A cash prize of £10,000 is to be given to two De Montfort University alumni at the annual Creative Thinking Awards next week (25 August) to highlight the wealth of imaginative innovation among graduates.

The Awards have been created and sponsored by Toby Moores, Visiting Fellow at the University's Institute of Creative Technologies (IOCT), who is also a consultant in commercial creativity and runs the highly successful ideas company Sleepydog Ltd.

The £10,000 prize given by Toby Moores will be split between two of DMU's newest graduates: one who has designed a prototype for a hand-held route planning device for tourists, and another who has created sound illusions which trick the listener.

The prize has been awarded to Elina Andersson, 25, from Gothenburg, Sweden, who graduated DMU with a first class Honours degree in  Multimedia Computing this summer, and Robert Malone , 22, from Norwich, who also graduated last month with a first class degree in his subject, BA(Hons) Music Technology and Innovation.

Toby Moores said: "Thinking creatively is an increasingly important skill in the UK job market. Creativity is a skill we take for granted, even though as a nation we have a strong heritage in innovation.

"De Montfort University has established a track record in encouraging innovation and creativity among its students. I hope the award will further raise the profile of its unique environment nurturing creative talent. The winning entries are of exceptionally high quality and demonstrate the University's status as one of the country's leading centres of innovation."

The prize was open to all final year undergraduate students from all faculties undertaking a major project or dissertation and who achieved the top grade (70% +). It was judged using the following criteria: creativity; novelty; originality; sophistication; and inventiveness.

The panel of judges included DMU's Pro Vice-Chancellor Profesor Philip Martin, Director of the IOCT Professor Andrew Hugill, DMU Course Leader for Graphic Design Paul Linnell, and Toby Moores.

Elina's idea is for a Visual Route Planner (ViRP ) which will find travel routes for tourists between landmarks or attractions they have selected from photographs on the internet, and her concept is already attracting some commercial interest.

Professor Martin commented on the ViRP, saying: "This neat and easy to use device allows travellers to choose a destination, and then choose places they would like to visit (eg cafes, museums, churches). The ViRP will then produce a file of photographs on screen for the traveller to choose likely destinations.  Once selected, a single click will then provide the best route (on a map) to take for visiting the chosen destinations. 

"The judges were impressed by the prototype's attractive design, the ease of use, and the ingenuity shown by the student in exploiting existing web resources and linking them.  Doubtless, this device has enormous potential," he added.

Elina said: ""It was both challenging and inspiring to build ViRP, and to see the initial idea come to life is a great feeling. I feel honoured to have won this prestigious prize. It will give me an enormous advantage when I apply for jobs in the near future.

"I will also be able to upgrade my computer and save some of the prize money for starting my own business, which is a goal of mine. Right now I'm undertaking a Dutch course and I will hopefully get a job in Holland this year.

Professor Martin said the judges were also impressed by the sophisticated production and engineering used to create Robert's music at such a high professional standard:

"This piece of music uses innovative sound structures with ambiguous allusions and references, creating sonic paradoxes and auditory illusions.  The capacity of such sounds to manipulate the human auditory system has been researched in laboratories, but rarely applied in musical composition.  Robert's work also operates at the level of questioning and provoking wide ranges of response, as well as the relationship between music and sound."

Robert said: "I'm extremely grateful to Toby Moores and all the other members of the panel for selecting my piece for the prize.  It was a great end to the best three years of my life so far. 

"I'm planning on spending the money on a trip around the world next year, possibly starting in New Zealand and heading back through south-east Asia.  My longer term plans are to continue composing using the techniques learned during the degree (as I am currently doing) and perhaps teach music technology in further education.  I also wish to look in to composing for media and any other ways I may combine music with other creative forms."