Alex Fenton, Co-Producer of Creative Entrepreneur explains why you should attend our industry collaboration event

Have you heard of Creative Entrepreneur 2016? It is Salford Business School’s industry collaboration event! Here at Salford Business School, industry collaboration is really important. We really want to make sure our teaching is real-world relevant and that our graduates are as employable as possible.

How do we do this? How do we create a bridge between theory and practice? Creative Entrepreneur is one of the ways! This will be our third year of holding the event at MediaCityUK and we hope, once again, to grow. I am always amazed by the generosity and wealth of talent of the range of industry experts, students, alumni and organisations involved each year. 2016 promises to be bigger and better than ever!

At the event you will meet young entrepreneurial students as well as staff and businesses from nearby and further afield. Join us at MediaCityUK on Wednesday 23 November from 9.00am to 5.00pm. The programme and registration for the 2016 event is now open. But, before you signup here is a taste of some reasons you should come to Creative Entrepreneur 2016.

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How 3D printing works

How does 3D printing work? Have you heard abut 3D printing technologies? There are lots of things you could print. We have already been printed a few things already, like a duck, a Salford ambition sign and a butterfly clip!

Recent improvements and falling prices of 3D printers meant that the technology is more accessible to everyone. . 3D printing works by a layer-by-layer creation of physical objects based on digital files that of their design. Nowadays, 3D printing technologies have become an affordable and viable tool for business and consumers. So, how can 3D printing transform online retailing?

Retailers can sell blueprint design plans that consumers can purchase on the web and print at home or at 3D print shops. 3d printing has become very popular and industry in its own right since the world’s first 3D print shop opened in Zurich in 2012.  Since then more pops up opened in Munich and Vienna in 2014. These shops have begun to offer bespoke final prints and designs can be adapted to improve and modify functionality. Also, electronically transmitting digital design printing have no tax costs. Nike has marketing its first athletic shoe with 3D-printed components to download and templates for shoes that can be printed out overnight. Besides industry and business, 3D scanning and printing can be used for educational purposes in schools and universities. Teachers and students can creatively combine engineering, maths, design process and history. 3D printing is also starting to revolutionise manufacturing in a wide range of industries.

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How do beacons work?

Have you heard about beacons? How do beacons work? Beacons are one of many technologies that Salford Business School’s PUPRU is working with. If you don’t know by now what #PUPRU is, you can read about it here. The #PUPRU team are a group from the Centre for Digital Business with a focus on researching the use of emerging and disruptive technologies in business. Disruptive technology is defined as:

… new digital goods and services that revolutionise, change and disrupt accepted methods of performing business activities and transactions …

We have all been exposed to disruptive technologies, but perhaps not been aware. All disruptive technologies have potential to be the next big thing, creating significant opportunity, as with past disrupters like the Internet, smart phones and Google. You may not see the relevance, but unforeseen digital disruption drastically impacts business revenues. For example, GAME group closed 277 stores in the UK and Ireland in 2012 when consumer habits changed and more people began downloading their games. EE’s 2015 third quarter results showed a 10.3% collapse in voice minute revenue as customers moved to VOIP communication apps like Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and WeChat. Desktop PCs and laptop sales declined by 9.5% in 2015 with increased global demand for tablets and smart phones. It is no longer necessary for you to own desktop PC devices when there are cheaper mobile alternatives, offering mobility and additional functionality. A new service could disrupt an existing business and is a strong motivator to rethink IT strategy and align it with business strategy. This is where #PUPRU comes in and looks to engage with organisations investigating the use of emerging disruptive technologies in their strategies.

Now – to beacons – what are they?

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Professor David Spicer

Salford Business School Academics show innovation and insight in business thinking.

I am delighted to be able to introduce you to the second issue of the Salford Business School (#SalfordBSchool) magazine Ignited. Having recently joined the School I had done my research before I joined as Dean. I knew that Salford has a great reputation for innovation in applied, industry focused programmes and research. When I arrived, I was delighted to find out just how much great work was being done here at Salford that I wasn’t yet aware of. This magazine showcases some of the best in thinking and research here at Salford. I’ll highlight just some of the articles below.

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Camp Digital 2015

Future Entrepreneurs Wanted: Calling all innovators!

What: Camp Digital is an inspirational conference that brings together the digital, design and user experience (UX) communities for a series of seminars and workshops exploring the latest thinking.

When: 23 April 2015.

Where: Museum of Science & Industry, (MOSI Manchester).

The Centre for Digital Business is setting students a business challenge.

We have recently acquired funding for a PopUp Research Unit (PUPru). Before you ask, PUPru will be a mobile space intended for installations in a range of public spaces. This installation will visit the high street and can be placed inside shopping malls, in the foyer of business premises, at sporting or music venues, at other education institutions or on the University of Salford campus. Your challenge is to help us to identify innovative uses of this space.

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Puro y Simple

Family businesses within the food industry are very common. Mine is a very pure and simple business. ‘Puro y Simple” (”pure and simple’ in English) is a wholemeal bread manufacturer based in Venezuela. Since 1981, Puro y Simple has specialized on offering Venezuelans an alternative to the traditional white bread, natural wholemeal bread of the highest quality.

Since I was young all I could think of was when I grow up…. I’ll be just like my dad! Indeed, I wanted to be a baker.

I wanted to take part of the family bread manufacturing business. My long journey began six years ago nurturing my business knowledge and understanding that a business encapsulates much more than just manufacturing and selling a product.

I decided to study business enterprise as an undergraduate to understand the importance of innovation within an established business.

I then focused on understanding the food industry. An industry so fruitful and full of opportunities that all I could remember was John Maynard Keynes’ article in which he expressed the idea of the food industry being one of the few sectors less affected by the cycle-crisis in Latin America.

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Alex Camm, UC-Crowd Project Manager for the University of Salford

The adage “two heads are better than one” is at the core of a new European project UC-Crowd. The project has the ultimate goal of enabling companies and universities to work effectively and productively together on real business challenges – using a platform called Challenge Academy.

The project team are using the latest technological advances combined with the critical mass of the online population to re-interpret the concept of crowdsourcing and point it directly at the heart of academia.

The project will deliver an online platform that lets companies and universities communicate with each other to work on the same challenges and create closer working ties between industry and research.

Why is the University of Salford involved in this project?

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Small Business Charter

Salford Business School is celebrating after receiving the Small Business Charter Award at a special ceremony at 10 Downing Street, in recognition of the role it has played over the years in helping to kick-start British enterprise.

The Small Business Charter Award is a new scheme that recognises the great success achieved by British business schools in terms of their engagement with small and medium sized enterprises.

Salford Business School’s award demonstrates the confidence that the School has in its engagement with Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) and the support it provides to students in terms of developing their employability as well as ambitions to become entrepreneurs and start their own business.

What is the Small Business Charter Award and what does this mean for Salford Business School?

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