The South East Technological University (SETU) TEAM Academy Entrepreneurial Programme for postgraduate students took place at the Enterprise Research and Incubation Centre (ERIC) at SETU’s campus in Carlow. TEAM Academy is an initiative funded by the Higher Education Authority (HEA), that encourages students to use entrepreneurial thinking to deliver societal impact through appropriate business models.
The ERIC at SETU has partnered with the Rebel School, a London based organisation supporting early stage start-ups, to deliver the programme. Over the course of five days, the Rebel School delivered a comprehensive course consisting of interactive workshops, exciting challenges, and collaborative team exercises. Industry experts from various sectors presented students with real-life challenges designed to encourage innovation, enhance their critical thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making skills. The students embraced the challenges by collaborating in team brainstorm sessions to come up with innovative ideas and solutions. The programme concluded with an inspiring hackathon event, where students demonstrated their skills to industry professionals by providing novel solutions to the challenges they were given.
The TEAM Academy programme gave participants a unique opportunity to immerse themselves in the world of entrepreneurship and to gain valuable practical skills essential for thriving in business.
Speaking about the programme, Brian Ogilvie, Head of Research and Commercialisation Support at SETU in Carlow, said, “TEAM Academy provides an experiential learning process to postgraduate students where they can explore and develop their entrepreneurial and personal skills in a business-driven environment. This process in turn encourages students to ascertain their interest or ambition in setting up a business, securing employment within an entrepreneurial organisation or possibly continue their research interests with an entrepreneurial understanding.”
Peadar Casey, Enterprise Development Manager (TEAM Rural) at SETU in Carlow, commented, “Ambitious postgraduates are important partners and stakeholders in developing a vibrant regional socio-economic ecosystem, the TEAM Academy programme is an opportunity for ‘Pioneering Postgraduates’ to engage with socio-economic challenges and express their entrepreneurial thinking, while capturing insights to career opportunities all within an experiential learning environment”
The Rebel School will return on 27 September 2023 to facilitate a follow up SETU TEAM Academy Entrepreneurship seminar. The theme for this seminar will be ‘The Motivation for Business’ and will provide a platform for networking and sharing insights into entrepreneurship. The event will take place in a co-creative space which has recently been developed by Willie Duggan Lighting in Kilkenny, as part of their entrepreneurship ecosystem development initiative.