NTU celebrates best year yet at the Starpack Students Competition
Of the 53 student projects initially shortlisted and invited to the ceremony, NTU students were highly successful, securing 40 awards - NTU’s biggest ever awards total in the competition.
By Jon Duckworth | Published on 7 July 2026
Students from Nottingham Trent University (NTU) BA (Hons) Product Design and BSc (Hons) Product Design enjoyed a night of success at the 2026 Starpack Students Competition awards ceremony, while the university itself was honoured with the prestigious Eric Dickens Memorial Prize for the fifth year running.
Established in 1964, the annual competition (run by the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3)) challenges students aged 18 and over to design innovative solutions to problems set by brand-leading Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) companies.
"Competitions like Starpack provide an incredibly rewarding experience for our students," said Emily Brook-Roberts, BA (Hons) Product Design course leader. "Working on live briefs set by leading organisations enables our students to see the real-world impact of their ideas, while challenging them to push their design thinking further."
Tango Stack by Angelus Collins.
Dr Luke Siena, Senior Lecturer in Product Design, echoed these sentiments:
"We are absoluted thrilled by our students' remarkable success in the Starpack Student Competition 2026. Year after year, our students continue to demonstrate exceptional creativity, innovation, and professionalism, and this year's results are a fantastic reflection of their talent and dedication. The standard of work produced was truly outstanding, and it is wonderful to see their efforts recognised with such an impressive collection of sponsor awards, alongside numerous highly commended, bronze, silver, and gold accolades. These achievements are not only a credit to the students, but also highlight the strength of our Product Design courses."
Angelus Collins was among the NTU winners, picking up the top prize for the E-commerce Packaging for Drinks brief sponsored by Carlsberg Britvic. He said:
"Having entered design competitions before, I know how much hard work goes into every project, so to come away as overall winner means a huge amount to me. It has boosted my confidence in my own ability, helped me gain recognition among the design community, and I hope it will open doors for future placements and opportunities in my design career."
Dhriti Jeswani is announced as winner of Brief C.
"This success is a real cause for celebration," said Dr Siena, who guided the NTU entrants through the competition submission process. "Our students have invested an enormous amount of time, energy, and passion into developing their competition entries, and the results speak for themselves. Seeing so many of them recognised at a national level is incredibly rewarding, and we could not be prouder of what they have accomplished."
BSc Product Design student Dhriti Jeswani won Brief C, sponsored by Logoplaste, which tasked students to come up with an Innovative Bubble Tea Bottle Design. She said:
"As an international student, having the opportunity to take part in Starpack through NTU has been incredibly rewarding. The encouragement from my tutors, access to excellent facilities and the chance to work on live industry briefs have helped me develop both my confidence and my approach to design. Receiving recognition from Logoplaste has motivated me to keep challenging myself and creating products that place users at the centre of every design decision."
Core Republic by Ethan Smith.
The Starpack Students Competition places a strong emphasis on sustainability and resource efficiency. As NTU student Ethan Smith (winner of Brief D: Metal Gifting for Confectionary, sponsored by MPMA) explained:
"Recycling and circular economy are pushed to main priorities whilst designing and as such I wanted to take a different approach. Although my design was recyclable and easy to manufacture, I wanted to create a sense attachment to the consumer through a luxury secondary life process. The effect of this would be to keep the initial tin after use and keep on reusing till its end of product life cycle."
Creating something with visual and tactile appeal for the consumer was also an essential part of Brief A. Sponsored by Winter & Company, students were challenged to develop a book cover design "using beautiful materials" to capture the reader's "interest and imagination".
"Chrome Hearts: A Visual Archive" by Aylla Gill.
Winner Aylla Gill described her design "Chrome Hearts: A Visual Archive" as a "product designer's take on a fashion industry commodity" that brought together her interestes in fashion and technical design.
"Receiving this award for a project I am so proud of is a genuine honour, and has reinforced my belief that my strongest work comes from leaning into my strengths and passions, and I've left the competition more motivated than ever to continue carving out my niche as a designer."
It has been a good year for Aylla. She recently won an award at Nottingham Young Creatives.
Emily Brook-Roberts said it was a "proud and inspiring moment" to see so many NTU Product Design students recognised in the Starpack competition.
"The awards ceremony is always a great event, offering a fantastic opportunity to come together and celebrate the hard work, dedication, and achievements of our students."
But Dr Siena is already looking forward to the next big competition. He said:
"We are especially excited to support those who will now be progressing their work for submission to the WorldStar Student Awards Competition 2026, where the students will have the opportunity to showcase their work alongside some of the most talented emerging designers from around the world. We look forward to supporting them with this and hope this year's achievements are just the beginning of even greater success on the international stage."
You can find out more about all the winners of this year's Starpack Students Competition in the official winners' guide on the IOM3 website.
Congratulations to our students
Brief A: Book Cover Design Sponsored by Winter & Company UK Ltd
- Leah Benjafield - Bronze
- Erin Gammon - Gold
- Daniel Laverick - Bronze
- Sophie Nicolin - Runner Up
- Lucas Northfield - Runner Up
- Raven Sinco - Certificate Of Entry
Winner - Aylla Gill (Nottingham Trent University)
Brief B: E-commerce Packaging for Drinks
Sponsored by Carlsberg Britvic
- Pranshu Pathak - Silver
- Wojciech Pietraszek - Runner Up
- Jesse Lo-Shun Shing - Certificate Of Entry
- Cameron Sandy - Gold
- Aaron Silcott-Diaz - Certificate Of Entry
Winner - Angelus Collins (Nottingham Trent University)
Brief C: Innovative Bubble Tea Bottle Design Sponsored by Logoplaste
- Joel Ackroyd - Certificate Of Entry
- Jagrithi Arora - Bronze
- Sabrina Chokcarneiro - Gold
- Prachi Goyal - Certificate Of Entry
- Kimberly Hau - Runner Up
- Levi Hayes - Certificate Of Entry
- Kitty Lowe - Silver
- Emma Meredith - Gold
- Jimmy Huan Nguyen - Bronze
- Rishikesh Puthukudy - Silver
- Kieran Repaj - Silver
Winner - Dhriti Jeswani (Nottingham Trent University)
Brief D: Metal Gifting for Confectionery Sponsored by MPMA
- Halah Chaudhary - Bronze
- Ben Copello - Bronze
- Melissa Cornet-Clark - Gold
- Saanvi Dhall - Silver
- Kiki Lewis - Certificate Of Entry
- Sean Heng Jun Kit - Gold
- Srivatsan Ravi - Runner Up
- Alfie Pilla - Bronze
- Jessica Singer - Certificate Of Entry
- Jess Winter - Bronze
Winner - Ethan Smith (Nottingham Trent University)
Brief E: Second Life - Packaging with Purpose Beyond the Product Sponsored by Valpak Limited
- Minuki Adhihetty - Bronze
- Karina Chauhan - Gold
- Sumit Gowda - Certificate Of Entry
- Finn Howie - Bronze
- Zachary Mistry - Silver
- Anay Mundra - Certificate Of Entry
- Ellie Moore - Gold
- Nena Nwojo - Certificate Of Entry
- Devon O'Kane - Gold
- Aya Rachdi - Certificate Of Entry
- Stanley Statham - Bronze
- Sebastian Spence - Silver
- Roman Tiwana - Certificate Of Entry
- Angela Zhu - Bronze
Winner - Harrison Putt (Nottingham Trent University)
Brief F: The Kingfisher Packaging Brief Sponsored by Kingfisher plc
- Ben Rutterford - Certificate Of Entry
- Thomas Needham - Silver
- Mylo Rivas - Gold
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