News and Events

Award-winning inventor opens Design Festival

8 June 2009

BU Product Design graduate Franziska Conrad

Graduate Franziska Conrad’s Gelert QuickPitch pop-up tent gained commercial success as a result of her festival showcase at BU in 2003.

Award-winning designer and entrepreneur Mandy Haberman, inventor of the world-famous baby accessory the Anywayup Cup, will give the keynote speech at the opening of BU’s Festival of Design & Innovation.

BU’s School of Design, Engineering & Computing is hosting the event, which runs from Thursday 25 to Monday 29 June 2009.

The event showcases the work of our talented final year students on courses in Product Design, Industrial Design, Design Engineering, Fashion & Textiles, Interior Design, Computer Aided Product Design and Sustainable Graphics & Packaging.

Now in its 17th year, the Festival promises to be the biggest to date, with over 170 designs and prototypes which could make a real impact on our everyday lives, displayed publicly for the first time. Visitors to the Festival can meet with the designers face-to-face to discuss ideas.

Previous design students have been successful in commercialising their work as a result of the Festival. The QuickPitch, a pop-up tent designed by graduate Franziska Conrad, is now manufactured under licence by Gelert Limited - one of the UK’s favourite outdoor brands. The tent has sold over 150,000 units to date, and been voted 'Best Festival Tent' by The Guardian newspaper and 'Best Festival Product' by Five’s The Gadget Show.

Franziska is currently in the United States as one of Britain's FlyingStart Global Entrepreneurs, a prestigious programme run by the National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship (NCGE).

Hosted by America's world-famous Kauffman Foundation, this involves visiting leading entrepreneurial American universities including Harvard, MIT and Stanford, and an internship at a dynamic US company.

The Biologic PostPump, created by Product Design graduate Philip Robinson in 2001, was patented and licensed to Dahon Incorporated, the world’s largest manufacturer of folding bikes. It is now available in over 30 countries with more than 200,000 units sold.

Philip said: “The Festival of Design & Innovation changed my life - quite literally. The prototype bike pump attracted huge interest and as a result I set up my own company to market the idea. I’ve now joined BU's Centre for Research & Enterprise to help other students to realise the commercial value of their ideas.”

This year’s event is sponsored by intellectual property experts, Grid Law Solicitors, who have provided patent advice and support to BU students looking to commercialise their designs.

The event is free to attend and online registration is available. Further information including opening times, exhibits and travel directions are available on the Festival website listed below.