All ideas need a plan! Image: Kelly Sikkema on unsplash
Mechatronic engineering students Thirunisha Thirumurugan and Rowan Smith have ambitions for their suite of rehabilitative products collectively known as Tech Gym.
They are using robotics to support both medical practitioners – such as physiotherapists – and their patients with products to help them recover mobility. They have many ideas for the range of different activities that Tech Gym will allow patients to explore to recover strength and movement.
UTS sponsored Nisha and Rowan to attend the annual VirginiaTech Global Challenge, where they really learnt the value of networking and sharing ideas and experiences with their peers from 12 other countries, as well as with the judges they pitched to. They have returned from this unique experience “high on energy” and with a stronger sense of what’s needed to take Tech Gym to the next stage. As Rowan says,
You need a plan for a business, not just an idea.
Watch their video explainer on how developing a good business plan and honing presentation skills to persuasively pitch ideas to potential investors is crucial to getting their ideas from proof of concept/prototype to production.
Consider the four Ps: an innovative Product, a business Plan, a persuasive Pitch and the People who will help and support you.
Rowan and Nisha are accessing every workshop and resource they come across, in and around UTS, and the contacts that the university taps into through alumni and industry connections. Rowan’s advice is to tap into these networks and ask for help and knowledge.
Just ask. Most people want to say yes.