The society’s first pitch competition took place on April 7th and saw seven teams of students competing for a £1000 prize. The winning team, Polydesign, which developed an AI interior design software, secured their victory with 40% of the audience votes and 60% of the votes from the three judges.
Earlier this year, Masters student Lijun Hou founded Major Mixer, alongside friends Mikhail Andreev, Endrit Haziri, Zhishan Huang, Syed Izhaan and Yasi Ranjbar. Below, Lijun reflects on the experience so far:
“The idea for the society was born out of a desire to create a community where students from various programs could come together, share ideas, experiences, and learn from one another regardless of their background or experiences. We recognised that there was a need for a space where students could connect with others who have different perspectives and areas of expertise. We wanted to foster an environment that encourages collaboration, creativity, and growth.
By creating this society, we aimed to provide an opportunity for students to learn new skills, broaden their horizons, and make meaningful connections that will benefit them both personally and professionally. We believe that by bringing together a diverse group of students, we can create a vibrant community that will inspire and support one another to achieve their goals.
Last month’s pitch competition involved a total of seven teams, comprising students from different majors. While the focus was on QMUL students, we also invited students from other universities such as UCL, LSE, and KCL to attend the event as the audience. It was a great opportunity for them to witness the creativity and innovation of QMUL students and learn from their ideas. The audience members enjoyed the competition a lot and were impressed by the caliber of the pitches.
We believe that by inviting students from other universities to attend our event, we were able to promote collaboration and foster a sense of community across different institutions. We received great feedback from the judges:
“The pitching competition was a great platform to provide students with the opportunity to showcase their creativity and entrepreneurial spirit. I commend Major Mixer for the organization and execution of the competition. The attention to detail in coordinating logistics, managing time slots, and ensuring a smooth flow of presentations was evident and greatly contributed to the overall success of the event. It was a joy to be part of this event.” Grace Samosir, Co-founder KXY Technologies.
“I was delighted to be a judge. It was great to see the students’ enthusiasm and ideas, and the event was extremely well organised. My hats off to Lijun and her team!” Bran P.
Overall, the pitch competition was a success, and we hope to continue to organise such events in the future.
As we near the completion of our Masters’ programme, our hope for the society is that it will continue to thrive and attract and engage with motivated next generations of students. Most of us in the team would continue to live and work in London and we have a very close relationship with the new admin team, so we would provide support, connections, and resources for the upcoming year. We have worked hard to establish a rich and effective atmosphere within the society, and we believe that this will serve as a strong foundation for future members to build upon. We hope that future members will continue to uphold the values of collaboration, creativity, and growth that we have instilled in society.
Our aim is for the society to become a sustainable entity that will continue to evolve and adapt to the needs of its members, and to ultimately make a positive impact on the academic and professional journeys of those who participate in it.