LSBU students Streetcharge their way to victory in Mayor of London’s Entrepreneur Competition
A team of Mechanical Engineering students at London South Bank University (LSBU) have been named winners of a £20,000 prize at the Mayor of London’s Entrepreneur Competition. Matthew Grindstaff, Talha Syed, James Cane and Khaled Sad Saoud won the ‘Judge's Choice Award’ award for Streetcharge, an electric vehicle charging station they developed which uses less space on pavements compared to current charging stations.
The Streetcharge team fought off fierce competition, with more than 500 entries this year. Kristen Tapping, an LSBU graduate, also made it to the finals with her concept GoRolloe, a device that attaches to bike wheels to filter air pollution.
The Mayor’s Entrepreneur programme aims to make London cleaner, greener and ready for the future. The Judge's Choice Award award sought entries from companies developing creative ideas to reduce carbon emissions in the city.
Matthew Grindstaff, LSBU student and Mayor of London Entrepreneur Competition award winner said, “With the ability to install Streetcharge almost anywhere, the electric vehicle charging infrastructure will have the boost it needs to accommodate the rapidly growing demand for electric vehicles in the wake of the UK Government’s decision to ban the sale of new petrol vehicles in 2030. We’ll be using our award winnings to get Streetscape started which will gives us a great chance to cut carbon emissions and improve our air quality.”
Professor Asa Barber, Dean of the School of Engineering at LSBU said, “Congratulations to Matthew, Talha, James and Khaled for winning the Mayor of London’s Entrepreneur prize. Streetcharge is a brilliant idea to encourage greater use of electric vehicles and demonstrates how LSBU students are using their inspiration, knowledge and leadership to make a real difference in the world.”