Loughborough’s Collaborative Project Show packs out Europe’s biggest Innovation Centre
Loughborough University London celebrated its latest collaborations to a packed-out audience at this year's Collaborative Projects. The Collaborative Project Show was hosted by Loughborough University London’s neighbours, and Europe's biggest Innovation Centre, Plexal. It brought together, students, staff and commercial partners to mark the achievements of the best teams from this years module.
Show attendees were joined by guests including the Mayor of Hackney, Philip Glanville and Vice Chancellor of Loughborough University Professor Nick Jennings. Almost 300 attendees, including Partner Organisations, staff, students and general public were brought together as student teams selected from a multidisciplinary cohort of almost 600, showcased their solutions to innovation challenges, set by twelve partner organisations;William Joseph, Sysdoc, Poplar HARCA, Holland & Barrett, IBM, West Ham United Foundation, Sports Interactive, EngageCraft, International Media Support, Ford, this great adventure, Minority Rights International.
Kumaran Parameshwaran - Student in Sport Business and Innovation said:
“Loughborough’s Collaborative Project provided a platform for us to share our vision, network with industry professionals, and gain exposure for our work. The event fostered an atmosphere of innovation, curiosity, and growth, inspiring us to push the boundaries of what we thought was possible.”
The show marked the final part of the Collaborative Project academic module, where students work in small teams in a classroom environment. Overall, more than 100 teams, were created to provide solutions to this years briefs. Masters students from all seven academic disciplines, deconstruct challenge briefs, research and develop solutions ranging from "Increasing learning accessibility through the metaverse" with IBM to "Strategies for establishing a circular, low carbon local economy" with Poplar HARCA. This year also marked a further evolution towards real world learning, as the module shifted to a 3-week focused intensive sprint style experience.
The show was opened by Plexal CEO, Andrew Roughan and Dean of Loughborough University London, Professor Tony Edwards who said:
“We were delighted to be able to celebrate such an array of projects this year. The dedication shown by staff, students and partner organisations is testament to the strength of our highly valued collaborative community and continued commitment to providing this applied learning experience and look forward to following how the connections forged between all, might progress to future opportunities too.”
The Collaborate team are now looking for Partner Organisations for the 2023/24 programme. Applications should be submitted by 1 September.
Loughborough is one of the country’s leading universities, with an international reputation for research that matters, excellence in teaching, strong links with industry, and unrivalled achievement in sport and its underpinning academic disciplines.
It has been awarded five stars in the independent QS Stars university rating scheme, named the best university in the world for sports-related subjects in the 2020 QS World University Rankings and top in the country for its student experience in the 2018 THE Student Experience Survey.
Loughborough is in the top 10 of every national league table, being ranked 4th in the Guardian University League Table 2020, 5th in the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2020 and 8th in The UK Complete University Guide 2020.
Loughborough is consistently ranked in the top twenty of UK universities in the Times Higher Education’s ‘table of tables’ and is in the top 10 in England for research intensity. In recognition of its contribution to the sector, Loughborough has been awarded seven Queen's Anniversary Prizes.
Specialising exclusively in postgraduate-level study, Loughborough University London is based on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and offers cutting-edge master’s and PhD degrees, as well as business collaboration, research and enterprise opportunities.
The seven specialist institutes at Loughborough University London include: Design Innovation, Digital Technologies, Diplomacy and International Governance, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, International Management, Media and Creative Industries, and Sport Business. Close industry partnerships with a wealth of leading businesses and creative organisations means teaching and learning is informed by real-life challenges and driven by true industry pressures.