Student wins Entrepreneurship Award for Carbon Footprint Tracking App
Ben Dunlea, a recent UCC graduate and former Students’ Union President, has won the UCC 2021 Computer Science Entrepreneurship Award sponsored by CorkBIC for a carbon footprint tracking app that encourages individuals to be more mindful of the impact that their lifestyles have on the planet.
The app enables users to input data relating to their diet, methods of travel, and utility usage habits, which the app then uses to recommend ways in which the user can reduce their carbon footprint. Users can track progress they’ve made and see detailed data via their user insights.
Ben’s app also allows users to purchase carbon offsets to address the remaining footprint they have via a once-off payment or a monthly subscription. As carbon taxes increase, and plant-based foods become price competitive, the app will increasingly direct users to lifestyle changes that will help them both lower emissions and save money.
Ben, from Rochestown, continues to make updates on the app.
“Since the end of the college semester, I’ve continued work on my app in my own time as well as part of the Student Inc Accelerator Programme. The support of the 2021 UCC Computer Science Entrepreneurship Award and Student Inc is a reassuring vote of confidence in my idea, and I look forward to bringing it to market in the coming months.”
Ben’s entrepreneurship and innovation impressed a ‘Dragon’s Den’ style panel of judges who awarded Ben the 2021 UCC Computer Science Entrepreneurship award. The judging panel was made up of Shemas Eivers, Chair of Client Solutions and The Boole Investment Syndicate, Myriam Cronin, Manager Gateway UCC Incubation Centre, and Larry O’Donoghue, COO CorkBIC, who sponsored the award.
The award, which is in its second year, was created to inspire entrepreneurship among UCC’s Computer Science final year students.
Sponsor and COO of CorkBIC, Larry O’Donoghue, expressed the importance of such an award.
“We are delighted to once again sponsor the UCC Computer Science Entrepreneurship Award in 2021. Being involved in this Award goes to the heart of what CorkBIC is about; building businesses based on promising technology and capable innovative people like Ben and his App. The competition was very strong and we look forward to seeing more Entrepreneurs emerge from UCC’s computer science students.”
Professor Cormac Sreenan, Head of UCC’s School of Computer Science & Information Technology, said:
“Ben’s app is a tangible demonstration of the technical skills and knowledge that he acquired during the BSc Computer Science degree. His selection by the panel is testament to his abilities and potential as a future entrepreneur. I would like to thank the judging panel for providing the students with an opportunity to present their ideas, the mentors for helping the students to prepare their presentations and a special thanks to CorkBIC for their continued support for this award.”