Reusable braille translator wins big at BTYS Business Bootcamp

REUSABLE BRAILLE TRANSLATOR WINS BIG AT THE 11^TH BT YOUNG SCIENTIST BUSINESS BOOTCAMP

Thursday, 5^th March 2020: Twenty-nine enterprising school students gathered at NovaUCD this week for the 11th annual BT Young Scientist Business Bootcamp.

Five students from Dublin, Westmeath, Sligo and Kildare were announced as the Best Group winners for their project titled “The Reusable Braille Translator”. 

Alison Egan from Castleknock Community College in Dublin, Cian Flaherty from Colaiste Mhuire Mullingar in Co. Westmeath, Maura Madden from Ursuline College in Sligo, Rhys Mordaunt from the Institute of Education in Dublin and Ruairi Mullally from Patrician Secondary school in Newbridge Co. Kildare joined together to create a reusable device which enhances visually impaired peoples reading and web surfing experience by converting text into braille form. 

Ben Loughnane, a third-year student from Kinsale Community School Co. Cork was announced as the individual winner for his project ‘Electric Paint- how much graphite is needed to heat your home?’.

The BT Young Scientist Business Bootcamp was established in 2010 by BT and is delivered in partnership with the innovation team of UCD Research and Innovation to give students the commercialisation skills they need to develop their BT Young Scientist & Technology project ideas. The culmination of the four-day programme saw the students pitching their companies to an expert panel of judges.

Congratulating all participants, Shay Walsh, Managing Director, BT Ireland said, “Massive congratulations to all the students who took part in the BT Young Scientist Business Bootcamp this year and specifically Alison, Cian, Maura, Rhys, Ruairi and Ben on their winning projects. The BT Young Scientist Business Bootcamp has been an integral part of the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition programme for eleven years, and in that time, I am proud to say that many of our alumni have gone on to huge success in business. What is even more significant is that some of these successful entrepreneurs returned this week to share their experiences with our new bootcamp graduates, to offer guidance on how to take an idea and transform it into a business proposition.

Professor Orla Feely, UCD Vice-President for Research, Innovation and Impact said, “We are delighted to continue our partnership with BT Ireland to deliver the annual BT Young Scientist Business Bootcamp, which is now in its 11th year, at NovaUCD. The aim of the 4-day Business Bootcamp is to help the students to deepen their entrepreneurial thinking and also their understanding of the key steps required to translate innovative STEM ideas and projects into sustainable and scalable businesses. I would like to congratulate the overall winners, and all the students who participated on the 2020 programme and I hope to see their projects transformed into businesses in the very near future.”

For more information, visit https://btyoungscientist.com/btys-business-bootcamp/. Alternatively, check outhttp://www.facebook.com/BTYSTE, or follow on Twitter at http://twitter.com/btyste. 

Follow #BTYSTE and #CreateTodayShapeTomorrow to be part of the action!

ENDS

Notes to Editor: 

The students were mentored by BT personnel for the duration of their time at the Bootcamp.

The projects were judged by Shay Walsh, MD of BT Ireland, Dr Tony Scott, co-founder of the BTYSTE, Will Goodbody, RTE Business Editor, Ann O’Dea, founder of Silicon Republic & FutureHuman and Evelyn Smith, Senior Commercialisation Specialist at Enterprise Ireland. 

During the bootcamp, speakers who came to speak to the students about their business experiences, included; past BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition winner Shane Curran, past participants Kate & Annie Madden from FenuHealth, who now runs a successful business after participating in the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition in 2015, past participant Jack O Connor, who is now a UN Youth Ambassador, Danny Hobbs who founded BetterExaminations.ie while participating at Business Bootcamp and Orla Feely, Vice President for Research, Innovation and Impact at UCD.

Best Individual Awardee 

Kinsale Community School, Co. Cork

Ben Loughnane

 

Best Group Awardees

Castleknock Community College, Co. Dublin	Alison Egan
Coláiste Mhuire Mullingar, Co. Westmeath	Cian Flaherty
Ursuline College, Co. Sligo	Maura Madden
The Institute of Education, Dublin	Rhys Mordaunt
Patrician Secondary School, Co. Kildare	Ruairi Mullally

 

Schools that took part in BT Young Scientist Business Bootcamp include:

Loreto Secondary School Balbriggan, Co. Dublin	Jennifer Bura
St Mary’s College, Rathmines, Co. Dublin	Sam Byers
Kinsale Community School, Co. Cork	Mia Casey
St. Marys College C.S.S.P., Co. Dublin	Tim Cleary
Gaelcholáiste Carrigaline, Co. Cork	Tomás Cronin
Patrician Secondary School, Co. Kildare	Justin Cunningham
St. Gerard’s Senior School, Bray, Co. Wicklow	Evan Dargan Hayes
Castleknock Community College, Co. Dublin	Alison Egan
Coláiste Mhuire Mullingar, Co. Westmeath	Cian Flaherty
Loreto Secondary School Balbriggan, Co. Dublin	Alana Foy-Nicolleau
Castleknock Community College, Co. Dublin	Caoimhe Harrington
Coláiste Choilm, Co. Cork	Cormac Harris
Kinsale Community School, Co. Cork	Emer Heery
St. John Bosco Community College, Co. Clare	Abbey Hehir
Heywood C.S., Co. Laois	Evan Hogg
Belvedere College, Co. Dublin	Brian Kelleher
Kinsale Community School, Co. Cork	Ben Loughnane
Ursuline College, Co. Sligo	Brid Madden
Ursuline College, Co. Sligo	Maura Madden
St. Josephs Mercy Secondary School Navan, Co. Meath	Salomé Maher Bordalo
St. Josephs Mercy Secondary School Navan, Co. Meath	Sophie McElligot
Scoil Phobail Sliabh Luachra, Rathmore, Co. Kerry	Liam McSherry
The Institute of Education, Dublin	Rhys Mordaunt
Patrician Secondary School, Co. Kildare	Ruairi Mullally
St. John Bosco Community College, Co. Clare	Rebecca Murphy
Coláiste Choilm, Co. Cork	Alan O’Sullivan
Coláiste na Coiribe, Co. Galway	Ruán O’Donnell
Boherbue Comprehensive School, Co. Cork	Fionn O’Hanlon
Kinsale Community School, Co. Cork	Sylvie Plant
Coláiste Mhuire, Mullingar, Co. Westmeath	Eoin Rhatigan
St. Marys, Dublin	Ben Sheeran

 

 

About the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition (#BTYSTE):

The BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition is much more than a competition – it is the experience of a lifetime for the students and teachers who take part. Designed to raise schools’ engagement in the critical subjects of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM), the Exhibition calls upon students aged 12-19 years from all over the island of Ireland to showcase innovative science and technology projects to approx. 50,000 visitors each year. The BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition is supported by several valued partners including the Department of Education & Skills, Analog Devices, CISC, Perrigo, RTE and the Department of Education, Northern Ireland. Learn more atwww.btyoungscientist.com.  

 

About BT:

BT’s purpose is to use the power of communications to make a better world. It is one of the world’s leading providers of communications services and solutions, serving customers in 180 countries. Its principal activities include the provision of networked IT services globally; local, national and international telecommunications services to its customers for use at home, at work and on the move; broadband, TV and internet products and services; and converged fixed-mobile products and services.  BT consists of four customer-facing units: Consumer, Enterprise, Global and Openreach. 

For the year ended 31 March 2019, BT Group’s reported revenue was £23,428m with reported profit before taxation of £2,666m. 

British Telecommunications plc (BT) is a fully-owned subsidiary of BT Group plc and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of the BT Group. BT Group plc is listed on the London stock exchange.  

For more information, visit www.btplc.com