Sometimes it’s not enough to have a new scientific idea or invention – you also need entrepreneurial skills to develop that idea as a sound business.
The BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition has recognised this with a new programme to help students in developing the business knowledge they need in order to turn their innovative ideas into commercial opportunities.
Some 40 students will be selected from the Young Scientist competition for the new “BT Business of Science and Technology Programme”.
Master classes
The students will gain practical business knowledge through workshops and master-classes on a wide range of subjects, from how to formulate a business strategy to protecting their intellectual capital and global marketing.
The programme will culminate in the students working in teams of five to develop an outline business approach to address a realistic new business start-up scenario and to present it to a judging panel at the conclusion.
All participating students will receive a certificate of achievement, and summer placements in higher education institutions will be available for the top six performers.
Mentors from industry
Those interested in working in industry or in starting their own companies will also get one-on-one support from mentors from the worlds of business, science and technology. The mentors include:
- Professor Luke O’Neill, Trinity College
- Ciaran Ennis, IBM Ireland
- Damian Young, Bank of Ireland
- Paul Rellis, Microsoft Ireland
- John Mullins, Bord Gáis Éireann
- Dr Chris Horn, Engineers Ireland
- Keith Finglas, Innovation Delivery
- Phil Lennard, BT Innovate and Design
- Tara McMahon, IP Innovations
- Martin Curley, Intel
- Michael Ryan, Bombardier
Linking business and education
The CEO of BT Ireland, Chris Clark, says: “We wanted to take the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition’s winning formula and build on it to address both the challenges and opportunities that Ireland faces in its goal to become more competitive.
“We have come up with a practical solution to link business and education by collaborating with key business leaders on the island and sharing our business knowledge and expertise with the next generation of young leaders.”
Students’ businesses
Previous winners of the BT Young Scientist & Technology competition have gone on to achieve great successes in the worlds of business, science and technology. Recent examples include Patrick Collison, overall winner in 2005.
Patrick also went on to win second place for Ireland at the EU Young Scientists Exhibition and co-founded a technology company called Auctomatic in 2007.
His company was acquired 10 months later for $5 million. Patrick is currently working on his second start-up.
Rhona Togher and Eimear O’Carroll were runners up in 2009 with their project “The Sound of Silence – An Investigation into Low Frequency Therapy for Tinnitus Sufferers”. It led to the discovery of the first scientifically tested cure for Tinnitus.
Since then, Rhona and Eimear have launched a company to help sufferers of Tinnitus regain buzz-free hearing.
Learn more
Find out more about this year’s BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition
