Innovation for Undergrads at NUI Galway

An Taoiseach Enda Kenny TD launching Blackstone Launchpad in July 2015

Earlier this year, the US-based charitable foundation, Blackstone, extended its campus entrepreneurship programme ‘Blackstone LaunchPad’, outside the US for the first time, to include NUI Galway. The foundation’s threeyear, €2 million grant will establish a partnership between NUI Galway and two other Irish universities, introducing entrepreneurship as a viable career option and providing over 50,000 students, with a network of venture coaches and an entrepreneurial support system.

“This initiative is designed to help undergraduates explore and bring forward ideas. By choosing NUI Galway as one of the three Irish University recipients, it acknowledges our already strong entrepreneurial ethos and gives us a great opportunity to further promote the culture of undergraduate entrepreneurship in the University,” said Dr. Browne.

Blackstone LaunchPad in Ireland will connect University campuses, business communities and local entrepreneurs to create an environment that nurtures students, providing them with the necessary skills and network required to succeed as entrepreneurs. “Ireland’s young people are driven and curious; they are innovative thinkers - all the qualities needed to become successful entrepreneurs” said Blackstone’s Chairman, CEO and Co-Founder Stephen A. Schwarzman.’

With a physical presence on three University campuses in Ireland and access to the Blackstone LaunchPad global network technology platform, this programme has the potential to generate 1,500 new ventures and up to 3,700 new jobs across Ireland over the next five years. Blackstone LaunchPad will enable students to develop strong entrepreneurial skills and mindsets, building strong enterprises rooted in Ireland, and increasing economic activity even further.

Dr. Jim Browne said: “We want our students to participate in this type of activity, allowing them to learn, prior to graduation, the potential they have, gaining confidence to go out into the world and shape their own futures. At NUI Galway, we have a vibrant ecosystem of student innovation and entrepreneurship. Through the Blackstone LaunchPad program, our students will now have access to an even more powerful international network, based on this national partnership between all three universities. We are delighted to acknowledge the vision and funding of Blackstone Charitable Foundation, with support from the Galway University Foundation, to ensure our students will develop their capacity for innovation and become the entrepreneurs of the future.”

The opening of Synapse, a ‘tech carnival’ run by NUI Galway computer science and information technology students has also caused waves at the University this year. The event took place in September 2015 in the Bailey Allen Hall, providing attendees with unique exposure to the most important companies in the technology sector in Ireland. Dr Browne is convinced that the ‘can do’ attitude so prevalent in Galway will continue to underpin the city’s success.

“The students who have organised Synapse have provided a fantastic opportunity for top ICT firms to come to Galway, exchange ideas and learn about what’s happening in the West of Ireland. Its all enhancing ICT eco system being actively developed here in Galway” said Dr. Browne. Events like this, a marrying of students with corporate Ireland, are essential, giving students a unique opportunity to engage with big business.

“I am very proud that our third year Computer Science and Information Technology students are showing the immense energy and enthusiasm they have for the software industry by making events like Synapse a reality. They are showcasing the kind of drive and determination that is characteristic of NUI Galway graduates, which has been so hugely valued by major employers for many decades. The response of so many Tech Leaders is testament to the hunger for more graduates and talented professionals in the Galway area,” said Dr Michael Madden, Head of the Information Technology discipline at NUI Galway.

We live in a mobile, cloud-based world and highly skilled students are graduating from college, motivated and excited to be part of these technologies; Synapse has provided many of them with a space to get up close and personal with technology giants who share an equal interest in Ireland’s rapidly expanding start-up scene.