Intelligent Plant’s ‘Inform Prize’ successfully completes its 8th year

Third year Aberdeen University computing students took part in the eighth annual ‘Inform Prize’ last week, on Wednesday 19th May and for the second year running it was held as a virtual event.

The award was set up in 2014 by Aberdeen based computer software company, Intelligent Plant, with the premise of helping computer science students to communicate their ideas to the wider business community and hence improve their employability chances, as well as enhancing their presentation skills.

The groups were asked to create a digital solution to a real-life problem, then present their idea to a team of judges and industry experts, with the winner receiving a prize of £800.

Intelligent Plant founder - Steve Aitken, said that they initially launched the ‘Inform Prize’ to raise awareness for their business in the computer science community, but over the years it had evolved into being of benefit to a far larger audience. Steve started inviting people from local Aberdeen businesses to attend the event so they could share some of the amazing work that is being done by the students and get it seen by the real world.

Aitken added: “Businesses often struggle to find the right computer science talent and this event helps to showcase some of the best student potential. We as Aberdeen businesses can let the students know that there is a local marketplace of opportunities available to them for career growth and it gives them a great launch pad to build their network and develop vital business relationships that may lead to a career opportunity!”

This year saw a great array of fascinating projects, including a smart Thermoanalysis diagnostic tool, an App to romantically match gamers together, a collaborative online meeting organiser, a thermoanalyser for car engines and a new virtual events platform.

The eventual winner was Team Bravo and their project was the ThermAnalyser, which was a piece of software designed to detect and interpret thermal inefficiencies in car engines.

Petar Baltov of Team Bravo said: “We have learned valuable communication and team building skills through getting involved in the competition. It was important for us to present the idea in the most interesting and engaging way possible, while remaining intuitive and projecting in a way that was easy to understand”.

Competition judge Jen Scott, from Opportunity North East (ONE), also confirmed their support by adding: “The Inform Prize is a brilliant way to bring the sector together and gives students the opportunity to meet and learn from people who might have opportunities for them when they finish university”.

This year’s event was held entirely online due to the pandemic and this allowed even more people to attend than normal. As a result, the Inform Prize was more successful than ever. Steve Aitken said: “I think the online format definitely enabled far more people to attend, we had an audience that had people far and wide joining in and that really helped and is something we may well look to continue in future years!”.

Aitken continued: “They don’t have that much time to put these presentations together, yet they all had some software on show that would make incredible commercial offerings”.

Baltov from Team Bravo concluded: “We definitely recommend that students take part in this unique competition. It not only sharpens your presentation skills but also gives you the opportunity to speak to local businesses that are interested in your application and you can have a whole lot of fun as well, as long-lasting friendships were made because of this amazing endeavour”.

The Inform Prize will be back next year, and the organisers are already looking forward to what will surely be another successful event.

Read the latest issue of the OGV Energy magazine HERE.