Twenty four UK entrants are among the 100 chosen submissions to be showcased in Global Grad Show, a virtual and interactive year-long exhibition, launched today.  The ideas are the outcome of rigorous academic research conducted by graduates and their professors, reflecting areas of deepest environmental, social or economic concern, such as the world’s ageing population, the number of people living with chronic illness, the radical approaches dealing with waste and the increasing number of communities vulnerable to emergencies.               

UK entries include:

·        An air purifier to combat pollution on the London Underground, Royal College of Art

·        A wearable injury prevention device, Imperial College London

·        A non-invasive blood glucose ‘earring’ that tests blood sugar through radiowaves, University of Huddersfield

·        A baby monitor that reduces the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome via magnets attached to the child’s collar, Cardiff Metropolitan University

·        Technology which uses electrostatics to capture tyre wear - the second-largest microplastic pollutant, Royal College of Art & Imperial College London

·        Turning tonnes of waste chicken feathers into edible protein, Central St Martins, London

The programme, now in its sixth year, and held in partnership with Dubai Culture and A.R.M Holding, saw entries rise by 30% and features ideas from leading institutions such as Imperial College and Harvard, alongside first-time representation from countries such as Indonesia, El Salvador and Oman. 

The projects will be brought to life in an inaugural interactive digital exhibition on globalgradshow.com, giving a voice to the next generation of innovators and connecting the public and potential investors all over the world with ideas that have the potential to change lives. The virtual exhibition will showcase the graduates behind each one of ideas and will also see prototypes, films and original research material visually curated for online visitors to engage and interact with. 

The chosen projects have been organised around five key emerging trends that were identified from the 1,600 applications from 270 universities in 60 countries. Those trends are:

- Living with Illness & Disability

- Coping in a Complex World

- Saving and protecting vulnerable lives

- Cleaning a Waste Filled Planet

-Sustaining the Urban Experience 

Tadeu Baldani Caravieri, Director, Global Grad Show comments: “Over the last six months we've been reminded just how vital good health, balanced natural ecosystems and well-equipped public services are to a happy, productive and future-ready society. Equally, we’ve paid more attention than ever to the power of new technologies in optimising resources, shortening distances and minimising collateral damage.”

“Thankfully, a significant number of the innovations that tackle head-first big social and environmental challenges of our time are underway. Often unbeknownst to the general public, researchers inside universities are developing a myriad of solutions for complex issues of today and tomorrow. From medical engineering to architecture and data science, young graduates are at the forefront of complex problem-solving, working on technologies for the greater good.”

“As evidenced by the +1,600 entries we reviewed for Global Grad Show 2020, many of these are looking for more efficient, equitable and humane healthcare systems, for patients and medical staff. This is more crucial now than ever before."

"By offering these graduates a development programme, we hope to accelerate the creation of solutions to communities around the world. We do that by bringing together know-how and key private and public stakeholders, together creating collaboration and funding opportunities to our community."

Global entries include:

·        A fluorescent hat for commuting children walking in the dark, Zhejiang University, China

·        An autonomous weeding robot for small-scale urban farmers, Lund University School of Industrial Design, Sweden 

·        Using Durian fruit as an alternative to Styrofoam, National University of Singapore

·        A temperature-regulating curtain, University of Arts, Berlin

·        A device which replaces clinical sounds with colour during chemotherapy treatment, RMIT, Australia

·        A CO2 eliminator using green bacterial technology, Unaula University, Colombia

·        A fire fighting light aircraft with a targeted foam firing bionic arm, Universidad Privada del Norte, Peru

·        An airbag belt to cushion the elderly from falls, University of Limerick, Ireland

·        Low cost shoes made from recycled bottle plastics for school-girls walking lengthy distances, Mackerere University, Uganda 

A year-round activation, Global Grad Show entrepreneurship programme supports innovators to materialize their real-world impact. Through training, mentorship, connections with the industry and funding opportunities, it accelerates the process of bringing graduate projects to life. The focus is to develop business skills and offer a structured startup-building route to participants. Last year, A.R.M. Holding pledged over £2 million (AED 10 million) for a 10-year fund to help talents from Global Grad Show entrepreneurship programme to advance towards market launch, having already supported eight projects. 

Global Grad Show’s Covid-19 initiative, one of the first international open calls to innovators addressing Covid-19 challenges, has four projects currently undergoing entrepreneurship training, with one advancing to pilot stage:

• Foresight: an AI system which processes clinical information of patients in intensive care units, capable of predicting and alerting patient health deterioration, up to 48hrs earlier than current diagnosis alternatives. The system was designed to be easily integrated into hospitals, using data already commonly collected by intensive care units, being capable of streamlining patient care around the world. The founder is Sam Tukra, currently undertaking a PhD at Imperial College London in AI and Advanced Machine Vision.