We're happy to report that this month marks the 4th year since Tangent first opened its doors - happy birthday to us! On October 2018, Tangent was established as a new centre for innovation and entrepreneurship at Ireland's leading university. Since then, we have welcomed over 40,000 visitors to our space, supported hundreds of student start-ups, and provided in excess of €1M in equity free investment to students via LaunchBox. To celebrate, I'd like to invite you to attend a complimentary Tangent taster session - register to attend HERE.
Looking ahead, The National Public Service Innovation Week will take place from 24th to 28th October, so mark it in your diary and spread the word! Now in its fourth year, the week offers public servants a chance to celebrate and showcase innovation in the public service, share learnings and best practice, and identify opportunities to work together to solve pressing public sector challenges. The week will feature of number of events for public servants and Tangent will be hosting some of these - you can download the full list of events HERE.
A big thank you to all Trinity colleagues that contributed so positively to our recent thought leadership event series, including Mark Bennett, Director of Portal; Jane Stout, Vice President for Biodiversity and Climate Action; and Prof. Emma Stokes, Vice President for Global Engagement to name a few. If you would like to feature in an upcoming event and have something interesting to say, please do contact me personally for a chat on how we can collaborate. Thanks too to Martin Shanahan, CEO of IDA Ireland, who paid us a visit this week. We were honoured to receive him and share our vision for the future of innovation education in Ireland.
That's it from me for this month folks, but you can read more about all things Tangent below.
Happy reading,
Ken
Charm EU Students win LaunchBox 2022 student entrepreneurship competition with Ecode⭐🇪🇺🌍
A circular fashion communication platform called Ecode, founded by three CHARM-EU masters students, has won Trinity College Dublin’s annual student entrepreneurship competition Launchbox.
The announcement came after 10 teams of student entrepreneurs sought capital investment from venture capitalists and angel investors as part of LaunchBox 2022. The final, known as Demo Day, took place on 2nd September and saw the shortlisted teams pitch their companies to seek support to accelerate their start-ups. A myriad of industries were represented by the young entrepreneurs on the day, from esports and circular fashion to quantum computing.
Ecode was founded by students Elise Vens, Emmet Lowry, and Nathan Gaborieau, pictured above with Tangent's Head of Entrepreneurship Gavan Drohan. The trio has invented a circular fashion communication platform that empowers consumers to make more informed, sustainable decisions online and in-store.
“Ecode aims to be the go-to sustainability hub for conscious fashion. With QR codes on items and plugins on e-commerce websites, we enable brands to communicate their sustainability efforts allowing consumers to make conscious decisions. By giving insight on how to take care of your clothing and repair, recycle or reuse them, we extend our impact further than the store and enhance circularity,” the students explained.
All three students studied in Trinity for Phase 1 (September 2021-Feb 2022) of the CHARM-EU masters which is how they found out about Launchbox. For Phase 2 in February all three moved to ELTE in Budapest to follow the ‘Food’ track, but they came back early to participate in Launchbox. LaunchBox, sponsored by Bank of Ireland and hosted by Tangent, provides students with mentorship, funding, access to alumni and investors, and a collaborative environment to launch new ventures. Following an application period which saw overwhelming interest, 10 teams collectively representing nine Trinity schools were selected to partake in the programme, the oldest of its kind in Ireland.
Alumni Panel Discussion: Considering a return to education?
Considering a return to education? Don't miss your chance to hear from some of Tangent's 'class of 2021' on what motivated them to apply to a Tangent postgraduate course, how they managed to balance work/life/study, plus the inspiring steps they have taken since graduating. Register to attend these online events:
As with all of our courses, no prior innovation and entrepreneurship experience is needed to apply, and classes are delivered on a manageable, part-time basis, with a blend of online and in-person teaching. What's more, these courses are Springboard+ funded, with fees ranging from €300 - €380, and free fees for succesful unemployed applicants. Request a call back from our student recruitment team HERE to find out more 🚀
'Champion Changemakers' Hackathon Weekend
Last weekend, we hosted a magical weekend of community-driven social innovation during a brand new nationwide hackathon, 'Champion Changemakers'. Supported by the Community Enterprise Association of Ireland (CEAI), the weekend brought together local communities to solve social issues, from climate change to economic inequality.
Parallel hackathons took place over the weekend in six different locations across Ireland, from Kerry and Galway to Louth, and Dublin. After receiving workshops on customer discovery, rapid prototyping and presenting, our teams pitched in front of three esteemed judges: Lizzy Hayashida, co-founder and CEO of Change Donations, Tony Vickers-Byrne, HR and Wellbeing policy advisor, and our CEO Ken Finnegan. Congratulations to all our teams for completing the weekend, and best of luck to Dr. Concrete, Pooled and Hurihuri who will be pitching at the National Competition at on October 20th.
The Women of Tangent:
Highlighting accomplishments and celebrating bright futures! This month, we hear from Rosemary Deneher, Senior Programme Manager at Tangent:
She oversees the development, delivery and assessment of the accredited education programmes in Tangent, and has over 20 years' experience working in higher education and academia, including lecturing, programme design, review, and curriculum development.
What’s the best thing about working in Tangent?
Apart from working with a great team (best team ever, no question), it is amazing to see first-hand the impact our courses have on people’s lives. These are not always the high-profile success stories, but for me, they are the real successes; the woman who gained the confidence to return to the workforce after many years, the person who decided to change career, or the people who finally got the courage to try out their business idea. We are changing people’s lives and there is no better reason to get out of bed in the morning! I feel privileged to be part of it.
What am I most passionate about?
In case you can’t tell, I am really passionate about lifelong learning and continuous personal development. Part of my role is helping students realise the value and the difference education can make in their lives. Knowledge is power, and it’s never too late to learn. I am a self-confessed eternal student, and am currently studying for the Postgraduate Certificate in Workplace Wellness here in Tangent.
What am I doing when I’m not working?
We became accidental farmers during lockdown and have acquired a mini farm with a variety of animals, big and small. We even got a tractor. I also have two teenagers who love playing sport, so most evenings I can be found on the side of a football pitch. I come from a very large extended family, so a LOT of time is spent visiting and attending family events. When I want to escape from people and animals, I can be found running the back roads or hiking through some remote part of the country.
Advice to anyone thinking of doing a course for the first time or returning to education?
Just do it! You’ll learn things you never knew you never knew.
Alison Treacy wins at Diversity in Tech Awards 🏆
Bravo to Alison Treacy, who took home the mentorship prize on 21st September at this year's Diversity in Tech Awards! Alison is our Student Start-up and Innovation Manager and leads out on Women Who Wow, a mentorship scheme for female students who are interested in setting up their own business one day. Many of you will also know Alison from her work on Trinity's student accelerator, LaunchBox.
Mentorship helps women gain access to opportunities and cultivates their confidence in an often still male-dominated business environment. When more women lead, it creates a diversified leadership team open to discussing multiple perspectives that improves decision-making and strengthens an organisation so it can face the challenges of the future.
Alumni Bounce Insights listed in Checkout Magazine's Top 100 Brands
Congratulations to LaunchBox alum company Bounce Insights, which has been shortlisted in the latest edition of Checkout Top 100 Brands, produced by Checkout magazine, the leading magazine for the grocery retail sector in Ireland. Bounce Insights provide agile consumer research which helps brands make informed decisions.
It is great to see some of Ireland’s newest brands are putting it up to their international counterparts!
This includes PhD students and research staff keen to develop skills in design thinking, innovation, and entrepreneurship, competencies which will lend your career a competitive advantage and make a tangible difference to your research.
This part-time course will teach you the skills needed to make innovation and entrepreneurship work for you and your research. Whether you want to commercialise your work, improve your communication skills, or learn about creative problem-solving, this is a fantastic opportunity to learn alongside researchers from all disciplines and career stages.
Register your interest below, and for updates on an upcoming panel discussion with Professor Luke O'Neill:
Partners help us to both share and improve our knowledge on innovation and entrepreneurship across various sectors, enabling organisations to make informed decisions and connecting them to emerging talent with shared values who may have the capacity to help.
We’re also passionate about working with partners to address real-world challenges, and want to select new partners to ensure the greatest reach for our work. Working with other organisations adds specialist knowledge and experience to our own expertise, enabling us to offer the best experience to our various audiences.
To find out more, get in touch with Head of Engagement, Aine Phelan here.
Skillnet Taste4Success Welcome Day takes place
We hosted an alumni welcome day on Tuesday 20th September for graduates of our Taste4Success Skillnet masterclass series, a bespoke offering for a network of food and drink sector companies. We were delighted to welcome Skillnet Ireland CEO Paul Healy as part of proceedings for a great day of sharing and networking, which featured a panel discussion on challenges and trends in the food and beverage industry. The panel included Stephen Carr, co-founder of Sorrento Pizza. Gillian Morgan, sales manager at Morgan's Fine Fish, and Jess Hayden, course contributor on the Taste4Success programme.
Thanks to all who joined, the team were really glad to meet our alumni in-person. You can read about upcoming Taste4Success training opportunities below.
We'd like to extend a very warm welcome to our new Student Entrepreneurs in Residence, Lara Páircéir and David Deneher!
The pair were first introduced to Tangent via LaunchBox, Trinity's student accelerator and have kept in touch since. Lara is undertaking a undergraduate degree in sociology and social policy, and co-founded Ethicart in 2019, a user-friendly app that gives quick, accessible and easy to understand information around food products sustainability and ethical standards. David, meanwhile, is undertaking a TCD BA in computer science and business, and co-founded of Field of Vision in 2020, a solution which uses AI to enable visually impaired sports fans to feel the excitement of live games.
Tangent's Student Entrepreneurs in Residence scheme engages students with the background, experience and enthusiasm to deliver entrepreneurial insights and support to the next generation of student entrepreneurs. The pair will provide meaningful contributions to student entrepreneurship activities at Tangent, advising and guiding students. Keep an eye out for them at our upcoming student entrepreneurship events!
Tangent, Trinity's Ideas Workspace, First Floor, Trinity Business School, Pearse St, Dublin, Dublin D02 H308, Ireland
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