Cork Institute of Technology (CIT) emerged with an unprecedented five major awards from the recent Enterprise Ireland Student Entrepreneur Awards. The 35th edition of the awards were open to all third level colleges across Ireland. The substantial prize fund included €35,000 in cash prizes and €30,000 in consultancy fees which were available for winners to help them turn their idea into a commercial reality. In addition to winning the top prize, the victorious teams can avail of mentoring from Enterprise Ireland to develop the commercial viability of their overall concept. CIT took home the College Entrepreneur of the Year Award, the Cruickshank Intellectual Property Attorneys’ High Achieving Merit Award, the Grant Thornton Emerging Business Award, the Intel ICT Award and the Enterprise Ireland Academic Innovation Lifetime Achievement Award.

College Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2016 winner

Gasgon Medical, CIT Student: Vincent Forde [caption id="attachment_31500" align="alignright" width="300"]EI 1 Myles Murray, PMD Solutions, Vincent Forde, Gasgon Medical and Richard Murphy, Enterprise Ireland[/caption] Vincent Forde won the Enterprise Ireland Student Entrepreneur of the Year Award and was named ‘College Entrepreneur of the Year 2016’. Forde beat off stiff competition with his project ‘Gasgon Medical’, which aims to deliver unique and innovative medical devices to improve patient safety and support medical professionals during common procedures. The company was founded when doctors from Cork University Hospital highlighted the valuable staff time that was being wasted while setting up and monitoring IV procedures. Medical staff have reacted positively to the proposed solution, with initial investigations into the business potential uncovering a wider global opportunity. The project has already seen significant success having won both Accenture’s ‘Leaders of Tomorrow’ and CIT’s ‘Prize for Innovation’ this year.

Cruickshank Intellectual Property Attorneys’ High Achieving Merit Award winner

HydroFLOcean, CIT Students: Arran Coughlan, Kelly Lane, George O’Rourke, Kacey Mealy, Shane O’Driscoll, Jason Shorten, John Harrington, Gerard O’Connell [caption id="attachment_31501" align="alignright" width="300"]EI2 HydroFLOcean multidisciplinary team receives its award[/caption] The Cruickshank Intellectual Property Attorneys’ High Achieving Merit Award of €5,000 went to ‘HydroFLOcean’ from CIT. The H-Flo is a new innovative water safety device that disengages a lanyard from a harness when submerged in water. The functional prototype was designed in response to the tragic death of two men on Thomond Bridge, Limerick last year when they were harnessed onto a platform that fell into the River Shannon. The H-Flo aims to prevent future tragedies like this one occurring.

Grant Thornton Emerging Business Award winner

Recovery Solutions Leader, CIT Students: Tim Walley, Conor O’Brien, Jerry Crowley, Daniella Barrett, Aidan Lawless, David Cullinane, Tahamina Akter, Vincent Lotti [caption id="attachment_31505" align="alignright" width="300"]EI3 Recovery Solutions Leader, CIT[/caption] The Grant Thornton Emerging Business Award of €5,000 went to ‘Recovery Solutions Leader’ (RSL) from CIT. RSL’s innovative Cooling Compression Recovery Aid (CCRA) product treats sports injuries. It utilises existing recovery methods but in an easy-to-use, ergonomic and user friendly pack. Encompassing cooling and compression, the CCRA provides the user with an efficient recovery period with reduced time in pain and discomfort.

Intel ICT award winner

[caption id="attachment_31502" align="alignright" width="300"]EI4 The Steady Life team is presented with its award[/caption] Steady Life, CIT Students: John Morrissey, Eoin Kelly, Katie Galvin, Neil Walsh, Piotr Kasztelan, Ryan Sebastian, Michelle Kehoe Intel awarded their ICT award of €5,000 to ‘Steady Life’ from CIT. Steady Life is a comfortably fitted sleeve that is worn around the forearm. The sleeve incorporates sensor systems and electrotherapy to help a patient dampen and reduce the frequency and relieve the pain of tremors.

Enterprise Ireland Academic Innovation Lifetime Achievement Award

[caption id="attachment_31499" align="alignright" width="300"]EI5 Richard Murphy (R), Enterprise Ireland presents Sean O'leary (L), CIT, with his award[/caption] Senior Lecturer Sean O'Leary, CIT Speaking after the awards, O'Leary suggested that CIT's achievement is unlikely to ever be matched. "With over 500 entries nationally to this prestigious entrepreneurship and innovation multi-discipline competition, the achievement by students and staff to win all five major awards at the finals  is unprecedented and very unlikely indeed, in my view, to be repeated in the future by one college," he said. "Many thanks to all the staff at CIT in guiding our students in their academic and life journeys to this achievement in Limerick. The students are a great credit to the institute, their families and themselves." “Now in its 35th year, the Student Entrepreneur Awards attracted submissions from over 500 third level students from colleges across Ireland,” said Niall O Donnellan, head of micro enterprises and small business at Enterprise Ireland. “This competition gives students valuable hands-on experience in entrepreneurship and establishing a business. The caliber of applications clearly demonstrates that the entrepreneurial spirit is very much alive across Ireland’s universities and colleges. Congratulations to all involved.” The awards were presented by Myles Murray, CEO, PMD Solutions, a previous finalist for the Student Entrepreneur Awards. Since Murray graduated four years ago, his company has gone from strength to strength employing 22 staff and he recently received Horizon 2020 funding worth €4.2 million. He is currently collaborating with some of the largest research hospitals across Europe, the US and Asia, and his RespiraSense product has also just launched in Australia.