Rather than hitting the beach, enterprising university students from East London and Essex have spent their summer sweating over intensive work placements with local companies and organisations as part of the 2005 Shell Technology Enterprise Programme (STEP), organised by Knowledge Dock at the University of East London (UEL).

This week, their hard work has been recognised and rewarded, as the 22 undergraduates, mostly local residents attending universities around the country, gathered at UEL’s Docklands campus on Thursday 8^th September for a presentation and reception to mark the culmination of the programme.

 

After a gruelling day, during which the students presented their final reports to a panel of industry expert judges, Richard Wheeler, Director of UEL’s Knowledge Dock stepped forward to present the awards.

 

In his speech, which praised the students for resisting the temptations of Greece and Ibiza, Richard said: “The quality of this year’s students has been incredible. All of the judges have been very impressed by the enthusiasm of the students and the variety of the projects.

 

“STEP demonstrates the immediate and direct contribution talented young people can make to the development of our businesses, and it’s fantastic to see that seven of our students have been invited to continue working at their respective companies on a permanent or temporary basis.”

 

He went on to announce the winners, saying that competition had been so strong that the judges had had to create a new prize.

 

The prize for Most Enterprising student went to John Goodey (21), of Daleview Crescent, Chingford, who has been working at S G Magnets in Rainham. He was presented with his award and a cheque for £250 by Simon Dove of the London Stock Exchange, and will now go on to the regional finals held at Shell UK’s London offices on Wednesday 14^th September.

John, about to begin a Masters in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering at Oxford University, said: “I really didn’t expect to win - I’m just overwhelmed at the moment. The whole project has been brilliant. Naturally, I was attracted to magnets, and it’s been very rewarding to put the science I’ve learnt into an everyday context and produce something tangible. These eight weeks have really inspired and excited me about engineering.”   

 

Runner-up was Alice Capel (20), who has been undertaking a PR and marketing campaign at Powerchex Ltd, based in the Tower Bridge Business Centre.

 

Alice, who received a cheque for £200, said: “I’m really happy to have won a prize, but it’s just been a great experience all round. I’ve learnt a lot and I’m definitely glad I took part, especially as a market research project that I conducted at Powerchex has already made it on to ten websites and is due to be published in two industry magazines.”

 

The award for Best Presentation went to Sebastian Adeniran (30), who is now in the final year of his BSc (Hons) Computing degree at UEL and has been working at World InfoComms in Docklands.

 

Sebastian, of Langdon Road, Barking, said : “I’m over the moon to have won. I tried to inject a bit of humour into the presentation, and it must have worked! STEP has been fantastic; because it only lasts eight weeks we all had to hit the ground running and quickly improve our technical, business, and communication skills.”

The Best Report Prize went to Jennifer Hoque (21), a student at the Kent Institute of Art and Design who has been redesigning a website at Newton Equipment Ltd in Barking.

 

Jennifer, of Keswick Gardens, Redbridge, said: “It has been a wonderful learning experience. I was very comfortable at the company, but the work was definitely challenging and it’s been great to have the support of the STEP team at UEL.”

 

The special judges’ commendation prize for overall excellence went to Sophie Pascal (21), who has been working on a marketing plan at Griffin Fire Ltd.

 

STEP is the UK's leading provider of business and technical projects, linking the wealth of talent in the student population to the exciting potential of the small business sector. The students undertake intensive eight-week summer projects driven by the business needs of small and medium sized companies and community organisations.

 

Gareth Lewis, UEL’s Knowledge Dock Business Service Manager, said: “It’s been great to take these students through the whole STEP process, from finding a host company right up to this evening’s awards. STEP places about 1500 students nationwide, and roughly ten times as many people apply, so all of the students here tonight were winners even before they started their projects.

 

“I’m very proud of UEL’s involvement in the STEP programme, which offers many benefits to both students and host organisations: companies can realise their business potential through the recruitment of bright, enthusiastic undergraduates, while students gain experience and explore career opportunities in the sector. London’s involvement in the programme has really taken off since we became involved in 2003.”

 

Knowledge Dock at UEL, which works with 2000 local businesses across the region, launched the Shell Technology Enterprise Programme in the region in 2003 and was subsequently named Best New Agency. For full details of STEP in East London, contact Gareth Lewis on 020 8223 3321.

© Knowledge Dock 2005