At the start of my university journey in 2016-17, I entered The Telegraph UK STEM Awards, a national competition for students pursuing STEM degrees. The brief for the competition was to propose an idea for what the future of autonomous transportation would look like, with McLaren sponsoring and judging the competition. 

My proposal was a subscription service for shared Autonomous Vehicles (AVs). In the pitch, I made the case that the fastest means of adoption of AVs (and therefore their benefits in convenience, productivity, safety etc) would be through a shared ownership model, as compared to traditional vehicle ownership. I also detailed potential business models that could support this, be that from automakers, private companies, a ride-sharing model, or individuals a la Airbnb. 

The idea caught the attention of the competition sponsor McLaren, and I was selected as the 'Winner in the Innovation Category' and one of five overall winners from other categories from a pool of around 3000 entries nationwide.

The competition consisted of three stages, where I had the opportunity to talk to industry leaders and C-level executives at companies such as McLaren, Babcock International, The Telegraph and the BBC.

In the summer of 2017 as my prize, I had the privilege of working with McLaren's team across their Racing, Automotive, and Applied Technologies divisions. This experience allowed me to refine my proposal with the McLaren team and gain invaluable insights into the automotive industry. The knowledge and skills I gained from this project were essential in developing the product vision for Vennle, a startup I co-founded two years later working on transit management software.

McLaren's support and guidance during the competition and my time working with them gave me the opportunity to explore the cutting-edge technology and innovation in the automotive industry. It was a really valuable experience and helped kickstart my career in technology and entrepreneurship.