Ireland’s young innovators ready to take on the world
Pictured practicing their â??Egyptian Walkâ?? are Felim Ros McMahon, Eoin O'Brien, Maria Francesca O'Connor and Aidan Lynch â?? members of the Trinity College Dublin team, Trinity Sight, which will be heading to Egypt for the Imagine Cup 2009 finals
DESPITE a grilling from a Dragons’ Den-style panel, and intense competition from colleges around the country, Ireland can rest easy in the knowledge that its young innovators dare to dream.
You couldn’t bottle the enthusiasm at last week’s Irish finals for the 2009 Microsoft Imagine Cup. In terms of the competition for who will represent Ireland in this year’s Imagine Cup in Cairo, the overall prize went to Trinity College-based Trinity Sight, which has created an affordable alternative to simulating eye-surgical training, particularly complex operations such as cataract removal surgery.
If successful, the technology could speed the training of student doctors who need to perform these operations in countries in Africa, where needless blindness is widespread.
The second prize went to Institute of Technology (IT), Sligo’s AmazED, whose project aims to address the learning needs of young children, enab-ling them to teach themselves maths with the aid of an NXT Lego Mindstorm that would also teach them hand-eye co-ordination.
The third prize went to IT Sligo’s MediKnight project, which developed a system to allow experienced medical professionals in the developed world to link directly to medical staff working in under-developed regions.
Last year’s finalists were also given a chance to present and seek investment before a panel consisting of Gerry Maguire of Atlantic Bridge; Kindle Software founder, Tony Kilduff; blogger Mick Fealty of Slugger O’Toole; and Aaron Jackson of Lightwell.
First up were Clare Singleton, Chris McCormick, Jake Lowndes and Anthony McGuinness of Dundalk Institute of Technology, who explored how their Sunny Town video game, which focuses on teaching primary children to respect their environment, could end up at the commercialisation stage.
Next up were last year’s Imagine Cup winners from National University of Ireland, Maynooth – Team Acid Rain, which has a novel idea to run diesel cars on vegetable oil.
Team Acid Rain revealed how manufacturers such as Kia have expressed an interest in their idea, and how snap-on converter devices could be manufactured to make the concept a mainstream success.
The trauma of Irish traffic was recalled by IT Sligo’s Christina Luminea, who last year developed a traffic and parking server application that when plugged into a carpark or local authority CCTV system could interact with drivers’ mobile or GPS systems and navigate them to an available parking spot, cutting down on fuel wastage.
Team Carbon Buddies from Institute of Technology Carlow came up with a novel social networking-oriented plan to encourage people to car pool to take traffic off our roads and reduce emissions.
The Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Mary Hanafin TD, said the students demonstrated “imagination combined with technical skills that suggest a great future for the country”.
© Silicon Republic Ltd 2009
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© Silicon Republic Ltd 2009
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