dcGAP in the News

We are delighted to see dcGAP participants attracting attention in the business press.

• Belfast Telegraph, Business News, 24/7/15 
• Aaron McConnell
• Irish News, 27/7/15 
• Aaron McConnell
• Coleraine Times, 29/7/15 
• Dominic Holmes
• Aaron Saunders & Mark Taggart
• Mark Sheppard
• Aaron McConnell
• Nathan Wilkinson & Anthony McKenna

Vynomic Takes Agri Wifi to New Markets

With the support of dcGAP, Dr Aaron McConnell has developed his IT solutions company, Vynomic Ltd., which specialises in agri wi-fi.  

"The technology I’ve developed means farmers can have instant visual access to their farms and out-houses at any time"  

This unique product is solar powered and features motion detection and video recording for added security.

"I have all this technology in place and am currently working with Hutchinson Engineering in Kilrea to develop batteries and solar panels"

Participating in dcGAP, has enabled Aaron to refine the financial side of his business and helped him to plan to bring his product to new markets.

"The long-term picture is to take this technology into areas where there have been natural disasters. Very quickly, I can cover hundreds of square miles with network in about half a day and I don’t need any electrical power."

As a dcGAP participant Aaron has benefited from one-to-one mentoring sessions with business mentor Leo Mullan of Causeway Enterprise Agency.

Mark Tees Off with Original Designs

With the support of dcGAP, Mark Sheppard has developed his design business, Weeker Tees.

Weeker Tees supplies original t-shirts designed and made by Mark from his home-based workshop in Portrush. All made to order, they’re inspired by Mark’s love of music and indeed, his own experiences as a part-time musician. It’s a concept which, he admits, could have gone drastically wrong, but Mark’s unique, quirky designs have been a big hit on eBay and he has high hopes for the future.

“Some of the t-shirts are inspired by a line out of a song. Ideas come from the strangest places. I like to let them sit for a while, then I draw the design on a sketch pad and later digitise them, with most of the tweaking then done on the computer.”

Starting off trade testing in January this year, Mark quickly began trading for real as his business took off.  He’s now working on a trademark for his designs and hopes to acquire a business unit in Portrush as soon as possible.

As a dcGAP participant Mark has benefited from one-to-one mentoring sessions with business mentor Leo Mullan of Causeway Enterprise Agency.

Dominic Rehabilitates Virtual Reality Games

With the support of dcGAP, Dominic Holmes has developed a business offering a new experience in virtual reality gaming.

Dominic's Tago Jacket uses haptic technology, also known as kinesthetic communication, to create tactile feedback for gamers. This means they can feel sensations during play – when their character gets hurt for example – as sensory projectors within the jacket translate the sound into a pattern of vibrations.

“When you’re player gets shot, the vest tells you exactly where you got shot to give a more interactive experience,” 

Dominic is a postgraduate student in the School of Computing and Information Engineering at the Coleraine Campus of Ulster University.

“I’m now nine months into my PhD and I’m planning to adapt [Tago Jacket] for use with people with neurological conditions who are rehabilitating.

Dominic goes on to say:

“It’s most likely to be used alongside other rehabilitative technologies, like motion tracking. The patient will get feedback from the vest about how well they performed their exercises. It will make them more aware of how they’re doing and help them adhere to their treatment.”

As a dcGAP participant Dominic has benefited from one-to-one mentoring sessions with business mentor Leo Mullan of Causeway Enterprise Agency.

Creating the Future - Fin 2015

The School of Media, Film and Journalism's end of year show, Fin, was held on 3-10 June in Flowerfield Arts Centre, Portstewart.

This is the fourth year that the show has been hosted at Flowerfield, during which time it has attracted more than 1200 visitors.

"Creativeness, enterprise and inventiveness are key talents to future success,  All these are here in abundance at Fin.  [...]  We are delighted that this show includes an exhibition of of the digital start-up companies, created since September by students and graduates of our school and its partner, the School of Computing and Engineering." 

~ Dr Colm Murphy, Head of School of Media, Film & Journalism.

This very successful annual event was, once again, supported by the dcGAP project and its partners.

Ulster Students Enter the Dragons' Den

University of Ulster students pitched their businesses to a panel of Dragons at the Coleraine Campus on 27 March, 2015.

Below: successful dcGAP participants, Mark Sheppard and Aaron McConnell, meet with the Mayor after the Dragons' Den event.

Left-to-right:

• Mark Sheppard 
• Dr Aaron McConnell 
• Dr Colm Murphy (Head of School of Media, Film and Journalism, Ulster University)
• Councillor Michelle Knight-McQuillan (Mayor of Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council)
• Sarah Travers
• Leo Mullan (business mentor, Causeway Enterprise Agency)

Delivering Value from Big Data & Analytics

The Fifth Big Data and Cloud Computing Event will take place as follows

• Ulster University, Coleraine Campus
• The Octagon
• Wed, 22 April
• 13:00-14:45 (incl. buffet lunch)

Programme:

13:00       Lunch and refreshments
14:00       Android Showcase Awards
14:15       Gareth Diamond (Technology Director, PwC, Belfast)
15:15       Close

So You Want to be a Data Scientist?

The Fourth Big Data and Cloud Computing Event will take place as follows

• Ulster University, Coleraine Campus
• The Octagon
• Thu, 16 April
• 12:00-13:45 (incl. buffet lunch)

Programme:

12:00       Lunch and refreshments
12:45       Professor Richard Hill (Professor of Intelligent Systems, University of Derby)
13:45       Close

So you want to be a Data Scientist?

Big Data, machine learning, analytics - even statistics - are hot topics for modern businesses. As we grapple with the massive volume of detailed and often, disconnected, data, there is an increased appetite for the application of scientific methods to solve problems and provide insight. This presentation looks at some of the emerging careers in data science, and explores the skills required by employers in this exciting new industry.

Third dcGAP Big Data & Cloud Computing Event

Living in an Increasingly Connected World

The third dcGAP Big Data event will take place as follows.

• Ulster University Coleraine
• E204 Riverview Suite
• Wednesday 4 March 2015
• 5:00 - 6:15 (incl. buffet)

Programme:

5:00:      Buffet
5:30:      Professor Gerard Parr  -  CV
              Living in an Increasingly Connected World
6:15:      Close

  

Summary

The growth in the number of digital devices connected to the Internet continues to growth apace.  Currently estimates vary surrounding the projections for the scale of sensors and  devices that will be included range from 50 Billion (Ericsson Mobility Report 2014) to 100 billion (McKinsey December 2014) through to “The Internet of Everything” (Cisco Systems USA) as a $19 trillion global opportunity over the next decade.  According to Cisco, private-sector firms can create as much as $14.4 trillion of value while cities, governments and other public-sector organizations can create $4.6 trillion.

Behind these large numbers are assumptions concerning the availability of adequate digital networking connections and capacity, as well as storage and computational resources.  At another scale, the amount of data that will be generated by all of these connected devices could overwhelm the available networks and connected services.  Solutions need to be found to assist in the distribution and storage of data at increasing volume and velocity.  This presentation will attempt to highlight the growth and impact of  new methods and business opportunities for so-called “On-demand” Cloud Computing and the relevance of the “Internet of Things” to society, business, government  and the wider economy.  It will make reference to some of the research projects taking place at  the Information and Communications Engineering Group within the Computer Science Research Institute at Ulster on Coleraine campus.  It will also highlight some of the latest trends and opportunities whilst highlighting a note of caution…that no one should be left behind!

Second dcGAP Big Data & Cloud Computing Event

The second dcGAP Big Data event will take place as follows.

• Ulster University Coleraine
• E204 Riverview Suite
• Wednesday 7 January 2015
• 12.30 - 1.45 (incl. lunch)

Programme:

12:30:    Lunch
13:00:    Professor Philip Morrow
            - Cloud Computing Support for Big Data Research in
              Medical Imaging - Challenges & Opportunities
13:45:    Close