A campaign at Warwick University to highlight the contacts and influence the institution and encourage more business partners to join them is being led by three inspiring individuals.
Birmingham Airport CEO Paul Kehoe, pioneering crowdfunder Henry Jinman and Eloise Parr – a student at the WMG Academy for young engineers – are championing the university’s Smart Connections campaign.
The campaign, which is targeting national as well as regional audiences, was launched in December and aims to resonate strongly with key influencers, encouraging thought and debate.
It also endeavours to bring together all the work that the university has done, allowing it to tell a richer story and show how flexible it is.
The university hopes that, in the fist instance, the campaign will raise the profile of the university and convince opinion informers and influencers, business leaders and alumni to work with them.
It also expects to encourage prospective students, the local community and staff to seriously consider them as a partner to work with them on their specific needs.
Mr Kehoe, credits studying for an MBA at Warwick Business School (WBS) for helping him escape an unfulfilling job in human resources to becoming the CEO of Birmingham Airport.
Endorsing the Smart Connections campaign at Warwick University, Mr Kehoe, a member of the WBS Board, said: “Warwick has something very special. It must make the most of this, its reputation and the obvious connections it has, to drive the agenda forward.
“The region, the airport and the university are already working hard with local brands to connect effectively with nations in the Far East.”
Mr Jinman set up Crowdfund Campus – a crowdfunding platform for university students to launch projects, start-ups and research which now serves eight universities – through working with Warwick Ventures, which commercialises innovations produced from research at Warwick University.
Through Warwick Ventures he accessed knowledge, support, investors and contacts which helped him gain the business confidence to succeed.
Mr Jinman said of this help: “As mentors, stakeholders and customers, I couldn’t have got this far without them. I am one extremely grateful alumni.
“We are now based in Birmingham, focusing on enterprise education and using crowdfunding to create a generation of graduate entrepreneurs.”
Seventeen year-old student engineer Ms Parr is said to be taking her first steps towards rivalling some of the UK’s most successful engineers while she completes her course at Warwick University’s WMG Academy in Coventry.
Working on real life projects with the likes of Jaguar and National Grid she is able to explore her passion while gaining mainstream qualifications.
Ms Parr said of her education: “It’s unique, supportive and life-changing.”
• For more information about Warwick University’s Smart Connections campaign go to http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/about/connected
