- The Aston Enterprise Scholarship aims to train and support the business leaders of the future through a fully funded masters course
- The University highlighted its two winners, Michael Ramsay and Abdullah Tahir, during Global Entrepreneurship Week
- Applications for the Aston Enterprise Scholarship 2023 will open in late November 2022.
Aston University celebrated its Enterprise Scholarship winners during Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) this year.
GEW is the world's largest festival of entrepreneurship in 200 countries, which was held between 14 and 20 November in the UK.
The Enterprise Scholarship is a full scholarship and two partial scholarships that are awarded to students who demonstrate that they have the potential to be successful entrepreneurs in the future and are looking to start their own business when they graduate.
Scholarship winners Michael Ramsay and Abdullah Tahir are currently studying Msc Applied Artificial Intelligence and MSc Artificial Intelligence, respectively.
Abdullah’s business idea centres around investing in people. ‘Stonks’ is an app that will allow people to invest in others’ dreams through cryptocurrency and smart contracts.
Abdullah said:
“I feel blessed to have been given this opportunity through the Enterprise Scholarship programme at Aston University.
“The learning and resources I have had access to has been lifechanging.
“‘Stonks’ would work in a similar way to something like Crowdfunder and Patreon.
“The difference with my business idea, is that investors can invest in a person to help them reach their end goal, rather than pay or support them for content creation.
“The investors will then get a slice of the profit of the person they’ve invested in for a period of time, whilst the app takes a cut for facilitating the contract and transactions.
“Imagine investing in the next Cristiano Ronaldo, Ed Sheeran or maybe even a brain surgeon!”
Michael’s idea will see him develop the first ‘All in One’ single urinalysis test strip for disease screening as well as pregnancy and ovulation. The results will be accurately read from the camera of a smartphone connected to an app called ‘Aye’.
Aye will use machine learning techniques to read the urine sample strip and give an accurate result based on the colour of the chemical reactions.
He said:
“The Enterprise Scholarship scheme has been priceless for me as it has opened many doors.
“I have made several meaningful connections with medical professionals who want to get on board, offers for investment as well as support from the Aston community who have already begun to give both technical advice and access to their networks.
“My idea is born out of something very personal to me.
“I was hospitalised with a severe kidney infection in February 2022 and downloaded my would-be competitor's app but was alerted that usage was prohibited.
“Globally, approximately 1 in 10 people suffer from chronic kidney disease and many more are at risk. This costs the NHS £1.5b a year, while the global cost is around £100b annually.
“Aye would allow its users the convenience and quick access of testing and building a health profile from the comfort of their home, which they may share with their GP for additional consultation.”
Professor George Feiger, executive dean of the College of Business and Social Sciences at Aston University, said
“We want all our students to be creative and have ideas that can change the businesses or professions of their future career. The Aston Enterprise Scholarship enables us to train and support the business leaders of the future.
“We are a university that trains business leaders, works with businesses and researches the innovative and entrepreneurial behaviour of firms and individuals.
“This scholarship demonstrates our dedication to supporting our entrepreneurial students and new business start-ups and SMEs across the wider West Midlands region.
These scholarships are for students who plan to study a one-year master's course beginning in September 2023. Applications are now open for 2023 scholarship here.
- Notes to Editors
About Aston University
Founded in 1895 and a university since 1966, Aston is a long established university led by its three main beneficiary groups – students, business and the professions, and the West Midlands region and wider society. Located in Birmingham at the heart of a vibrant city, the campus houses all the University’s academic, social and accommodation facilities for our students. Professor Aleks Subic is the Vice-Chancellor & Chief Executive.
Aston University is ranked 22nd in the UK in the Guardian University Guide, based on measures including entry standards, student satisfaction, research quality and graduate prospects. The Aston Business School MBA programme was ranked in the top 100 in the world in the Economist MBA 2021 ranking.
For media inquiries in relation to this release, contact Sam Cook, Press and Communications Manager, on (+44)7446 910063 or email: s.cook2@aston.ac.uk
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