Two students from NUI Galway have won an enterprise competition and a €15k investment in their project WestCoastSurfer.com, which they aim to develop into the premier Irish surfing website.
The NUI Galway Student Enterprise Awards were held last Friday, 10 June. Judges were impressed with the WestCoastSurfer.com brand and its potential to attract investment to the domestic economy.
Oisin Halpin and Cian Brassil are the students behind the idea. Halpin is a third-year earth and ocean science student while Brassil is in his second year of information technology.
“WestCoastSurfer.com has huge growth potential and is well grounded in commercial reality with great opportunities for the West of Ireland. Both Cian and Oisin have all the hallmarks of people who will be very successful,” said chairperson of the judging panel, CEO of Creganna-Tactx Medical, Helen Ryan.
There were six teams in the final of the NUI Galway Student Enterprise Awards, which are the initiative of the NUI Galway Students’ Union.
The two runner-up prizes of €2,000 were awarded to LittleGreenWheels and Algorithm. An environmental recycling centre for children, LittleGreenWheels was created by Laura Crean and Amy Martyn. Algorithm was created by Evelyn Fennelly, a first-year medicine student, and aims to help students overcome the difficulties of returning to education following child birth.
Photo: WestCoastSurfer.com is the brainchild of NUI Galway students Cian Brassil (left) and Oisin Halpin
