A reception was hosted at the office of the Consulate General of Ireland in New York for the four students from IT Sligo who represented Ireland in the Microsoft Imagine Cup World Finals in New York.
The reception was held in advance of the final award ceremony, which saw the IT Sligo team take home the first prize in the global technology competition. Amongst those in attendance were the Irish Consul General, Noel Kilkenny; Michael Meagher, Microsoft Ireland; senior representatives from the ICT and financial services industry in the US; members of the Sligo, Leitrim and Donegal Associations in New York; IT Sligo alumni; and representatives from Enterprise Ireland in New York.
The guest speaker at the event was one of the leading authorities on entrepreneurship in the USA, Larry Farrell, who references IT Sligo’s Innovation Centre in this new book, The New Entrepreneurial Age.
Head of Innovation at IT Sligo, Niall McEvoy, hosted the event: “Team Hermes from IT Sligo represented IT Sligo, the North West region and Ireland at this prestigious global computing competition and they have done us all enormously proud by taking home the much coveted top prize. This really puts Ireland and IT Sligo centre stage of the software development industry, which is one of the few industries to be enjoying a boom currently.”
“We took this opportunity to meet with key decision in from the ICT and financial services industry and with members of the Irish Diaspora in New York, to promote the North West brand and highlight what we have on offer here. The opportunities for IT Sligo and the region in this industry are huge.”
Team HERMES went on to take first place in the Microsoft Imagine Cup World Final. The team – Aíne Conaghan, (Ballybofey, Donegal), James McNamara (Ballyfarnon, Co Roscommon), Calum Cawley (Castlebaldwin, Co Sligo), and Matthew Padden (Ballina, Co Mayo) – are currently being hosted in the USA by Microsoft. Narrowed from more than 350,000 global registrants, more than 400 students from 70 countries traveled to New York to compete at the Worldwide Finals. The team have won $25,000 (U.S.) and they are now eligible to apply for grants that include a combination of cash, software, training, consulting and other support to develop their product.
Their product – a device that plugs into a car and monitors dangerous driving behavior and road conditions, providing instant feedback to both the driver and the car owner – has already attracted significant attention from agencies in the motor and insurance industries.
Image Captions
Pictured at the reception at the office of the Consulate General of Ireland in New York for IT Sligo’s Team HERMES who won first prize at the Microsoft Imagine Cup were; Team member Calum McCawley (Sligo); Team member Matthew Padden (Ballina); Padraig Harte, Team mentor; Consul General, Noel Kilkenny; Head of Innovation at IT Sligo, Niall McEvoy;Larry Farrell, leading author on entrepreneurship and guest speaker; James McNamara (Ballyfarnon, Roscommon); Michael Meagher, Microsoft Ireland; Aine Conaghan (Ballybofey, Donegal)
Team Hermes with guests at the Reception held in their honour at the office of the Consulate General of Ireland in New York.
Team member Aine Conaghan (Ballybofey, Co Donegal) pictured with Padraig Harte, IT Sligo lecturer and team mentor, and members of the Donegal Association in New York, Denis Gallagher and Rosina Gallagher.