A ground-breaking alternative to the traditional baby buggy is set to help parents with young children travelling on buses.
Edinburgh Napier graduate Michael Ridd came up with the concept as an innovative solution to the high profile issues of limited buggy spaces on buses.
Edinburgh based, Dragons' Den business guru Shaf Rasul was impressed with the design and urged Michael to patent it.
The Baby Board is designed to fold completely flat, fitting easily into small spaces and avoiding any problems with having to collapse push chairs on buses.
Michael said: “I was inspired by family members who had found traveling on buses with push chairs a bit of a nightmare due to some bus operator’s rules on buggies. The Baby Board is useful for travelling on all forms of public transport where the size of most push chairs can be challenging.
“The university has always encouraged students to be business minded and when Mr Rasul visited to check out some of our product ideas, he advised me to get a patent for The Baby Board’s wheel mechanism before contacting potential manufacturers and retailers.”
Michael has just completed an honours degree in Product Design at Edinburgh Napier University, a course with a growing reputation within the industry. As well as teaching practical skills in design, the programme encourages the development of business and marketing skills.
Shaf Rasul, who stars in an online version of the BBC's Dragons' Den alongside American Julie Meyer said: “As an entrepreneur and venture capitalist I was extremely impressed by the standard of creativity and innovation demonstrated by all of the pupils undertaking the Product Design degree course at Edinburgh Napier. They clearly recognise that there are opportunities in the economic downturn if you have a good idea and are willing to put in the hard work required to make it a success.
“Michael’s product was particularly outstanding and I very much look forward to supporting and advising him further as he aims to take his product to market.”
|
