Two young entrepreneurs from Bristol who designed a menstrual cup portable cleaning and sterilising case have beaten entries from across the UK to win the national Everyday Engineering competition, which aimed to prove that everyone has the potential to become an engineer.
The competition, launched by the Royal Academy of Engineering in partnership with Dragons’ Den investor Deborah Meaden, asked entrants to share their ideas for inventions that could help make daily life more sustainable. It encouraged people from all walks of life to release their “inner engineer” and recognise that everyone has the capability to think like an engineer as engineering habits – like problem spotting and creative problem solving – can come from anyone.
Using a menstrual cup can significantly reduce single-use plastic waste associated with sanitary products. In the average menstruator’s lifetime, each woman will send two minibuses full of menstrual product waste to landfill, and spend around £5,000 on those products, the equivalent of buying a latte every day for the next 4 years.
Kira Goode (24) and Monica Wai, (24) designed the case, Eleria, (previously known as CupSquared) as a portable, multifunctional menstrual cup cleaner that helps to make adopting the menstrual cup easier and more convenient, especially on the move. They want to make cleaning the cup at public toilets and at home sterilising processes quicker, simpler and more discreet. Eleria is currently a prototype, with Kira and Monica seeking investment to allow them to develop the product further (watch how it works).
Kira and Monica have won the chance to meet Dragons’ Den investor Deborah Meaden and get her advice on their idea, as well as an award from the Royal Academy of Engineering and a mentoring session from its Enterprise Hub – a unique accelerator for engineering entrepreneurs – to take their idea to the next level.
In their entry, Kira, co-founder, said “At University I was trying to find a cheaper and more sustainable period product and I started using a menstrual cup and wondered why more people weren’t using it. After conducting research with thousands of people it was clear the main barrier was that women were unsure how to clean and sterilise cups on the move, and it that was really off-putting. We created Eleria to make these products more convenient and save money!”
Eleria has previously secured funding through the University of Bristol and Enterprise Nation, won an award for the best Green Startup, and secured a place on NatWest’s Entrepreneur Accelerator Hub.
Eleria was one of three finalists, including EcoPonics, a customisable vertical farming unit for gardens, invented by Anvith Sujay and Ashwin Madhusudhanan (both 16, Bristol) and Phyto, a hanging pendant light made from 3D printed ‘nuisance’ algae-based bioplastic, invented by Sam Bird Smith (23, London).
The finalist’s inventions were put to a public vote on social media on National Engineering Day earlier this week.
The entries were judged by Dr Rhys Morgan, Strategic Projects Director at the Royal Academy of Engineering and Amrit Chandan, CEO and co-founder of Aceleron, a clean-tech company designing and building sustaiable, smarter and safer batteries.
The Everyday Engineering competition was launched to raise awareness of the need for more engineers in the UK in the run up to National Engineering Day, as the UK does not currently have enough engineers to meet its net zero goals. For example, the energy sector needs to fill 400,000 roles by 2050, around 260,000 of which will be newly created. In the housing sector, retrofitting will require the recruitment of 30,000 technicians each year at its peak in 5 to 10 years’ time. This is on top of “business as usual” needs.
Polling research commissioned by the Royal Academy of Engineering and released on National Engineering Day shows that misperceptions of engineering, particularly among the younger generation, could be holding people back from considering careers in the profession. For example, the stereotype that engineering roles are better suited to men still prevails, with nearly a fifth (18%) of people holding this view. This misperception is most prominent in younger people, with more than a quarter (28%) of 18-34-year-olds believing engineering jobs are better suited to men, compared to just 10% of over 55s. Similarly, 39% of 18-34-year-olds believe the myth that engineering jobs are mainly based in factories and building sites, compared to just 13% of over 55s.
In response, the Royal Academy of Engineering is busting these myths by showing the nation that everyone has the potential to be an engineer.
Dr Hayaatun Sillem CBE, CEO of the Royal Academy of Engineering, said: “It’s been brilliant to see such innovative and original ideas for sustainable inventions and to have discovered Eleria, the menstrual cup portable cleaning and sterilising case, which will help women and those who menstruate to use a menstrual cup on the move, prevent landfill from menstrual products and save money. I’m delighted to see so many people getting into the engineering mindset and coming up with creative solutions to everyday challenges.
“There has never been a more urgent need for engineering expertise to provide practical solutions that will help us to build a more sustainable future. We hope that through National Engineering Day and our This is Engineering Campaign, we can raise awareness of the vital roles that engineers play in society and encourage more young people across the nation to consider this rewarding career path.”
Amrit Chandan, CEO and Co-founder of Acerleron and judge of the Everyday Engineering competition said: “The Eleria menstrual cup portable cleaning and sterilising cup is a great example of invention which seems so obvious when it is created, solving real world problems. I could see this having a huge impact on both women and those who menstruate, and the environment, especially for those in developing markets where access to disposable sanitary product can be a huge challenge. Well done team Eleria!”
