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COMPETITIONS
Each year Engineers in Business Fellowship hosts a Champion of Champions Final. Winners of the university competitions enter the final to compete for a £10,000 prize pot, mentors and other prizes.

You can see the teams in our 2020 competition  present their innovations in this video.

EIBF collaborates with universities that have competitions and/or enterprise modules in place - we are currently working with 32 universities and are aiming to increase this to 50 universities. Apply Now!

Inspiring a passion for  business

Engineers in Business Fellowship (EIBF) is a registered charity that promotes the importance and value of business education for engineers in order to improve people’s lives and the performance of the UK and global economies.

Engineering skills are greatly augmented by commercial and business education. EIBF encourages engineering undergraduates, graduates and postgraduates to participate in university enterprise competitions.  EIBF does this by providing universities with an Engineers in Business competition prize fund of £3,000 per university to reward engineers who develop groundbreaking ideas that could solve real problems in society.

The Engineers in Business competition prize fund helps to increase the level of participation in business ideas competitions by engineering undergraduates and graduates, enabling them to gain more commercial education.


2020 Champion of Champions First Prize and Runner-up Winners
Read about the winners

  • £3,000 Prize Fund: Typically, prizes are awarded as £1,500, £1,000 and £500 to the top three teams made up of engineers (or an individual if the competition is structured that way) or to multi-disciplinary teams that include engineers. A multi-disciplinary team must include at least one engineer to qualify for a prize.

  • Mentoring: The overall winning team (or individual) in each university competition/module may apply to Engineers in Business Fellowship to be assigned a Sainsbury Management Fellow as a mentor to provide support for a period of time agreed between the mentor and mentee.

  • Promotional Support: Engineering graduates are of special value, to be celebrated and supported, especially when it comes to being made aware of the opportunities that business skills offer and the way that employers view these skill sets.  Engineers in Business Fellowship will help to promote the winners of the Engineers in Business prizes.

  • Champion of Champions Grand Final:  Each year EIBF will host a Champion of Champions Grand Final.  EIBF-supported universities can enter the teams that participate in their enterprise competitions/modules in the previous 12 months. The winners will share a £10,000 prize pot.  For further information, see the National Final page.

  • Business Support Services for Entrepreneurs: The Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed is providing winners of the national final one year’s free membership to a wide range of advice and support services to help launch a business.

  • Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship: The inspiring textbook, Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship from Cambridge University Press, will be presented to each winner at the national Final.

1

Apply for a £3,000 Prize Fund

Universities and further education colleges that meet the criteria outlined on the How to Apply page can submit an application.

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis until the funds for each year are allocated.

The application process is quick and easy.  Download the application form in the How to Apply page or contact the  EIBF Office to request the form.  Complete all sections of the application form and submit it to the email address at the end of the form.

If you have questions, please consult the FAQs in the first instance.  If you require further assistance, please contact the EIBF office.

2

Run Your Competition

EIBF will assist by providing key messages to help universities/colleges promote the Engineers in Business competition prize fund to participants.  Competitions are run and judged without intervention by EIBF unless there is an invitation by a university for one of our Sainsbury Management Fellows to become involved in some way.   Universities/colleges then inform EIBF when they have selected their winners so we can provide promotional support, obtain post-competition feedback and organise for the prize fund to be paid to the university.

3

Promotion of Winners

With the universities agreement, EIBF offers promotional support for winners - this can include media activity, promotion on this website and social media engagement.  We appreciate and respect that some innovations will be subject to IP and therefore confidential.

When a university has completed its competition, the winners will be promoted on the Competitions page of this website.  Do take a look at the impressive ideas already developed by winning teams.

Engineers in Business aims to increases the level of participation in business electives and competitions by engineering undergraduates, graduates and postgraduates, giving them the opportunity to gain more commercial experience and education.

32
UniversitesParticipating
183,886
StudentsReached
5,496
StudentsParticipating
3,651
EngineersParticipating

£700,000 Available to Inspire Engineers to
Develop Brilliant Business Ideas

£3,000 Prize FundFor Your University

Testimonial

Entrepreneurs and start-up innovation is critical to economic growth and job creation. Universities and colleges have a significant role to play in encouraging innovation and creativity within young people and at Inverness College UHI we try to embed the importance of these skills in their thinking, so they move on
and achieve their full potential.

Professor Chris O’Neil, Principal of Inverness College UHI

Why Apply for Funding

Universities & Further Education Colleges

Universities and FE colleges compete on an increasingly global stage for their engineering students. The more effective departments and faculties are those that can demonstrate why their offering is different and superior to competitors.

Students now look for vocational features, proof of employment market performance, and linkages to accelerator/incubator innovation hubs and other strong employer links.

Students/Engineers

Students and graduate engineers who have participated in the EIB funded competitions report a positive and useful experience, for example, one of our earlier winners from the University of Nottingham said, “Engineers in Business  appealed to me because I’m studying engineering and I have a passion for business and technology, especially with the new start-up culture really taking off.”

Winners also say that the competition enhances their  CVs and interviews.

Employers

Engineering graduate employers have stated that they value skills which are not necessarily widely regarded as a standard part of the typical undergraduate experience. These include softer skills such as problem-solving, team working, communication skills, prioritisation and commercial thinking.

These skills help graduate engineers better compete in the workplace and, arguably, become better engineers – as well as pursue more successful careers.

What We Do

MBA Scholarships

Engineers in Business Fellowship (EIBF) is the registered charity and fundraising entity for the Sainsbury Management Fellows (SMF) scholarship scheme.  EIBF is driving forward a fundraising campaign that will ensure that the SMF scholarship scheme is self-sustaining and can continue to support young engineers with scholarships to undertake MBAs at the best business schools in the world.

Funding Enterprise Competitions

EIBF developed the Engineers in Business competition prize fund to encourage more young engineers to get involved in business innovation and develop a passion for entrepreneurship at an early stage. Engineers in Business is run in association with leading universities and further education institutions, leveraging existing competitions/modules and arrangements.

Mentoring

Sainsbury Management Fellows provide mentoring to engineers and engineering undergraduates. Mentees benefit from a wealth of experience, knowledge, contacts and gain valuable support with career and/or entrepreneurship ambitions. This includes engineering undergraduates who have received the Royal Academy of Engineering's  Engineering Leaders Scholarship.

Engineers in Business Competition Prize Fund

Support for HEI/FEI Enterprise Competitions