Richard Ogodeton with a pre-production model of his Coflo eco shower.

Gabriel Holdgate, Daniel Crumpton and Owen Joslin, three of the students who have created the CAROP generator (visible in the background).

University of Sussex students who have designed a water-saving shower and an energy-efficient generator for electric cars could win £25,000 next week in the final of a national competition.

Sussex Engineering and Design students have, separately, won two out of the five categories of the new The Telegraph STEM Awards, designed to reward the best undergraduates studying science, technology, engineering and maths in the UK.

The students - alongside undergraduates from Birmingham, Manchester and Plymouth who won the three other categories - are now in with a chance of winning the main prize of £25,000.

Richard Ogodeton’s winning entry in the Environment category – an eco shower that saves and recycles water normally wasted while the water heats up – was designed while he was a Product Design undergraduate at Sussex.

After graduating in 2013 and with a StartUp Sussex entrepreneurship award under his belt, Richard has been developing his business while studying at Sussex for a Masters degree in Information Technology with Business and Management, within the Department of Informatics.

His Coflo product captures cold water before it escapes the shower head and then mixes the collected water back into the shower stream during the course of the shower, saving water and making the shower more powerful. It is currently on trial at the Grand Hotel in Brighton and there are plans to use it in University buildings.

Richard says: "Winning the £25,000 would allow a lot of improvements to be made to my product. It's such a huge amount of money and timing is really important as well in terms of investment because the product is already at pre-production stage, ready to go. Winning this award would allow me to get going with the manufacturing process and get my project onto the shelf within a couple of years."

Final-year Mechanical Engineering student Daniel Crumpton and his team won the Automotive category of the STEM Awards with their new generator that makes electric-car engines lighter and more efficient.

He worked on the project with fellow MEng Mechanical Engineering students Owen Joslin and Adam Richardson, as well as Gabriel Holdgate, MEng Automotive Engineering, and Justin Sarpong, MEng Electrical and Electronic Engineering.

Their CAROP generator could make it much cheaper and energy-efficient to run an extended range electric vehicle (E-REV).

E-REVs run on electricity but also have a petrol-powered internal combustion engine that powers the battery when it is running low. This means that they can travel much further without having to be recharged than a traditional electric vehicle.

However, having two engines makes a vehicle very heavy and using a petrol motor to recharge a car battery is a very inefficient system.

The CAROP generator harnesses the phenomenon of ‘resonance’ to increase the efficiency of the internal combustion engine and how much electricity it can produce. Their design combines the two engines into a single unit and is, therefore, much more compact and lightweight than the technology currently being used.

Daniel said: “Our design is a step forward for the automotive industry to increase the efficiency of range-extended electric vehicles.

“It is still at an early stage but, with more research, this could become a product that reduces carbon emissions the world over.

“Studying a STEM subject at university has many benefits. As well as good job opportunities, you gain the knowledge and skills you need to solve challenging problems in the real world.”

Professor Diane Mynors, Head of the School of Engineering and Informatics, said: “ I congratulate the students on combining innovation with their university education to produce such imaginative original solutions.

“We know Sussex students are excellent, the achievement of these students proves they are amongst the best in the country if not the world! and I am sure they would like to thank their lecturers and the support staff.”

The overall winner of the STEM Awards will be announced at an awards ceremony at the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in London on Monday (9 June), during Universities Week 2014.

At the ceremony, the category winners will have the chance to meet leading industry experts and will receive a full critique of their project by industry partners for their future career portfolio.

As well as the £25,000 prize, the overall winner will receive a bespoke mentoring programme from a senior engineer within the Babcock International Group, an engineering support services company.

Richard Gray, science correspondent at the Telegraph, said: "One of the most exciting elements of my job, on a daily basis, is hearing and writing about many of the truly gobsmacking feats British scientists and engineers are achieving. It would be a tragedy if that were to dry up.

"I hope these awards will inspire STEM graduates to take their place among our country's greatest minds and I look forward to writing about their achievements in years to come."