Winners of the first prize in the 2012 innovation awards at CIT. (From left) Cian Hurley, Darren Dawson, Daniel Goulding, Shane Fogarty, Ann-Marie Cullinane and Mohamed Moulay-Slimane
Cork Institute of Technology (CIT) will be hosting a week-long series of events covering innovation and entrepreneurship across five campus locations in early March, including its annual innovation competition for students.
Innovation Week will run from 4-8 March and will include a CoderDojo competition, plus an app competition run by the School of Business at CIT.
As well as this, CIT will be announcing the winners of its innovation competition for students at the institute. The annual contest is sponsored by the Cork county and city enterprise boards.
In 2012, the ‘CIT Entrepreneur of the Year’ accolade went to the students behind Cool Counter, a cooling device for drinks that can be integrated into a bar top.
The team comprised biomedical and manufacturing engineering, mechanical engineering and business studies students Ann-Marie Cullinane, Daniel Goulding, Shane Fogarty, Cian O’Leary, Mohamed Moulay-Slimane, Darren Dawson and Cian Hurle.
During Innovation Week, CIT will also host the Cork Schools Enterprise Programme that aims to educate second-level students about the realities of setting up and running a business.
More than 50 teams of second-level students will be showcasing their mini companies at the regional heats in CIT on 8 March.
CIT’s School of Business also be hosting what is being dubbed an ‘APP-rentice’ competition. People with no programming or technical experience can submit their ideas for new app innovations.
For young coders, the CIT CoderDojo chapter will host a competition for members on 8 March in the Nimbus Centre on the CIT campus.
“We are looking forward to the buzz of activity that will be present on the campus during Innovation Week and further integration of business ideas between the staff, students and existing and emerging companies,” explained Carole O’Leary, CIT’s industry liaison manager.
Innovation Week will wrap up with a rocket launch by primary school children from around Cork at Blackrock Castle Observatory.
In January, CIT announced the opening of a new centre for entrepreneurship education – the Hincks Centre – on its campus.
