They were invited to present the results of the autumn’s work to teachers, facilitators from Ingenious, LiU Innovation, Almi, friends, and jury members, whose main criterion for assessment was the quality of the presentation. The event was broadcast live to some of the other universities in ECIU – the European Consortium of Innovative Universities. One of these was Twente in the Netherlands, and the winners of the Ingenious competition in Sweden will now travel to Twente to take part in a 24-hour invention competition.
“It’ll be great to meet other students interested in the same things”, says Tuva Bernwall. She is taking the Graphic Design and Communication programme and a member of the winning group in the pitch competition. The other members are Madeleine Edenfeldt Hallgren, from the Business and Economics programme; Rasmus Elmersson, studying for a Master of Science in Media Technology and Engineering; and Oliwer Schultz, taking the Biology programme. The jury found this group’s presentation to be the best.
Making it easy to sort waste properly
Huge amounts of waste are produced in the Kolmården Wildlife Park, and until now it has not been sorted in any way. Some of the waste can be used in compost, some can be recycled, and some may have to be incinerated.
Tuva Bernwall, Madeleine Edenfeldt Hellgren, Oliwer Schultz and Rasmus Elmersson present ReangleThe group has designed triangular bins with exchangeable lids and an opening in the side for easy emptying. Waste is placed into the bin through a hatch on the side and is collected in an easy-to-empty bag or container.
All bins have the same shape and can be combined in a row, a ring, or a group, depending on the space available and how many types of waste are to be sorted at a particular location.
Reangle with logotypesThe lid determines what is to be placed in the bin, while colours and icons make it easy for visitors to get it right. The bins can remain in one place, while the lids can be exchanged to reflect changing requirements. And the group has placed attractive logotypes on the front.
Representatives for the wildlife park were at the presentation and praised the ideas.
“The triangles are both attractive and smart, and they way that they can fit together in different ways is just great. The only comment I have is that they have put an inwards opening hatch on the bins, and we know from experience that such covers quickly become messy”, says Cecilia Haraldsson, operative manager for the park at Kolmården Wildlife Park.
Anna Landberg and Cecilia Haraldsson from the Kolmården Wildlife Park, which commissioned the projectBut both she and Anna Landberg, team leader for park maintenance, were delighted by what they saw.
“Well, we didn’t know which direction the project would take, and it’s been exciting to follow it.”
The students are now to finish writing the report, which will be submitted to examiner Charlotte Norrman, senior lecturer at Project, Innovations and Entrepreneurship.
The Kolmården Wildlife Park and other commissioning bodies will be offered the possibility to purchase the rights to the ideas. If they decide not to, it is free for the students themselves to carry the ideas forwards. It’s also possible to use a combination of both pathways.
Waste from drinking straw production
A multitude of good ideas! Aniisa Bihi, Fanny Aasheim and Matilda Jürss have developed an eco-friendly packaging material, or why not a coffee cup, made from waste material from the manufacture of drinking straws. They call the material Naturereed.“Our idea is to use the fibres that remain and form them under pressure into a waterproof paper-like material. This is compostable and breaks down in the natural world in just a few months”, says Fanny Aasheim.
The group has also found a company that has machines suitable for the process, Celwise, also located in Norrköping. And if the supply of weeds is insufficient, it’s possible to mix ordinary wood fibres into the material. Aniisa Bihi is studying for a Master of Science in Media Technology and Engineering, while Fanny Aasheim and Matilda Jürss are taking the Graphic Design and Communication programme.
High quality of all presentations
A further idea from the Ingenious course is a fruit drink that uses steviol glycosides as sweetener instead of sugar. The drink is Sinal Bou Aram, Pascal Amestegui Fuentes and Ebba Hultin prepare their presentation. Mustus allows the sugar content to be cut down from 28 sugar cubes to seven.manufactured from various locally grown fruits and berries, depending on where it is manufactured.
Other ideas: A combined digital travel planner and travel agency, that guides the user to all of the 385 tourist attractions in Östergötland, allowing for many smart choices; and an equally clever app to find your dream job, a pocket-sized career planner where both job seekers and companies can publish their wishes and be matched with each other.
“The course has a high ratio of applicants to places, and I am truly impressed by the students this year. The quality of the nine presentations was in all cases extremely high. I’m so happy that I wasn’t a member of the jury”, says Charlotte Norrman laughing, now faced with the happy task of reading and awarding pass grades for the nine reports.
Fredrik Borgsjö and Jan Axelsson, director of collaboration, congratulate the winners.The diplomas for passing the course, however, were handed out at the event by Fredrik Borgsjö, before he sent the students on their way after a reception with sparkling drinks and chat. Fredrik Borgsjö has been the driving power behind Ingenious since it started.
This multidisciplinary development project was held for the seventh time this year, and is now also part of the international network ECIU, the European Consortium of Innovative Universities.
