Reusable Braille Translator wins at 11th BT Young Scientist Business Bootcamp

Photo - Cian Flaherty (far left), Ruairi Mullally, Maura Madden, Rhys Mordaunt and Alison Egan, the winners of the annual BT Young Scientist Business Bootcamp for their project ‘The Reusable Braille Translator’. Photo: Chris Bellew /Fennell Photography

A Westmeath student is a member of the team that won ‘Best Group’ for their project titled ‘The Reusable Braille Translator’ at the BT Young Scientist Business Bootcamp.

Cian Flaherty from Coláiste Mhuire, Mullingar, worked with Alison Egan from Castleknock Community College in Dublin, Maura Madden from Ursuline College in Sligo, Rhys Mordaunt from the Institute of Education in Dublin, and Ruairi Mullally from Patrician Secondary school in Newbridge to create a reusable device that enhances the reading and web surfing experience fir visually impaired people by converting text into braille form.

Ben Loughnane, a third-year student from Kinsale Community School Co. Cork was announced as the individual winner for his project ‘Electric Paint- how much graphite is needed to heat your home?’.

The BT Young Scientist Business Bootcamp was established in 2010 by BT and is delivered in partnership with the innovation team of UCD Research and Innovation to give students the commercialisation skills they need to develop their BT Young Scientist & Technology project ideas.

The culmination of the four-day programme saw the students pitching their companies to an expert panel of judges.

Shay Walsh, MD of BT Ireland, said: “Massive congratulations to all the students who took part in the BT Young Scientist Business Bootcamp this year and specifically Alison, Cian, Maura, Rhys, Ruairi and Ben on their winning projects.

“The bootcamp has been an integral part of the Young Scientist Exhibition programme for 11 years, and in that time, I am proud to say that many of our alumni have gone on to huge success in business.

“What is even more significant is that some of these successful entrepreneurs returned this week to share their experiences with our new bootcamp graduates, to offer guidance on how to take an idea and transform it into a business proposition.”

Eoin Rhatigan from Coláiste Mhuire, Mullingar, also took part in the BT Young Scientist Business Bootcamp NovaUCD this week.

For more information, visit https://btyoungscientist.com/btys-business-bootcamp/. Alternatively, check out http://www.facebook.com/BTYSTE, or follow on Twitter at http://twitter.com/btyste.

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