“New mobile app will help universities reduce carbon footprint and recruit the brightest students”
Background 
Proodle Solutions Limited provides mobile applications to attract, engage and convert the next generation of highly qualified students to study at university.
The company’s CEO, Shrenik Paras Parmar, used his own experience as an international student as the starting point to establish the company, with the aim of benefitting both students in their journey through the application process, and university marketing and recruitment teams in meeting strategic goals.
Opportunity
Globally there is an increasing need to reduce emissions. In particular, the Greenhouse Gas Protocol provides requirements and guidance for companies and other organisations preparing a corporate-level emissions inventory. Many higher education institutions do not yet have effective carbon management strategies in place to take into account the increase in international travel by professionals in marketing and recruitment departments and potential students travelling to determine their choice of place of study. This creates tensions between core business needs and environmental targets.
Shrenik realised support through Energy for Business, a University of Nottingham EU funded project delivered by the Energy Innovation and Collaboration team, could help Proodle take the next step in the development of their unique mobile application, built to address this problem.
Solution
The team arranged for postgraduate student Charlie Day, to work with Proodle in the development of the new mobile application. This would deliver university-specific information personalised to the needs of the prospective students during the pre-arrival and decision making phases and would reduce the need for travel, providing a unique solution to attract, engage and convert international students while addressing strategic carbon management goals. Charlie’s MSc in Computer Science with Artificial Intelligence made him the ideal candidate for the role, which consisted of using react native technologies to build a high-performance iOS and Android app with an accessible user interface.
Benefits
By using Proodle’s mobile application, universities can showcase course options, accommodation types and city information from one centralised location. In turn, international students can access rich information about institutions abroad without having to travel, with an experience that provides a satisfying alternative for an actual visit to the university.
This solution has the potential to generate considerable carbon savings by removing the need for marketing teams and potential students to travel during the recruitment process. They can now access the information they need without even having to move from their seats.
Find out more about Proodle Solutions
The Proodle team. L-R: Rawan Abu-Ishira, Shrenik Paras Parmar, Kiran Athwal, Xi Zhang, Charlie Day
Support
Proodle Solutions received support from the University as part of Energy for Business. Delivered by the Energy Innovation and Collaboration team and funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
