A team of Taylor's Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Culinology® final year students won silver in Taylor’s Innofest 2022 under the category of Best Prototype. The winning product was "Zing! Fizz It Up", a ready-to-drink Sparkling Calamansi Flavoured Herbal Beverage which consists of Dukung Anak, an anti-inflammatory and underutilized herb under the National Key Economic Area (NKEA) program. The participated students were Ang Ru Jun (Group Leader); Amanda Rash Pillai; Billium Budiman; Lai Kuishun and Naomi Mee Ying Song.
Taylor's InnoFest is an innovation festival digital platform showcasing on going design thinking, creativity, direct research and development projects undertaken by undergraduate and postgraduates students in the university. This event aspires to promote the spirit and culture of creativity and innovation throughout the university showcased students works that provoke discussion, stimulate ideas, collaborations and aligning research outputs to Technology Readiness Level 1 to 9 (TRL). Projects with market and/or social driven potential which solves macro or micro economic or social challenges were identified during the festival and these project teams were mentored and given an opportunity to scale up, pitched to investors, transfer technology, productization collaboration and/or go to market via spin-off or startups.
Zing! also utilizes Cogon grass, an antibacterial herb that consists of immunomodulatory benefits. The product provides antipyretic properties which soothe sore throat and help with clearing heatiness and cooling the blood within the body in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). This functional beverage was developed under the final year project entitled "Transformation of Herbal Industry in Malaysia: Instant Herbal Beverage Product Development" using high value local herbs, under the supervision of Associate Professor Dr. Chong Li Choo, Programme Director, School of Food Studies & Gastronomy.
This commercial-ready product, was also “Champion” in the recent concluded Techstars Startup Weekend Sustainability Selangor 2022. Techstars Startup Weekend Sustainability Selangor was a 54-hour event that was designed to provide superior experiential education for technical and non-technical entrepreneurs. Beginning with Friday night pitches and continuing through brainstorming, business plan development, and basic prototype creation, Techstars Startup Weekends culminated in Sunday night demos and presentations. This year theme was the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs).
The participants created working startups during the event and were able to collaborate with like-minded individuals outside of their daily networks. All teams attended talks by industry leaders and received valuable feedback from local entrepreneurs. The weekend was centered on action, innovation and education. Whether you are looking for feedback on an idea, a co-founder, specific skill sets, or a team to help you execute, Techstars Startup Weekends was the perfect environment in which to test your idea and take the first steps towards launching your own startup. The prizes were given to the top 10 winners where the winners received innovation grants worth up to RM100,000. Additionally, miscellaneous prizes worth up to RM20,000 such as mentorship access and free legal access were rewarded.
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