A TEAM of five digitally-minded students have received national recognition after earning the second place prize in a 24-hour competition.

Final year students from Teesside University entered the Cisco University Challenge and competed against entrants from across the county to submit an app designed during the contest.

The team’s Visual Rescue submission impressed a panel of judges who rewarded the group for their virtual reality app that can track people’s locations in an earthquake or a range of disasters.

Teesside’s team was made up of Thor Bunting and Darien Livermore, final year games programming students, Ryan Brown, a final year computing student, Daniel Nouri, who is studying for a Masters in IT project management and Aidan Moore, who is studying a top-up mechanical engineering degree.

Mr Livermore said: “This was a really valuable experience and we are all happy with how we did in the competition.

“This was the first time a team from Teesside University has entered so it is fantastic to have done so well.”

The Visual Rescue app was supported by a business plan, tram presentation and a prototype.

Siobhan Fenton, associate Dean in Teesside University’s School of Computing, was proud of the students’ achievement.

She said: “The Cisco University Challenge is a rigorous process where students have to test themselves in quite a short space of time.

“The judges were really impressed with the Teesside University team and the feedback has been exceptional.

“Having success like this helps to enthuse and inspire our students as they progress through their respective courses.”