Dundee Medical Student Scoops £10,000 prize

University of Dundee student Christopher McCann has been awarded £10,000 to develop his business idea at this year’s Scottish Institute for Enterprise Student Summit in Edinburgh.

Christopher, who is currently studying medicine at the University, scooped SIE’s New Ventures top prize. He will use the £10,000 prize fund to develop ‘snap40’, a wearable patient health early warning system and an idea he composed while working on wards of busy city hospitals.

The device monitors a wide-range of patient health indicators, analyses the information and sends on signals if there is deterioration in the patient. The wristband will help cut the number of unnecessary admissions to hospitals, helping the NHS reduce waiting times and bed-blocking. 

Christopher said, “It’s an honour to be recognised at the SIE Student Enterprise Summit. SIE competitions like New Ventures and the Young Innovators Challenge have been incremental in giving me the support and advice necessary to progress my idea into a real business. The New Ventures prize money will be invaluable in allowing us to bring snap40 to trial in the NHS later this year.”

Since 2004, SIE’s annual summit has brought together students and industry leaders from across the country to celebrate the success of new business ideas and inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs. Ten candidates  were shortlisted for  SIE’s Fresh Ideas and New Ventures competitions, with  prizes ranging from £500 up to £10,000.