A 24-year-old entrepreneur has been named winner of the 2007 Rowan Best Business Innovation Awards.
Chao Liu, a electronics graduate from The University of Warwick, scooped the accolade - which is supported by The Birmingham Post - for his product "Laplock".
Laplock, a mobile alarm which protects laptops from thieves, was praised by judges for the way it improved on an existing idea through innovation.
Mr Liu was presented with his award at a exclusive luncheon for finalists at The White Horse Restaurant in Balsall Common.
The prize includes #8,000-worth of support from Coventry-based commercialisation specialist Rowan to help take the product to market and make it a commercial success.
Second place, worth #4,000 of support, went to Leicester firm LED Trucklights, with Derby-based HL scooping third and #3,000 of assistance from Rowan.
Mr Liu said he was delighted to have been selected for the top prize.
He said: "I'm really, really pleased. It's great news and I am really looking forward to working with Rowan to take the Laplock to market."
Mr Liu came up with the idea for Laplock in 2005, during the final year as an undergraduate student at university.
He was concerned about leaving his laptop in the library when he went to find a book.
Speaking to friends who had their computers stolen, Mr Liu realised there was a market for a device that would protect laptops and their data if they were left unattended.
He said: "I decided to build a crude prototype and got some really positive feedback from other students.
"Warwick Ventures - the university's spin-out vehicle - then offered me funding to develop a second prototype."
Juggling a start-up business with a Masters degree at Cambridge University, Mr Liu refined the Laplock project.
Then, after six months working for a City investment bank, Mr Liu decided to focus on the business full time.
Mr Liu - who moved from his home in London to establish Laplock at Warwick University Science Park - said: "It has always been at back of my mind to use my electronics background to set up a business. "I've always been quite keen on designing my own gadgets and I realised the time was right to make a start."
The Laplock is made of two parts - a USB device that plugs into a laptop and a security software package.
The USB device acts as an alarm, sensor and visual deterrent, whilst the software can prevent potential thieves from using the computer and accessing data.
Unlike traditional laptop alarms which use motion sensors similar to car alarms, Laplock monitors how far and at what angle the laptop has travelled. This, Mr Liu claims, stops the alarm going off by accident.
The software also makes the laptop sound an alarm if it is moved, just in case thieves try to pull out the USB alarm.
Now Mr Liu hopes Laplock, which has recently finished trials by 300 business users, is ready to take it to market.
He said: "I would like Rowan to help us form a marketing strategy and really communicate our unique selling points to users.
"Ultimately we would love to see Laplock sold in stores such as PC World or Dixons and being bundled with products by a manufacturer such as Dell.
"There is so much potential - there is an estimated 16 million laptops in the UK and, in the US, there are around 60 million. So, once we've launched here, we would plan to launch in America too."
Mr Liu is producing the Laplock from his site in Coventry. He hopes to find a manufacturer in the Far East when sales take off.
Chris Rattigan, managing director of Rowan and chairman of the BBI judging panel, said: "When we first heard about Laplock, it was easy to assume it was just another laptop security device. In reality, it is so much more. The innovation that has gone into this product is fantastic and we expect exciting things ahead for Laplock."
Mr Rattigan added that the judging panel - which included CBI regional director Chris Clifford; Ellen Campbell, deputy editor of The Post; John Kelly partner at Begbies Traynor in Birmingham and Bill Taylor from the University of Warwick Science Park - had been impressed with the diversity of entrants.
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