A group of business students have undertaken two-week long work placements at Transport for London (TfL) after participating in its annual Schools Challenge, Innovate TfL in association with Cleshar.
The team of five BTEC Level 3 Business students came up with the idea of a product for tourists who might struggle to find their way around London due to English not being their first language. The touch-screen ‘Customer Direction Assistant’ terminals, designed to be located at TfL stations, featured up to 50 different languages and included NFC (Near Field Communication) technology to enable users to download directions and information about journeys and places of interest wirelessly to their mobile phones.
Hassan Raza (21), Jrreyullah Tariq (22), Stephanie Ishak (18), Elyron Ishaik (18) and Casey Chaffin (18), who called themselves Team Neoteric, were shortlisted after a record number of teams took part in the competition and were chosen as second runners-up in the competition. They attended the finals of the project, where they received certificates of achievement, and have recently completed work experience placements in July.
Uzma Mirza, Business Lecturer, said: “This was a fantastic opportunity for the students to put the skills they have learned at College into practice in a professional context. The Schools Challenge was highly competitive, so even achieving a runner-up placement was impressive. We are all extremely proud of them.”
The Schools Challenge gave the students a chance to implement and improve their skills in market research, business planning, presentation and communication, networking, problem solving and teamwork. They also gained knowledge in the area of engineering.
Uzma joined the students at the finals, along with Lorraine Collins, Executive Director of Enterprise and Development at Uxbridge College, and Suba Dickerson, Head of the School of Business. The team was also supported during the process by Business Lecturer Mohammed Adrees.
