able to learn how to formulate a business plan, learn how to confidently communicate it to potential investors and help me to work with clients, and also to learn from others who have already started their own companies.
"I am also hoping to build a small network of business individuals in the local area who might be useful contacts for the future."
Professor Downes congratulated Mhairi on becoming the first winner of the Principal's Prize for Enterprise and Entrepreneurship, saying, "I am very pleased to be presenting Mhairi with this award, which recognises the high standard of her work, the fresh thinking she demonstrated, and her ability to spot a business opportunity.
"Getting students engaged with enterprise and entrepreneurship is a key part of the University's work to embed employability into the curriculum. By linking creativity and critical thinking to innovation and the natural ambition of our students we can help them not only to fulfil their potential but to make a real impact on the economy and society.
"Mhairi has displayed all the skills required to do this, and I look forward to seeing how her ideas develop in future."
The University has appointed Scott Brady, a successful businessman who has built up and sold companies across a wide range of sectors, as its first entrepreneur-in-residence to advise students and graduates with ambitions of commercialising their talents and ideas.
He said, "Mhairi has shown a real aptitude for entrepreneurialism, and I'm delighted that my first engagement in this role is to help present her with this award. It will be a pleasure and a privilege to work with talented emerging entrepreneurs like Mhairi and help them to fulfil their potential to the benefit of the local area and the wider economy in that time.
"We are seeing that the entrepreneurs of tomorrow will be those who achieve academically, and Mhairi is a perfect example of the creativity and entrepreneurialism that exists at Dundee."
The Introduction to Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Small Business Start-Up module is one of a number of programmes offered by the University to promote entrepreneurialism, employability and innovation.
Students who sign up for The Enterprise Gym (TEG), a University initiative to encourage students to develop the skills, confidence and self-reliance that the next generation of entrepreneurs require, can access online training materials, training sessions led by members of the local business community, and a variety of other resources.
All TEG services are free, and more than 1500 students have signed up to the project since its inception seven years ago. Certificates and prizes are presented to those who participate in TEG activities, while credit-bearing modules enable students to obtain recognition for their entrepreneurialism whilst working towards their degree.
Scott will pass on the benefit of his experience of the business world to students and graduates, with a particular focus on helping start-up companies to develop and grow.
He will deliver practical advice to those who engage with TEG through group and one-on-one sessions that examine a variety of subjects including market research, marketing, accounting, regulation, production and access to funding and investment.
More information about TEG is available at www.enterprise-gym.co.uk.
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Grant Hill
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University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
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E-MAIL: g.hill@dundee.ac.uk
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