Four SEMS Design students were invited by Hackmasters to their Innovation Hack in Chicago this June.

Hosted by EY, a technology insights company whose purpose is “building a better working world”, the Hack theme was 'Exploring the Future of Retail and Consumer Products ' and looked at developing business models in the retail and product industries.

Design Innovation and Creative Engineering (DICE) students Faaria Ali, Georgina Cole and Lucas Parrilla Santander along with Lily Montague from the School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science, who is doing a third year design project alongside DICE students.

Through activities and workshops, they worked with experts and professionals from these industries to brainstorm and develop ideas for business models.

“It very much gave me the skills to organise and communicate more efficiently and proactively. Additionally, working with people who are very experienced, up to an executive level, and respected within their industries was not only extremely fun and engaging, but also provided me with different mindsets, approaches, and ways of thinking. It has been one of the best academic/professional experiences that I’ve participated in so far.” said Lucas.

"The hack was an inspiring meeting of minds. It was powerful to be in a room with so many different perspectives and specialties. And so much fun!" said Lily.

The event was followed by an additional hack in London where the students worked with creative teams of animators and videographers to further develop their product and service designs.

This isn’t the first time Hackmasters invited DICE; some students previously took part in Hackmasters Dubai where Sarah Bailey and Zayna Ahmed won the Ecology Challenge.