Students win £1,500 for mobile phone invention

An invention to prevent people from losing their mobile phones has earned a team of Brighton University students a £1,500 prize.

The team - led by Prince Ansah, mechanical engineering student - invented a wristband device called Recall. It sounds an alarm when the wearer strays more than 10 yards from their phone.

Mr Ansah's team of engineering students picked up the first prize in the Santander Universities' 60-second pitch awards.

The awards support and encourage university students and graduates to present their business ideas in a creative manner.

Brighton University was the only university with two finalists.

The other contender was Melanie Smith, a graphic communication graduate from the university's partner college, Sussex Coast in Hastings.

She was shortlisted for her new idea called Story, a mini-suitcase full of ideas to help children find their imaginations to develop stories.

Mr Ansah and his co-founders - Jhonny Herrera, Alex Harrison, Atharsh Jeyanandam, Benedict Bowen, James Thompson and Kevin Raivire-Grisot - received support from Beepurple, the university's entrepreneurship programme.

Mr Ansah, who is featured in the video pitch, said: 'We are still amazed by the result. I would like to thank Santander Universities on behalf of the group for this award.

'This helps us look forward to the next chapter. It is a great opportunity for us and we are ready to put 100 per cent of our efforts to launch this product into the market.'

Simon Bray, managing director of Santander Universities UK, said: 'Mobile phones have become indispensible in our daily lives and losing it means losing our contacts, agenda, photos, emails and more. Recall is a great idea to ensure you never leave your mobile phone behind.

'In addition, the University of Brighton team did a great job in pitching the idea in just 60 seconds which is one of the main judging points of the competition. We hope the award money helps the team launching the product into the market.'