Design excellence recognised: NTU students take centre stage at Starpack 2025
Students from Nottingham Trent University’s BSc (Hons) Product Design and BA (Hons) Product Design courses secured an impressive total of 26 awards following an initial shortlisting of 42 innovative student projects. NTU was once again honoured with the prestigious Eric Dickens Memorial Prize.
By Jon Duckworth | Published on 9 July 2025
NTU students studying BSc (Hons) Product Design and BA (Hons) Product Design were invited to the Starpack Students Competition awards ceremony on 2 July 2025. Established in 1964, the competition, run by the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) challenges students aged 18 and over to design solutions to problems set by brand leading FMCG companies, design agencies and manufacturers, and win recognition of their excellence.
In a successful competition for NTU, our students picked up 26 awards. This included five Sponsor Award wins, two Runner-Up Sponsor Awards, five Gold Awards, six Silver Awards, six Bronze Awards, and two Highly Commended Awards. In addition to these individual accolades, NTU was also honoured with the prestigious Eric Dickens Memorial Prize for the fourth consecutive year, further highlighting the university’s continued excellence in design education and our commitment to the packaging and FMCG sector.
Ben Macvean's winning design for a "future reuse/refill" Ribena bottle
Work is judged on several key criteria including originality and aesthetic qualities of the design, with consideration to commercial viability; how the packaging delivers benefits to consumers with functionality considered as much as the branding; and demonstrating an awareness of environmental issues, through economic use of the material and recyclability.
NTU students were highly successful, winning five of the eight competitions available, thus claiming sponsor prize/awards, these were:
- Georgia Fathers – Winner of Brief A: Sustainable Material Innovation (Sponsored by Winter & Company UK Ltd) – Receiving a full day Winter & Company visit, including expenses & £250.00 cash prize.
- Freddie Flanders – Winner of Brief B: Multiple Car Care Pack (Sponsored by Logoplaste) - The winning design received a £600 cash prize.
- Sam Walker – Winner of Brief C: Returnable / Reusable Collection Packaging (Sponsored by Britvic Soft Drinks Ltd) - The winning design received a selection of Britvic products plus a visit to the UK’s state of the art manufacturing site in Rugby to see a range of products and formats being produced.
- Ben Macvean – Winner Of Brief E: The Future Reuse/Refill Ribena Concentrate Bottle (Sponsored By Suntory) - The winning design received a £250 cash prize.
- Ollie Smithee – Winner Of Brief F: Metal Pack for Biscuits (Sponsored by Metal Packaging Manufacturers Association) - The winning design received a £600 cash prize.
Photo of Evie Walker’s runner up sponsor award submission ‘Cookie Cache’.
Reflecting on his award-winning entry for the redesign of a reusable Ribena bottle, Ben Macvean said: "Receiving this award is fantastic, especially because the brief from Suntory presented such a relevant, real-world challenge. My focus was on finding a commercially viable solution that balances sustainability with brand identity, so having that approach validated by the judges is incredibly rewarding. I’m grateful to NTU for encouraging us to engage with these industry-led briefs."
Ian Campbell Cole, Senior Lecturer in Product Design, who led the BA Product Design students through their projects echoed this. "Working with competition briefs set by industry provides invaluable context, allowing our students to challenge their process and apply their skills in meaningful, real-world scenarios. We look forward to seeing them build on this success as they progress into the next year of study."
Evie Walker who was the runner up sponsor award winner for the Metal Pack for Biscuits brief said: "My product, The Cookie-Cache, is a biscuit tin designed to encourage adventure and exploration and promote reusability. With an integrated cookie cutter and stamp, plus hidden compartments for small treasures - perfect for geocaching and scavenger hunts - it offers a fun way to help reconnect the younger generation with the outdoors while keeping sustainability at the forefront.
"Designing something with both purpose and play in mind has been incredibly rewarding. Taking part in the Starpack Student Design Competition gave me a real chance to push that idea forward, and to have won the Gold Runner-Up Sponsor Award for my brief still feels surreal. It has strengthened my confidence in my abilities and really motivated me to continue developing my skills as a designer."
Photo of Freddie Flanders sponsor award winning submission ‘Valvoline Multiple Car Care Pack'.
Dr Luke Siena, Senior Lecturer in Product Design, who led the BSc Product Design students through their competition submissions, expressed his pride in the cohort’s achievements. "We are once again thrilled by our students’ success in the Starpack Student Competition. Their commitment to understanding the packaging/FMCG sector and the attention to detail demonstrated in their projects was clearly recognised by the judges. The entire Product Design teaching team is delighted with the outcome, particularly as our students secured several prestigious sponsor awards alongside a fantastic collection of highly commended, bronze, silver, and gold accolades."
He added: "This achievement is a testament to the time, effort, and dedication invested by our students in preparing their competition entries. In recognition of their success, those who received sponsor awards, as well as gold, silver, bronze and highly commended accolades, are now eligible to enter the WorldStar Student Awards Competition 2026 - an esteemed global contest celebrating excellence in packaging design. We look forward to supporting our students as they prepare their submissions and hope to see further success on the international stage later this year."
All the awardees' entries can be found in the winners brochure.
Congratulations
Award Winning Students: Kieran Bajraktari, Lucas Blake-Maillo, Joanne Chartouni, Melissa Cornet-Clark, Georgia Fathers, Freddie Flanders, Kate Gonsalves, Noah Hammond, Jonathan Holme, Huda Ismail, Maddie Hopwood, Aidan Jones, Man Pan Ku, Daniel Laverick, Shu-Ting Li, Alicia Lim, Ben Macvean, Z McLeish, Nena Nwojo, Smit Pansuria, Eleanor Pinkerton, Jake Simpson, Oliver Smithee, Evie Walker, Samuel Walker, Ross Whatley.
Shortlisted Students: Georgia Agyekum, William Beck, Leah Benjafield, Jack Bird, Joseph Cooper, Chloe Dickin, Oliver Emery, Ellie Gottschall, Trudy Hegarty, Sam Johnston, Sana Jouvenal, Yu Han (Elsa) Kao, Benjamin Piccaver, Joseph Rutherford, Beth Vincent, Alexander Ward.