Winners of UCC’s Student Entrepreneur of the Year Competition 2026 announced

25 May 2026

Two food science PhD students with a concept to help people resist food cravings and a team of engineers and scientists developing next generation space propulsion systems were named UCC’s Student Entrepreneurs of the Year at an event held at University College Cork on Thursday, 21 May 2026.

The Student Entrepreneur Competition is a university-wide competition for student entrepreneurs that brings together the best of ideas coming from a wide range of curricular and extra-curricular programmes available at University College Cork.

The postgraduate category was awarded to CraveShift, founded by Tiziana Racca and Aritra Sinha, PhD researchers in Food Science and Nutrition.

CraveShift is a mobile app designed to help people resist junk food cravings, avoid overeating and reduce ultra-processed food dependence without dieting, calorie counting or restrictive approaches. Using food science, behavioural psychology and AI-assisted food recognition, the app analyses why cravings happen and provides practical food-first suggestions to help users build healthier habits. The app launched earlier this year and has already gained strong early traction across iOS and Android platforms.

Winners of the UCC Student Entrepreneur Competition 2026 Undergraduate Category Perihelion Aerospace, led by Darren Moynihan with Grace Twomey, Michael Moynihan and John Magner, pictured with judges and representatives from UCC and partner organisations.

The undergraduate category winner was Perihelion Aerospace, a multidisciplinary student team developing innovative propulsion technologies for the rapidly growing European space sector.

The team is Darren Moynihan BSc (Physics) 3rd Year, Grace Twomey BSc (Physics & Astrophysics) 2nd Year, Michael Moynihan BSc (Mathematical Sciences and Physics) 4th Year, John Magner, BE (Elect) 3rd Year, Luke O'Sullivan BSc (Astrophysics) 3rd Year, Luke O'Mara BSc (Physics & Astrophysics) 2nd Year and Emma McElwain BE (Elect) 2nd Year.

Perihelion Aerospace is developing modular mono propellant and bi propellant liquid rocket engines designed for satellite manoeuvring, de-orbiting systems and future space applications. The team aims to support Europe’s increasing focus on independent satellite infrastructure and space innovation, while helping address emerging challenges in space sustainability and propulsion technologies.

The UCC Student Entrepreneur of the Year Competition forms part of UCC’s wider student entrepreneurship ecosystem and complements a range of supports available through IGNITE, including workshops, hackathons, mentoring, advice clinics and start-up programmes. 
The finalists represented schools and disciplines from across the university and shared a total prize fund of €20,000 provided by a philanthropic donation raised through Cork University Foundation.

Undergraduate finalists: 

• Darren Moynihan & Team – BSc (Physics)
• Jamie Barry – BSc (International Business with French)
• Nathan Manley – BE (Hons)
• Rebekah Gough & Team – BCL (Law and Business)
• Toby Tangney – BSc (Computer Science)

Postgraduate finalists: 

• Aritra Sinha & Tiziana Racca – PhD (Food Science and Nutrition)
• Caroline Peres Da Silva – PhD (Engineering Science)
• Claire O'Halloran – MA (Applied Psychology: Positive Psychology and Coaching)
• Miao Yu – MSc (Design and Development of Digital Business)
• Todd Smyth – Doctorate of Clinical Dentistry (Orthodontics)