On Saturday 10 September, our CEO Sue Cooke, and Technology Manager Janine Downs, took part in a live broadcast on Rangoli Radio – Spotlight on Innovation – which was aired across the globe.
The special live programme focusing on innovation was broadcasted from the 3M BIC on the Saturday to shine a spotlight on the 3M BIC and the innovation and collaboration that takes place at the centre, as well as the University of Huddersfield.
Rangoli Radio was set up in the mist of the pandemic in August 2021, with the aim to provide the elderly in the Hindu community something to listen to and a platform to connect with others, due to covid restrictions preventing them from to going to the temple. After 6 months of planning and the eventual go ahead from Ofcom, Rangoli Radio was formed and has since grown, with over 6,000 listeners worldwide, from countries as far as America and India.
The name Rangoli was chosen following a listener competition to come up with a name for the station. Rangoli comes from the Hindu religion and is a multicoloured floor decoration that adorns entrances to houses usually during festivals such as Diwali. A rangoli is intended to welcome Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and good luck., happiness, positivity, and liveliness of a household.
Young presenters Taniska and Rishi hosted the show which began with a tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth II. Sue spoke of the University of Huddersfield’s connections to the Royal Family, following the Queens visit in 2007 and the 3M BIC being awarded with a Queen’s Award for Enterprise.
Sue shared the 3M BIC’s story, its vision and purpose and its capabilities from offices, labs, meeting rooms to virtual memberships, as well as the centre’s links with the University of Huddersfield.
Sue highlighted the tenants housed at the 3M BIC, with businesses covering a range of sectors from manufacturing, MedTech, software designers, pharmaceutical, chemicals and IT. She also highlighted collaboration partnerships with local businesses including Paxman Scalp Coolers that has worked with the University of Huddersfield and the 3M BIC over the last few years to develop its innovative scalp cooling caps that have been clinically proven to minimise and prevent hair loss during chemotherapy.
Janine spoke about the technology on offer at the 3M BIC, including 3D printing and X-Ray Computerised Tomography and shared some of the projects her team have worked on including 3D printed scenes for the BBC’s promotional video of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics held earlier this year.
Sue and Janine were asked to request songs throughout the show, which included those by Annie Lennox, Imagine Dragons, Robbie Williams and Queen.
The show finished with questions from listeners who were keen to understand how international businesses can connect with the Centre.
The show was a huge success with over 127 devices tuning in from across the globe, including the UK, Bangalore, Mumbai, and Goa. The show received lots of great feedback with listeners interested to hear about the 3M BIC and what happens within the centre.
The live broadcast is set to be the first of many from the 3M BIC, so watch this space for more details!
If you missed the show, you can listen to it here.
