22 March 2013

Trias's business idea takes flight to capture £5000 venture 2013 prize

Trias Gkikopoulos has been named the winner of the University of Dundee's Venture 2013 competition for his business idea of designing and building an unmanned aircraft for civil, commercial and scientific use.

Trias (28), from Greece, has a passion for aviation and is a keen pilot as well as a designer of small aircraft. He is hoping to have built a prototype of his unmanned vehicle by the end of summer this year and then hopes to market it.

"The craft will use both solar and electric power and I think it can have widespread applications in the civil and commercial sectors, particularly for aerial surveying," said Trias, a post-doctoral researcher in the College of Life Sciences.

The Venture 2013 competition was open to enterprising and innovative researchers at the University, with a prize of £5000 seed money to turn their ideas into commercial applications and office space for a year in the University's Greenhouse Incubator unit, which supports new business start-ups.

The competition is the final element of the Venture programme that is open to early career and postgraduate researchers at the University and is aimed at those who are interested in developing their research or exploring the commercialisation possibilities for their ideas.

Professor Pete Downes, Principal of the University, said, "The Venture Competition celebrates and develops the entrepreneurial talents of our research postgraduates and early career researchers, skills which are invaluable in translating research into commercial applications.

"It is extremely encouraging for me to see the exciting ideas emerging from our young researchers who want their research to have an impact on the society that supports it."

Participants in the Venture programme take part in a series of workshops and mentoring sessions, organised by the University's Organisational and Professional Development unit, giving them an insight into how research can lead to business development.

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