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Winners of UCC’s Student Entrepreneur of the Year competition announced
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A final year computer science student working on an AI-powered speech practice app, and the CEO and founder of a trauma-informed education platform, were named UCC’s Student Entrepreneurs of the Year at an event held at UCC on Friday.
The UCC Student Entrepreneur Competition is a university-wide competition for third-level students at UCC who have a promising business idea. The competition is designed to support student entrepreneurs in developing their ideas and potentially launching their own start-ups.
Marco Faggiani, a final year BSc Computer Science student at UCC, won the undergraduate category with EaseTalk - an AI-powered app that provides interactive speech practice scenarios for people who stammer or experience social anxiety, with therapist integration. The app provides real-time feedback to users, alongside mood tracking, therapist dashboards and custom scenario generation. EaseTalk developed from Marco’s Computer Science Final Year Project under the supervision of Dr Andea Visentin.
David Cashman, (pictured left with Eshna Gogia, HBAN Lead) winner of the postgraduate category, is the founder and CEO of UCC spin-out company The WellSchools Network. An employment-based PhD scholar in UCC’s School of Education, David has developed a trauma-informed education training platform that offers school-wide programmes, CPD courses, and a scalable SaaS for educator well-being. The company strives to foster continuous learning and support through intensive training, coaching and communities of practice. The business stemmed from David’s PhD research under the supervision of Prof Fiona Chambers and Dr Wesley O’Brien.
The UCC Student Entrepreneur of the Year Competition is made possible by a generous donation from a UCC alumnus and is one of a wide range of student entrepreneurship supports that also include workshops, hackathons, meet-ups and advice clinics.
The finalists represented schools and colleges from across campus and shared a total prize fund of €20,000.
Undergraduate finalists:
- Daniel Cagney - BSc (Computer Science)
- Marco Faggiani - BSc (Computer Science)
- Orla Coffey - MB, BCh, BAO (Hons)
- Sofia El Haouari - BA (International)
- Tom O'Callaghan - BSc (Data Science & Analytics)
Postgraduate finalists:
- Aritra Sinha & Tiziana Racca - PhD (Food & Nutritional Sciences)
- David Cashman - PhD (Education)
- Mamtha Mahanthesh Vathar - MSc (Data Science & Analytics), Ramya Thimmappa Gowda - MSc (Data Science & Analytics) & Shane Collins - MB, BCh, BAO (Hons)
- Preksha Sharma - MSc (Marketing)
- Ruth Hendrick - MEd