MTU’s 2022 Student Innovation Challenge Identified Innovative Solutions for Enterprise Partners

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Nine organisations from the public, private and social sectors throughout the Munster region are taking part in the 2022 challenge and all are seeking innovative solutions to real-life problems, which they are encountering in their businesses. The challenges posed this year are both complex and varied, with potential solutions requiring a strong multi-disciplinary approach. This provides students with an excellent opportunity to engage and network with colleagues from a variety of courses and disciplines across the university.  

The Innovation Challenges for 2022 were submitted by a wide range of organisations including Adam Audio, Autism Assistance Dogs Ireland, Boston Scientific, Clearstream, Crann Centre, EirData, PepsiCo and WAZP. The challenge topics covered areas such as the following:

  • Machine learning in creation and production
  • Workshop design to increase empathy for those effected by autism
  • Streamlining of manufacturing processes
  • Employee recruitment & retention in a competitive environment
  • Personal care in complex support environments
  • Scheduling for complex inventory management settings
  • Cybersecurity in a challenging environment
  • Reclaiming scrap and avoiding creating landfill

This year’s challenge saw undergraduate and postgraduate students participating from a wide variety of disciplines, including Architecture, Business, Computer Science/IT, Communications and Media, Engineering, Science, Beverage Industry Management, Popular Music, Social Care Work, and Human Resource Management.

Michael Loftus, Vice President for External Affairs at MTU, said:

“This year, we are delighted to welcome on board our US colleagues from Endicott College, who bring an international flavour to the challenge. They join students and staff from a broad suite of MTU courses across the university’s Cork and Kerry campuses. The challenges the students are facing this year are diverse and complex and we are very much looking forward to learning about their innovative solutions during the final presentations on 8 March. For the future, we look forward to our students also competing with students from across INGENIUM universities in similar events.” 

Carole O’Leary, Project Manager at MTU’s Innovation & Enterprise Office said: 

“MTU’s Innovation Challenge is a wonderful opportunity for our students to gain valuable experience working alongside high-powered companies to tackle real work problems using research and innovation. Ensuring our students are workplace ready is a key aspect of MTU’s ambitions, and having students working in multi-disciplinary teams to solve such a wide variety of challenges is great preparation for them to enter a dynamic workforce.” 

For further information on innovation and enterprise at MTU, see www.mtu.ie