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The Aquasnap - no more leaks... Student Enterprise Awards
enterprising

How do you stop your water bottle leaking onto your iPad?

Hundreds of secondary school students are creating businesses for national entrepreneurship final. This little invention is just one of the entries.

DON’T YOU HATE it when a bottle of water drips into the bottom of your gym bag?

This and other minor – and major – challenges in daily life are being tackled by hundreds of student entrepreneurs and inventors around the country.

The solution to the bottle problem is the ‘Aqua Snap’, a keyring invented by students in a Co Longford school. They have entered their company into the Student Enterprise Awards 2013. Their entry tells us:

The students came up with the idea during a brain-storming session in their classroom, when they were trying to come up with solutions to everyday problems experienced by their peers.

From next year, First Year students at the school will all be carrying iPad tablets with them every day. A leaky water bottle or soft drinks bottle could cause damage to this technology, but an Aqua Snap keyring would help students keep their iPads dry on the inside.

The students – Peter Bohan, Cathal Hughes, Rioch Farrell and David Shannon – are responsible for all aspects of design and manufacture. They come from the Mercy Secondary School in Ballymahon.

Other ideas entered in the competition, run by the County and City Enterprise Boards, include:

  • a torch holder that magnetically connects to cars (to help in changing tyres at night)
  • a farm crate which improves the speed of dosing of cattle
  • an earpiece to help drivers stay awake behind the wheel
  • a guide to piano scales – literally, teaching by numbers

Five members of the winning senior category team will go to Rome for an educational trip as part of their prize and the national finals will be held on Wednesday, 17 April in Croke Park. Shortlisted ideas and companies from 300 teams will be exhibited on the day, and the students will get the chance to present to judges before the awards are announced in the early afternoon.

The point of the competition is to compliment the business studies curriculum but in particular gives students the chance to gain practical skills in developing ideas and bringing them to fruition, much as they might in the real business world. More of that, we say!

Column: ‘You need passion to be an inventor’>

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