AI device to restore impaired speech scoops student awards

Winners of the awards from left to right: Harry Warne, Ellis Peares, Louis Angelo Summers, Ash Jayy Simmons Black and Eleni Ziu with Head of Aberystwyth University's Careers & Employability Service Bev Herring and Vice-Chancellor Professor Jon Timmis.

Winners of the awards from left to right: Harry Warne, Ellis Peares, Louis Angelo Summers, Ash Jayy Simmons Black and Eleni Ziu with Head of Aberystwyth University's Careers & Employability Service Bev Herring and Vice-Chancellor Professor Jon Timmis.

30 September 2025

An Aberystwyth student who created a device to help people with speech impairments and one who started a business to grow tea locally were among the winners of a student start-up competition.

The awards, which are supported by donations from former students, celebrate the creativity and innovation of Aberystwyth University students and recent graduates.

Now worth more than £20,000 in total, they were established to support ventures in their early stages of development.

Harry Warne said:

"I’m really grateful to the organisers and judges for their support. Winning the competition means I can move beyond the proof-of-concept stage and towards a portable prototype, as well as develop a business to support my idea's further development. I've got a difficult but exciting road ahead, and I feel very lucky to be supported at this early stage."

Joint winners of the Science & Technology Award were Aberystwyth and UCL PhD students Louis Angelo Summers and Toby Allington who are developing a supplement and an app designed to take a holistic approach to cardiac health. As part of their prize, their team, known as Heartguard, have been awarded free membership at the research and innovation campus AberInnovation in Gogerddan.

Computer Science PhD student Eleni Ziu, who has developed a business that will grow tea locally, won the Eco Business Award. English Literature and French graduate Ash Jayy Simmons Black gained the Creative Arts Award for his PR agency dedicated to helping romance novelists promote their work on social media.

The Local Enterprise Award went to Physics student Katelyn Crowther, Alex Parker and Louis Bales from the Department of Life Sciences and Law student Ellis Peares. As a team, they are running a gardening business, providing Aberystwyth residents with affordable gardening services and offering students training and flexible part-time work.

The awards were made possible by generous donations from alumni through the AberFund and by the Research Wales Innovation Fund.

Celebrating all the competitors, Bev Herring, Head of Aberystwyth University Careers & Employability Service, added:

“It’s wonderful to see so many students and recent graduates engaging with this year’s Student StartUp Competition. Congratulations to all the award winners - their ideas, innovation and commitment have been impressive. The competition offers a valuable opportunity for students to showcase what makes their ventures unique and how they can turn ideas into viable businesses. We’re proud to support them as they take the next steps in their entrepreneurial journey, and grateful to the judges, our Enterprise Team within the Careers and Employability Service and everyone else involved in making this year’s event a success.”