Engineering student shortlisted for national innovation award

An innovation designed by a UHI North, West and Hebrides student that could save businesses energy and improve safety has been shortlisted for a national engineering award.

Electrician Dean Frazer, 40, from Aberlour, has developed EcoSync – a low-cost power factor correction system - as part of his BEng (Hons) Electrical and Electronic Engineering course. 

Dean’s invention tracks power use in real-time while increasing the efficiency of electrical equipment and installations to maximise energy savings.

After competing in the UHI Business Competition, a dragons’ den-style competition, Dean has now been selected as a finalist in the Engineers in Business Champion of Champions competition.

Dean, from Moray, said: “My generation grew up in an era where the energy crisis was a possibility, not a certainty. As I have grown, and had a son, the burden of a measure of responsibility has led me to believe that the skills I possess as an approved electrician, and the engineering skills I am currently developing, should be put to aiding in the solution to the current energy crisis, so that subsequent generations can have a future with certainty and stability.

“The development of my idea was simply an extension of my past experiences and knowledge in electrical installations, with new engineering skills allowing me to envisage more efficient systems that will save energy.”

Dean will pitch his idea against nine other teams of student innovators at the event at the Royal Academy of Engineering on 3 November 2023. A sum of £16,000 is up for grabs, providing vital seed money to help the winners develop their innovation.

Members of the public can also vote for their winner up until midnight on 2nd November.

Winners will also receive mentoring from business leaders who are members of the Sainsbury Management Fellows network, plus CV packages from PurpleCV and entrepreneurial books from Cambridge University Press and Double your Price, a book by David Falzani MBE, which covers how pricing works with practical insights, tools and actionable guidance.

The event, hosted by TV presenter and engineer Rob Bell, is the culmination of a year of enterprise competitions held across UK universities, with thousands of undergraduate and graduates taking part.

Each year, Engineers in Business Fellowship champions business education for engineers and supports universities by giving them grants to award prizes to engineering students who develop ideas that can make a positive impact on society.

After participating in the UHI Business Competition and looking ahead to the final, Dean said: “The difference between a good idea and a good business idea can often be misleading to students with no business skills. Teaching students these skills can prepare them to identify the difference and hone their skills to harmonising ideas and business. Even without students venturing into business themselves, good business skills allow future engineers to contribute to future employers in a way that is to the benefit of their career, their employer, and ultimately their society as they progress and obtain managerial positions where business skills are of critical value.”

Lois Gray, Dean’s personal academic tutor last year, said: “I am delighted that Dean has been shortlisted in the EIBF Champion of Champions competition. He is truly worthy of this accolade, as a highly motivated, innovative and amiable individual. As a more mature student, Dean balances his personal and university commitments exceptionally well. His BEng project, to design and build a power factor correction device, was executed competently, efficiently and totally independently.

“Dean’s creative solution to reducing energy usage, and thus contributing to net-zero, is effective, easy to use and marketable. It was my pleasure to supervise Dean’s project and I think that what he has achieved, as an undergraduate student studying remotely from home, is remarkable.”