On Wednesday 19th November, the November batch of Limkokwing University students in London presented their final projects to mark the end of their Global Campus experience.
The final projects that the latest batch Global Campus students presented were the solutions to the brief given to them for the RSA Student Design Awards – a ‘live’ competition set by the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce), in association with the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). The brief was to design and to present a business case for an interior space or a service which would inspire creativity in the end users.
Earlier in the month, to assist students in their understanding and development of the project brief, several key members of the Global Campus group were invited to attend a creative project workshop set up by the RSA, and delivered by facilitators provided by the RBS and NatWest Bank.
For this competition, the Global Campus students had been split into three groups, and were expected to effectively set up their own companies. Having elected a leader, roles were allotted to each team member within the company.
The teams also had to design their own corporate identities, set up a website, and write a ‘Final Company Report’ explaining their project proposal, and the business case. Additionally each team had to maintain a daily blog on their activities, particularly in relation to the project idea. Each team were also mentored by their own supervisor.
The teams were all allotted ten minutes for their presentations, followed by a five-minute question and answer session from the judging panel.
The judging panel on presentation day was comprised of the three supervisors: Creative Producer at Immersive Ltd., Ms. Sean Wilder; architect, maker and university lecturer, Mr. Illugi Eysteisson; and graphic designer, lecturer and architectural historian, Mr. Chris Hughes.
The three supervisors were joined by Ms. Dimitra Kyrkou, an Environmental Designer at Foster+Partners; the young and successful entrepreneur Mr. Joe Daniel, one of the UK’s leading entrepreneurs, who at the age of 22 has amassed an empire of 16 companies under 3 groups and is a triple award winning CEO; the architect and artist Mr. Jake Morton; and Mr. Joshua Jones of ATHE (Awards for Training and Higher Education). ATHE is an awarding organisation regulated by Ofqual (the UK Government’s Office of Qualifications and Examinations), and provide QCF (Qualifications and Credit Framework) awards to over 200 centres globally.
The judging panel was chaired by Limkokwing London Academic Co-ordinator and senior lecturer Mr. Mehrdad Borna.
The first group to present was team ‘Halcyon’, supervised by Chris Hughes, and whose leader was Prakaash Ravi Chandran (Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Electronic Commerce). This group had designed the ‘Mobile Talent Workshop.’ The idea was to take creative teaching to rural areas across South-East Asia, utilising a hybrid lorry to carry all equipment and materials. Once arrived, four prefabricated booths would be set up, one for each of the disciplines to be taught: Music, Photography, Art, and Digital Art. The Mobile Talent Workshop would be installed for an intensive one week course, and followed up by putting students in touch with local government agencies and higher education institutions to facilitate the furthering of their studies.
The second group to present was team ‘Crestop’, mentored by Ms. Sean Wilder, and led by Mohd Fikry Bin Lokman (Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Digital Film & Television). Their idea was to install interactive screens at dangerous traffic crossings in London to educate the public on the dangers, but also to entertain the users while they await to cross.
The third group was team ‘B.E. [Be Extraordinary] Fashionable’, whose leader was Tanisha Kaur Harjit Singh (Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Broadcasting & Journalism). This group’s project was very innovative and was concerned with providing ‘Fashion Courses for the Visually Impaired’, followed by support systems to enable the students to further their studies, or to enter the workplace. B.E. Fashionable displayed some impressive visuals, including a flyer printed in Braille.
Following the three presentations, the judges retired to decide upon the winning teams within three categories (noted below). After much deliberation and discussion, the winners were decided upon. An overall winner was also chosen, although the results were extremely close. The judges were very impressed by the commitment and enthusiasm of all the students, and the quantity and quality of work produced by them within a very limited time-span.
After the judging process, the judges were joined by Ms. Rebecca Ford Assistant Manager at the RSA. The reason for her to join on second part of the day was because of her role on the actual RSA competition review and Ms. Ford thought that it would be a conflict of interests if she sat on the judging panel earlier in the first part.
Before the prize-giving ceremony, the visiting judges were invited to speak generally about the presentations that they had seen.
Following the judges speech, all students were awarded Global Campus Certificates by their respective supervisors, and ATHE Certificates presented by Joshua Jones, who outlined their significance in a short speech. ATHE has approved Limkokwing Global Campus participants to receive the ATHE Certificate, which as noted above is a UK-recognised qualification.
Following the presentation of certificates, five students were invited to the stage to relate and rate their experiences whilst studying in London.
Natalia Aguilar De Ponte from Mexico (Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Tourism Management), spoke effusively about what a great opportunity studying in London had been, and how a seminar held at London Campus by the opera singer and coach Marika Rauscher had helped to overcome her fear of standing up and talking in front of a large group of people.
Tanisha Kaur Harjit Singh from Malaysia, found herself fulfilling a lifelong dream when she visited the BBC, and read a demonstration news broadcast. Tanisha also noted that she had taken over 1000 selfies since arriving in London!
Silviawaty Abdullah, from Indonesia (Bachelor of Business (Hons) in Accounting), had always wanted to come to London. She had taken part in all the activities organised under the Global Campus programme, and had found the RSA Workshop, and the Limkokwing Ebola Awareness Poster Design Competition particularly rewarding. Silviawaty also said that she had enjoyed visiting the prehistoric site of Stonehenge most of all.
Mohd Fikry Bin Lokman from Malaysia related his experience of seeing a band playing together in Piccadilly Circus to the importance of co-operation when working within a team and he was thankful to the Global Campus programme for providing an opportunity for him to test out his leadership skills and learn valuable lesson throughout.
Finally, Zhaniya Ospanova from Khazkhstan spoke passionately on the architectural wonders of London, which she had always dreamed of seeing and found the whole experience life changing and extraordinary.
The visiting judges were also invited to present special trophies to the teams in the following categories: The most practical design (Halcyon), presented by Mr. Jake Morton; the most sustainable design (B.E. Fashionable), presented by Ms. Dimitra Kyrkou; and the most creative design (Crestop), presented by Ms. Rebecca Ford.
An award for the best blog was also presented to B.E. Fashionable. A special award, the Entrepreneurship Spirit Award, provided and presented by Joe Daniel was given to student Morgan Vencatachellapathee (Bachelor of Computer Science (Hons) in Mobile Computing), for his inspiring entrepreneurial characteristics and strong work ethic.
Finally, the overall winner was announced to be B.E. Fashionable, for their fashion course for the blind project. This award was presented by Limkokwing London Academic Co-ordinator and senior lecturer Mr. Mehrdad Borna.