Two GMIT teams selected for Enterprise Ireland Student Entrepreneur Awards Final

Two GMIT student teams from Engineering and Science disciplines have been selected to contest the finals of this year’s Enterprise Ireland Student Entrepreneurship Awards taking place in Limerick Institute of Technology (LIT) on Wednesday 8 and Thursday 9 June.

Mechanical Engineering students Aidan Gleeson (team leader) from Manulla, Co Mayo, Gary Lavelle from Cloghroe, Co Cork, and Stephen Gaughan from Foxford, Co Mayo, were chosen for their project  titled ‘Profence’, a device to help put up fences in a garden or farm.  The three students are all in their fourth and final year of the B.Eng (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering, Product Design Stream, at the Galway campus.

Science student Brian Melia from Abbeyknockmoy and NUI Galway student Patrick Costello from Maree, Oranmore, were chosen for their project titled ‘Livestock Trailer Restrainer’, a farm safety device that puts a barrier between an operator and the livestock animals entering and exiting a trailer. Brian is in third year of the B.Sc. in Rural Enterprise and Environment Management at the Galway campus. Patrick Costello is in third year of a B.Eng in Mechanical Engineering in NUIG.

There were 470 entries into the Enterprise Ireland Student Entrepreneurship Awards this year, coming from all the Institutes of Technology and universities in the Republic as well as Queen’s University, Belfast, and the University of Ulster. Ten teams will take part in the finals this year.

Maria Staunton, Manager of the GMIT Mayo Innovation Hub, says GMIT students have a great track record of competing in and performing well in these competitions. “This year, we had six teams through to the final 50, and two - one a joint entry with NUIG -are through to the final. Last year GMIT had great success, winning Best Emerging Business for the first year ever.”

“We work hard at the beginning of the academic year to promote enterprise and entrepreneurial thinking with students and staff through our GMIT Student Enterprise Awards. Even if our students don't go on to become entrepreneurs it gives them a flavour for creating new businesses and enables them to show future employers that they are innovative individuals who think outside the box. Lecturers at GMIT also get involved and help promote and mentor so particular mention must go to Ivan McPhillips, School of Business, and Gabriel J Costello, School of Engineering, this year,” adds Ms Staunton.