University of Glasgow enterprise, Staels Design, has been announced as runner up of the Important day-to-day Products and Services Award (Winner Idea Stage) at the Santander Universities Entrepreneurship Awards held on the 30th June in London.

The competition recognises student and graduate entrepreneurs by offering cash prizes, mentoring and start-up support. Since the competition’s launch, they have given away more than £220,000 to start-ups and small businesses.

Postgraduate student Corien Staels received the award for her product design company which has created the first cooling wheelchair pad called WheelAir made for people with a spinal cord injury to regulate their body temperature. The company aims to create products to enhance people's quality of life.

Corien commented: “This is the first UK competition I’ve won and it’s a really big deal for me. It’s also brilliant to hear from other entrepreneurs and learn from their experience.”

First published: 6 July 2016

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