A National Innovation Competition

A merger between Harrow, Richmond & Uxbridge Colleges

Challenge your mind. Change the world.

How it worked | The prize | Shortlisted/Finalists | Judging panel | Further information

The 2025 competition enabled students to showcase their vision, proposing solutions for industry challenges. The theme of this year's competition was Sustainable impact. This competition wasn't just about ideas; it was about shaping the future.

The competition is now closed but thank you to all the students, schools, and colleges who submitted entries.

Meet our 2025 winners!

Three pioneering student teams from across the UK have been crowned winners of the National Innovation Challenge 2025 at an awards evening on 11 July at the historic Institute of Engineering & Technology (IET) in London. Read the full news story here.

National Innovation Challenge event programme

Secondary School Category: The Home-e-stasis project innovated by Robert O'Callaghan, Matthew Rawcliffe and Sean Carlyle from St Bede’s Catholic High School in Lancashire. This project is designed to create a digital twin of your house to simulate retrofit upgrades.

Colleges and Sixth Forms Category: The TideTidy project innovated by Emily Cheesman from The King John School Sixth Form, Essex. TideTidy is a simple, eco-friendly device designed to capture litter from coastal waters at high tide - starting with Southend’s busy 7-mile coastline.

HRUC Category: Valentina Vicario, Uxbridge College – The Cranial Cooler is a wearable, smart cooling device designed to help migraines, post-surgical swelling, strokes, and neurorehabilitation - all in a lightweight, flexible, and sustainable form.

How it worked - taking up the challenge!

We reviewed projects that championed innovation and sustainability.

The challenge enabled students to submit one of the following:

Create a sustainable concept
Develop a business idea or
Design your prototype.

Students were able to work on their projects as individuals or in groups and could enter one of three categories:

Secondary schools
GFE and sixth form students
HRUC students.

These projects aimed to propose solutions for current and future industry challenges. The initiative is part of our groundbreaking work with the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Industrial Liaison Program (ILP), in the USA.

The prize

The winners will embark on a life-changing educational and cultural adventure to the MIT.

The National Innovation Challenge provides students with an unprecedented opportunity to gain new technical skills, work across borders, improve their personal thought process and develop international networks.

Shortlisted and Finalists

In addition to internal students studying at HRUC, this initiative was expanded nationally to include external schools, colleges and sixth forms, ensuring an inclusive opportunity for all participants. See the full list of those who were shortlisted, plus our finalists, below.

Schools
- Waid Academy | Cracking Carbon Dioxide and Oxygen Dispersion Unit
- Waid Academy | Brickteria - FINALIST
- Waid Academy | Recomposer
- Torquay Academy | Saving the Planet, One Step at a Time (App)
- Torquay Academy | Edible/Biodegradable Food Packaging
- Torquay Academy | Robotic Algae Vacuum - FINALIST
- St Bede's High School | Home-e-Statis - FINALIST
- The Richmond upon Thames School | Lamppost Mounted Air Purifiers
- Plantsbrook School | SmartEco: AI-Driven Waste-to-Energy System
- Tomlinscote School | Pollution-Reduction AI (PRAI)
Colleges and Sixth Form
- Bilborough Sixth Form College | Aquasun: Solar-Powered Water for All
- Bilborough Sixth Form College | The CO2 Filter
- NPTC Group | Dead Denim
- East Riding College | AI-Powered Fungal Bioreactors for Sustainable E-Waste Recycling
- Exeter College | Reused Grey Water - FINALIST
- Plantsbrook School Sixth Form | Sustainable Packaging
- The National Mathematics and Science College | A Green Future for Maritime Shipping
- The National Mathematics and Science College | Bacterial Cellulose: A Potential Biodegradable Super Absorbent Polymer
- Hull College | A Design Prototype: The Tactical Box
- The King John School - Sixth Form | Tidetidy: Keeping the Coast Clean - FINALIST
- Eton College | Plecobot - FINALIST
HRUC
- Uxbridge College | The Cranial Cooler for Sustainable Healing - FINALIST
- Uxbridge College | JetBridge+: Empowering Independent Air Travel for Wheelchair Users
- Uxbridge College | Biodegrading Plastic Naturally: Worm Gut Bacteria as a Solution
- Richmond upon Thames College | Harnessing Wave Energy for a Greener Maritime Industry
- Uxbridge College | Storm Drain Energy: A Mini Hydro Power Solution
- Richmond upon Thames College | BioPlastic Blood Bags – The Future of Sustainable Healthcare
- Uxbridge College | Recycled Filament Extruder - FINALIST
- Uxbridge College | Requiem - Upcycling Products (App)
- Richmond upon Thames College | Reducing Product Carbon Footprint (App)
- Uxbridge College | Stepping Energy Model - FINALIST

Judging panel

Our judging panel included many outstanding figures from across journalism, education, engineering and sport.

Konnie Huq

Konnie Huq - British television and radio presenter, screenwriter and children's author

Konnie Huq is one of Britain’s most engaging and respected presenters.

She was BBC Blue Peter’s longest-serving female presenter from 1997-2008. During her time on Blue Peter, Konnie presented a number of science-filled segments, from technology, climate change, to economics and has consistently inspired the younger generation in STEM activities.

Konnie kick-started our National Innovation Competition at our launch last year.
Richard Pennycook

Richard Pennycook, CBE - Department for Education

Richard Pennycook was Chair of Skills England. He stepped down as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Co-op in 2017 to pursue a portfolio career.

He has over 30 years’ experience in retail, starting with the management buyout of Allders in the late 1980s. Over the years, he has been involved in the growth of J D Wetherspoon and the turnarounds of Laura Ashley, Welcome Break, Bulmers and Morrisons.

He is currently chairman of On the Beach plc, Two Sisters Food Group and Wolf and Badger Ltd.
Kamran Lateef

Kamran Lateef - Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Kamran serves as Cluster Operations Leader at Amazon Web Services, overseeing the company's data centre operations in the UK. He is responsible for ensuring the availability of critical IT infrastructure depended upon by customers, whilst maintaining the highest standards for Safety and Security.

Kamran has worked in the technology sector for over 17 years, with experience leading global teams across data centre engineering, IT operations, infrastructure delivery, cloud operations and software development.

Given his experience with building and developing high performing teams, Kamran has particular interest in promoting skills development and STEM education to improve accessibility of underrepresented groups into the data centre and technology sectors.
Jason Knight - Heathrow

Jason Knight - Heathrow

With over a decade of experience in aviation, including senior roles across commercial, HR, and operations, Jason has led multiple transformational programmes at Heathrow, the world’s 4th busiest airport.

Prior to this, Jason spent 11 years in retail as a General Manager for some of the UK’s most renowned brands, before leading Europe's busiest shopping centre, Westfield Stratford City.

Across these industries, a culture of sustainable impact through innovation remains deeply rooted and has shaped Jason's leadership outlook.
Steve Whittaker

Steve Whittaker - Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Steve Whittaker is Program Director in MIT’s Industrial Liaison Program and focuses on building sustainable relationships between MIT researchers and global industry.  He has a background in computer science and AI, coupled with very broad interests in emerging technologies and their impact on individuals, organizations, and society.

Before joining MIT, Steve Whittaker spent almost 40 years in the telecommunications industry with a focus on R&D and strategy.  He was recognized as a BT Accomplished Engineer within BT’s AI, Service, Security and Operations Research Directorate and was awarded BT’s prestigious Alan Rudge Award for Innovation for work on advanced interactive speech systems. 

From 2000 onwards, Steve was responsible for BT’s partnerships with US research universities and business schools - including their long-standing relationship with MIT. In addition to over ten years as a Visiting Scientist at the MIT Media Lab, Steve managed BT's collaborations, consortia memberships and informal partnerships across campus and the extended MIT ecosystem. He was responsible for a wide range of internal reports on topics such as AI, cyber conflict, future of work, platform strategies and future skills. He supported both BT’s network of global labs, regularly taught as part of BT’s executive MBA course at Tsinghua University and developed a range of unique C-level customer engagement programs.

Prior to relocating to the US, Steve held various research, research management, strategy and business development roles at BT's UK based research labs.
Eszter Gulacsy

Eszter Gulacsy - Mott MacDonald

Eszter is a Technical Director for Sustainability and ESG, based in Cambridge in Mott MacDonald’s Advisory Unit. She serves as discipline lead for sustainability, providing technical leadership, supporting projects with specialist advice and setting technical standards. She is also a project director, offering consultancy services to clients globally including the private sector, governmental bodies and other buildings and infrastructure clients.  

Eszter holds several professional qualifications, is registered with Engineers Europe and is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineering. She has held positions in advisory roles at the World Economic Forum, UK Green Building Council and University College London. Originally a chemistry graduate, she is passionate about science education and has been serving as volunteer alumna admissions interviewer for her alma mater for over twenty years.
Andrew Gomarsall

Andrew Gomarsall, MBE - former rugby union player

Andrew Gomarsall MBE is a former Rugby World Cup winner and visionary leader in driving Circular economy within the technology sector. Executive Director at n2s, and founding partner of Bioscope Technologies.

Andrew is at the forefront of promoting sustainable alternatives such as urban mining and advanced recycling technologies.

He is committed to fostering a transparent and ethical approach that not only protects ecosystems and local communities but also safeguards the reputation of businesses by reducing legal and reputational risks.

Under his leadership, the tech sector is moving toward a more responsible, circular economy, where innovation aligns with global sustainability goals.
George Davies

George Davies - AtkinsRéalis

George has enjoyed a career spanning over 20 years as regulator, client leader and most recently, has joined AtkinsRéalis as Director for Sustainable Aviation.  

George’s extensive experience includes the Great British Rail sector, where he established and led the implementation of the industry’s first coherent and comprehensive sustainability strategy on behalf of the UK government. 

Prior to rail, George spent 11 years in the aviation sector with Heathrow Airport, where he held several senior positions in technical assurance, capital programme planning, sustainability strategy and leading the expansion sustainability team.