Students from University of Ulster scoop top prize at Enterprise Ireland Student Entrepreneur Awards 2014

12 June, 2014

Little Deli wins €10,000 prize and title ‘College Entrepreneur of the Year 2014’

Three High Achieving Merit Award Winners from UCC, UL and UCD

Alexandra Milne a students from University of Ulster has today (12th June, 2014) won the Enterprise Ireland Student Entrepreneur of the Year Award and been named ‘College Entrepreneur of the Year 2014’. This year celebrates the 32nd year of these prestigious awards which are co-sponsored by Invest Northern Ireland, Cruickshank Intellectual Property Attorneys, Intel and Grant Thornton and are open to all third level colleges across the Island of Ireland. The awards were presented by Tom Hayes, Head of Micro Enterprises and Small Business at Enterprise Ireland and Mr Dougie Howlett, from Munster Rugby.

The Enterprise Ireland Student Entrepreneur Awards are part of a major drive aimed at tapping into the potential for students and young people to turn their entrepreneurial ideas into commercial businesses. This is Ireland’s largest and longest established third-level student enterprise competition.

The winning team is Little Deli, Alexandra Milne is a student at University of Ulster and beat off stiff competition with her project. The Little Deli is solution that lets customers easily and efficiently pre-order and pre-pay for their lunch from local delis and cafes, at their own convenience. By ordering through the App, customers can skip the queue and save their valuable time letting them order from anywhere at any time. By using the app, it enables delis to prepare orders earlier, making their rush hour more efficient, productive and profitable. With Little Deli, both delis and customers win.

The Student Entrepreneur Awards are aimed at encouraging students into business as a career option and this year attracted submissions from over 450 third level students from colleges across Ireland. The substantial prize fund includes €30,000 in cash prizes and €30,000 in consultancy fees which are available for winners to help them make a serious start at making their idea a commercial reality. In addition to winning the top prize, the winning team will also receive mentoring from Enterprise Ireland/Invest NI to develop the commercial viability of their overall concept.

Eric Risser, TCD and founder of start-up company Artomatix won the inaugural ‘Roots in Research’ award which was introduced this year by Enterprise Ireland.

Artomatix software enables digital artists to make art faster, cheaper and better in movies, games and animations. Presenting the award, Gearoid Mooney, Director Research & Innovation, Enterprise Ireland said “Enterprise Ireland wanted to highlight the commercial potential of research funded by the Irish Government so we have created the Roots in Research Award. We were looking for students who demonstrated an ability to spot the commercial potential of their research project. Eric Risser identified a gap in the animation and digital art industry and developed a Texture Synthesis Based Hybridisation for Images and Geometry technology in response. He has since gone on to establish a spin-out company called Artomatix from Trinity College Dublin”.

High Achieving Merit Awards were provided by sponsors Cruickshank Intellectual Property Attorneys and Grant Thornton and Intel.

The Cruickshank Intellectual Property Attorneys High Achieving Merit Award of 5,000 Euro went to Digital Perception, project from UCD. Cruickshank Intellectual Property Attorneys are also providing intellectual property consultancy and protection for all the finalists and they will also receive a Tablet from Intel.

The Grant Thornton High Achieving Merit Award of 5,000 Euro, went to AmputAid from UCC. Grant Thornton will also provide business plan development advice to the finalists and they will also receive a Tablet from Intel.

Intel awarded their High Achieving Merit award of a tablet to Motus from University of Limerick. Intel will also provide mentoring for the students to enter the Intel Challenge Europe Awards 2014.

Finally merits were also given to all remaining finalists and a new Enterprise Ireland Institute Award of €2,000 was awarded to TCD for their outstanding encouragement and standard of applications submitted to the competition.

Tom Hayes, Head of Micro Enterprises and Small Business at Enterprise Ireland a said: ‘This competition is focused on giving students hands-on experience in entrepreneurship and establishing a business. This year for the first time the sponsors asked students to submit a video that captures how great their idea is and shows commercial and export potential. This was very successful with a 15% increase on last year’s submissions. Other features of the competition includes a website, facebook page, twitter account and pod casts – reaching out to students in the world that they know best. Throughout the year Enterprise Ireland supported all of the internal entrepreneurship competitions within the institutions on the island of Ireland with a €500 cash sponsorship prize for each college. Enterprise Ireland and the sponsors are also working with third level students who have an idea to start their own internationally traded service or manufacturing business to develop their ideas further on a continuous basis. It is tremendously encouraging to see their energy and their enthusiasm, and I congratulate all of them on their achievements’.

Congratulating the award winners on their success, Stephen Wightman, Invest Northern Ireland’s Head of Employment & Enterprise, said: ‘Competitions like this can act as an important springboard for tomorrow’s business leaders and provide a platform for our young people to demonstrate their highly innovative concepts and commercial skills. Invest NI is pleased to play a part in promoting and encouraging entrepreneurship and is committed to supporting our young entrepreneurs achieve their full potential’.

For more information on the Student Entrepreneur Awards visit; www.studententrepreneurawards.ie

ENDS

For further information, please contact the Press Office, Enterprise Ireland
or

Gillian Slattery

Regional Development Executive, Enterprise Ireland.

+353 61 429927

+353 87 931 6103

Gillian Slattery

Summary of Finalists:

1. AllerAid – CIT – Rebecca Robinson
   The project proposes to offer a potentially lifesaving, lifestyle altering detection product that addresses the severe reactions associated with nut allergies.
2. AmputAid – UCC -Ronan O'Brien, Ben Thistlewood, Mobin Jamal, Tadhg Lambe, Ronan Hand
   Successful re-plantation post-accident of amputated digits/fingers, depends primarily on quickly cooling the amputated digit to 1-6 ^oC, and protecting it from maceration (i.e. water damage) and frost bite, in order to prevent tissue death. Our solution, AmputAid, can keep amputates cool at the required temperature for 24+ hours, while transporting and protecting them in a manner conducive for re-plantation. Furthermore, it possesses features that none of our competitors provide.
3. AUTOMeasure – NUIM -Iain Keaney
   AUTOMeasure is a cost effective software package that allows people to use their smartphones as 3D scanners. The AUTOMeasure software uses newly developed state-of-the-art multi-parametric algorithms to make scaled and accurate measurements of distances in a photo, in either metric or imperial units. This allows the user to take measurements on the fly simply by using their smartphone or tablet to take a photo. With the full licence for the AUTOMeasure software, the user can upload their photos on to their computers and quickly generate a 3D model of the objects in the photo. By taking a number of photos of an object from different angles, the software will intuitively stitch the photos together to produce a full 3D model of that object.
4. Compactibubble – Queens University Belfast - Amy Brimage, Jake Gallagher, Rachael Lockhart, Raymond McCann
   Child car seats are mandatory by law and for safety. However they are large and bulky which makes them hard to transport between cars or to be stored away. Therefore Compactibubble have developed a compactible, inflatable car seat for children aged between 15 months and 4 years old. This seat consists of inflatable cushioning surrounded by a hard shell that folds down into a small case. This makes it easy to carry and takes up very little room for storage. The Compactibubble seat makes safety convenient.
5. Digital Perception – UCD - Aaron Byrne, Shourjya Sanyal
   Digital Perception has developed image recognition technology that allows companies and individuals to track where images of them appear on the Internet and social media. Their consumer product "Image Finder" is a free app that allows individuals to know what images of them are out there and more importantly who else can see those images. Their enterprise product "Image Intelligence" provides powerful analytics to companies on the reach and impact of their brands in terms of both marketing and user generated content.
6. Flavaura – TCD - Eoin Walsh, Darragh Timoney, Mark Carroll, Daniel Dignam, Larry Gilmartin
   Flavaura is a durable & reusable water bottle that will give plain ordinary water a taste. A flavour container will be held in a porous vessel on the underside of the cap/lid, the water will pass through this which will give it a fruity flavour as the person takes a drink. The product will come in a variety of different flavours and they can be interchanged by the user as desired. Ideally each flavour pack will last 3-4 re-fills of water.
7. Ice Eyes – NUIG – Domhnall Walsh, Lorcan Farrell
   Ice Eyes is an innovative solar powered cat’s eye road marker that is equipped with the technology to identify the temperature of the road and signal to drivers via a blue LED light when the temperature of that road has fallen below freezing. Our aim is to reduce the amount of accidents, both minor and fatal, on roads in Ireland and all over the world during the cold seasons, by giving drivers real-time warning at their current location that there could be ice on the roads they are travelling on. We aim to bring road safety into the 21st century by using innovative technologies and methods to protect road users when driving in adverse weather conditions.
8. Little Deli – University of Ulster – Alexandra Milne
   The Little Deli is a solution that lets customers easily and efficiently pre-order and pre-pay for their lunch from local delis and cafes, at their own convenience. By ordering through the app, customers can now skip the queue and save their valuable time. Little Deli allows delis to reach out to new and existing customers 24/7, letting them order from anywhere, at anytime. By using the app, it enables delis to prepare orders earlier, making their rush hour more efficient, productive and profitable. With Little Deli, both delis and customers win. We are turning lunchtime into something beautiful.
9. Motus; Motivation through Application – UL – Darren O’Connor
   Motus is a complete joint rehabilitation and treatment system that motivates the client to achieve their recovery goals and empowers the physiotherapist in making effective treatment decisions for the benefit of their client. The product provides a constant link between the physiotherapist and the client, thus maintaining a structured and motivated approach to the rehabilitation process.
10. PHROGG – University of Ulster – Aaron Bailie
    PHROGG aims to give you the opportunity you deserve in creating memories, capturing the world around you using your smartphone and our range of devices. Our first product the MySelfie came from a few simple problems when taking a selfie. It allows the user to attach their smartphone via a quick to function suction cup connection that can be then extended from the user. Allowing a broader image or video to be captured, safely and securely allowing everyone to get in the image.

Roots in Research Award – Artomatix - TCD - Eric Risser
Artomatix solves the problem that digital art creation for the video game and movie industries takes too long and costs too much. Our proprietary technology enables a computer to simulate human-like artistic creativity. Our software helps digital artists make art faster, cheaper and better.