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BU Graduate to Explore Entrepreneurship in the US

Entrepreneur in the making - Bournemouth University graduate Simon Phelps

Bournemouth University graduate Simon Phelps has flown to the United States to boost his entrepreneurial skills over the next six months.

Simon, who graduated from BU in 2004 with a BSc (Hons) in Computer Aided Design, is one of just 15 of Entreneurship Fellows selected by the National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship (NCGE) and the US-based Ewing Kauffman Foundation.

His six-month secondment to the US features interaction with leading scholars and thinkers, policy leaders, innovative researchers, and business founders to develop commercial know-how and potential new business contacts.

Simon will also visit leading universities - including Harvard - before completing a three-month internship with SoftVu, LLC, a leading provider of online sales and marketing communication solutions headquartered near Kansas City.

When he returns at the end of June, Simon plans to combine his experience as an Enterprise Fellow with the £11,000 he received through a DTi Smart Award to turn his one-time student project - the unique ‘Floodstop’ modular flood barrier – into a long-term commercial success.

The DTi Smart award is part of a financial package which includes investment by Simon and BU Innovations Ltd, Bournemouth University’s technology transfer company.

This will help Simon invest in the further development of the ‘Floodstop’ barrier which he designed after recognising that one in 10 houses in the UK are under threat of flooding – and that climate change only promises to make the situation worse.

“I am delighted to have been selected as an Entrepreneurial Fellow,” says Simon who is from Poole, “and equally delighted with the DTi Smart Award which means that I will now be able to start my own company dedicated to further developing the ‘Floodstop’ which has now been patented.

“Being able to develop and pursue my business idea in both the UK and the US will be a great opportunity and give me the guidance I need to help mature my concept,” says Simon. “It will be fascinating to learn about entrepreneurship in a country where it’s held in such high esteem and I look forward to bringing the lessons back to share with my fellow students and across the university.”

> Prizes ‘Flood' In for Innovative BU Graduate

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