On Friday March 6th, UCC Innovation announced the winner of the 2020 UCC Entrepreneurship Awards at the UCC Boole Library in the creative zone with deputy president and registrar John O’Halloran on hand to present the impressive crystal trophy to the winner Mark O’Sullivan of Neurobell.
About 2020 UCC Entrepreneurship Awards
The Awards are co-ordinated by UCC’s Entrepreneurship Implementation Group, which is chaired by Professor Joe Bogue. There are some 52 applications submitted for this year’s Awards, an increase of nearly 200% on the number of applications submitted in 2019. Application breakdown include 27 undergraduate, 22 postgraduate and 3 researchers.
Applications submitted from students and researchers spanning 25 different disciplines.
The promoters of 12 projects were shortlisted to present their business ideas to an External Evaluation Panel.
The External Evaluation Panel consisted of the following individuals:
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- Paul McGuirk, Head of Enterprise, Local Enterprise Office Cork City
- Alan Carroll, UCC Branch Manager, Bank of Ireland
- Gary Wade, Cork School of Economics
- Pat Lynch, CEO, EviView
A Researcher Category was included in the Awards for the first time this year. Some €8,000 euros was awarded to the winner in prize money. The sponsors for the UCC Entrepreneurship Awards 2020 are the Local Enterprise Offices Cork City and County providing €6,000 and UCC innovation who sponsored another €2,000.
The winner of the 2020 UCC Entrepreneurship Award was Mark O’Sullivan of Neurobell:
Paul McGuirk, Head of Enterprise, Local Enterprise Office Cork City, commented;
‘’We are delighted to support the 2020 UCC Entrepreneurship Awards, it is wonderful to see the breadth and diversity of ideas generated from
students and researchers across campus which is truly inspirational, entrepreneurship is alive and well at UCC.
Dr Rich Ferrie, Director of UCC Innovation, co-sponsor for the Awards also commented;
‘’ I am thrilled to see a 200% increase in applicants for the Entrepreneurship Awards 2020 which is going from strength to strength and highlights the thriving entrepreneurial spirit evident in UCC, this year sees an exceptionally high standard of candidates vying for the 8,000k cash prize which I am delighted to support’’
The 2020 UCC entrepreneurship Awards coincides with Local Enterprise Week, a week in which there are hundreds of events taking place across LEOs in every local authority area. These events are designed to help individuals and teams to plan, start or grow their own business in 2020.
About the winner Mark O’Sullivan Neurobell
Neurobell who are developing a pocket-sized EEG monitor which uses state-of-the-art electronics, artificial intelligence (AI) and signal processing algorithms.
The wireless and battery-powered device can be easily connected to the patient with minimal delay and complexity. The AI algorithms provide medical staff
with real-time diagnostic decision-support using visual and auditory alerts. Neurobell’s solution makes EEG monitoring available to a much wider demographic
of medical staff, in any setting. Brain injury in newborns occurs in up to 2% of all births, resulting in the death or disability of over 1 million infants globally each
year, making it the fifth leading cause of death in children under five. Early identification of brain injury in newborns is vital as the therapeutic window, in which
treatment is most efficacious, is less than six hours after the injury.
