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Hewlett Packard Enterprise Day

Date Posted: 12/11/2021 | Posted In: Alumni, Careers, General News, Student News

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Day

Hewlett Packard Enterprise delivered an in-house work experience day on Thursday 11 November for Business, IT, Maths and Science students who were nominated by their teachers. Activities included guest speakers showcasing a range of careers at HPE, a networking lunch, an activity exploring the technology used at Tottenham Hotspurs stadium and finally closing the day with a ‘Dragons’ Den’ themed competition. The day had been expertly planned over a 4 month period and organised by Emily Dover – Work Placement/Employability Officer and Jill Whitham – Lead Careers Officer along with Hiren Vaghela, Commercial Account Manager at HPE who coincidentally is also a B6 Alumni member.

The Tottenham Hotspurs activity covered the world-leading digital technology designed and deployed by HPE and forced students to consider how they could make the stadium user experience even better. Student ideas included venue replays on iPads at seats, an app to order food, wi-fi mast, retractable roof for multi-purpose use and chairs with earphones to hear the commentary. The ideas generated by B6 students impressed the HPE staff, as many of their suggestions were actually already designed or similar concepts were already in use at what is now the first truly digital stadium in the world at Tottenham Hotspur.

The one-hour-long ‘Dragons’ Den activity’ consisted of creating a product or service that will advance the way people live and work; the students were required to present ideas in a pitch to the HPE Board for funding. Students were encouraged to be creative and detailed to help their pitches stand out. The HPE Board of Dragons included Nick Horsfall – Chair of Governors at The Sixth Form, Gemma Webster – Head of Marketing & Admissions at The Sixth Form, Shannen Wilson – Global Solutions Specialist at Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Andy Lythgoe – Head of MIS at The Sixth Form and Sarah Ball – Assistant Principal at The Sixth Form. Ideas pitched by student teams included exercise bikes that could charge mobile phones, virtual reality therapy sessions, shoe insoles for visually impaired people, temperature-controlled pillows, a magic mirror, a wearable safety device and smart glasses with maps built-in on the lenses.

The HPE Board AKA Dragons!

Prizes were awarded to the team with the best idea/pitch, the best presenter, the best Q&A and the best overall individual of the day.

The winning team award went to RDL (Rapid Digital Locator) for their innovative and relevant idea of a wearable personal safety device that could be used as an alarm and a method to contact the emergency services. Well done to Zosheen Ahmed, Adeena Fayaaz, Hamza Ugradar, Sophia Assaf and Aysha Navab!

The best presenter award went to Philippa Lloyd who had really taken on board the advice from the HPE sales staff earlier on in the day. Philippa outlined the user problem first and then delivered the solution afterward in a very slick and well-thought-out pitch. Well done to Philippa!

Philippa Lloyd – Best Presenter

The best Q&A award went to Isma Kausar, manager of team VR Therapy. Isma coped well under pressure from the dragon’s probing questions and managed to answer everything required successfully. Well done to Isma!

Finally, the best overall individual of the day went to Amani Haddad who contributed marvellously in all activities throughout the day and was a great team player. Well done to Amani!