Using tech to save our oceans
Solve for Tomorrow 2023 Winners: 16-18 age category
Team OLEO won 2023’s 16-18 first prize with an ingenious device that removes microplastics from polluted water, using waste cooking oil from fast food restaurants.
Making waves
Joseph Birch and Ben Sindall, who were 16 at the time, and Liam Bridgeman, who was 17, were the brains behind team OLEO.
The team created the ground-breaking device that aimed to prevent plastic ingestion on plankton.
“My favourite part of the competition was the in-person workshop at Samsung House (in Chertsey), especially the time pressured prototyping, because it forced us to think creatively but critically to get as much done in the time available, which really sped up our ideation process,” said Ben.
Joseph added: “By being a part of solve for tomorrow my knowledge and skills around taking a product to market have really developed and I feel much more confident to further develop our teams idea.”
Winning and learning
Team OLEO with their families, collecting their prize
The trio were awarded a collective prize of £10,000 and three months of focused mentoring from the Startup Discovery School – a new programme that helps young innovators become entrepreneurs. Throughout the competition, it designed and delivered workshops to the contestants to help expand their innovative capabilities.
Joseph said: We really hope we can further develop our idea and create an actual real-life product and business. We’ve worked with incredible people, like our mentor and some of the amazing people at Samsung – it has been such a great experience and we hope that continues.”
The future of team OLEO
OLEO intended to first test their product in the rivers of the UK amending the design to make it as efficient as possible before taking our product around the world to the largest river contributors of microplastic pollution.
“Having taken away the skills and knowledge of every phase of the competition, Team OLEO is in a great position to develop our business once we have completed our A-Level qualifications,” Liam said at the time of winning. They have now decided to focus on household consumers (instead of government or councils) as they feel this will be an easier entry into the market. They plan to create a subscription model to ensure they have continuous user interaction, which will help create a circular product cycle.
Watch this space…
Read the full Samsung UK press release here.
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