The teams in ArcLabs and the Technology Transfer Office of Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT) worked together to facilitate a series of Student Entrepreneurship Bootcamps to WIT students over the last number of weeks in preparation for the Enterprise Ireland Student Entrepreneur Awards 2020.
Margaret Tynan and Pat Lynch from the School of Business in WIT as well as visiting speakers Paul Tyndall and Peter Conlon from NUI Maynooth, David Scanlon from the NDRC and Joanne Stanley-Nolan of Smarter Start Consulting were all on hand to deliver dynamic, interactive workshops ranging from ideation around the UN Sustainable Development Goals to using the Business Model Canvas to determine if an idea has commercial potential to a pitching masterclass to prepare the perfect pitch! The students also heard from Keith McGrory of High Tower Painting Products who initially developed the idea for High Tower when he returned to college and was a finalist in the Enterprise Ireland Student Entrepreneur Awards in 2016.
The Bootcamps culminated in an internal grand finale where six teams were invited to pitch their ideas in front of judges Prof Willie Donnelly, WIT President; Rosemary Ward, Business Consultant South East BIC; Jonathan Earle B2B Communications and President, Waterford Chamber of Commerce; and Jacqui Gaule, senior enterprise development officer, Waterford Local Enterprise Office. The ideas ranged from Fashion Tech to Data Management to Innovation in Health and Wellness. There could only be one winner though and Dylan Walsh was crowned the WIT Student Entrepreneur Pitch Winner 2020.
