Innovation awards at Cork's MTU bring technology to the fore
Winners of the MTU Entrepreneur of the Year: Eolan Lynch, Ballincollig; James Ahern, Inniscara; Calum McKenna, Wicklow; Lia Conlan, Bandon; Oscar Cahalane, Carrigtohill; Clara McCarthy, Midleton and Hernan Grisolia, Mallow, for their startup MastiTrak, a mastitis detection device.
New technology to tackle problems in agriculture and healthcare was honoured at Munster Technological University’s (MTU) Prize for Innovation Showcase and Awards Ceremony 2026.
The annual competition awards cash prizes to budding student entrepreneurs whose inventions and business ideas demonstrate creativity, novelty, and strong potential for market success.
The competition, now in its 25th year, is sponsored by the Cork and Kerry Local Enterprise Offices, and the showcase took place at the university’s Bishopstown Campus.
With a prize fund of €14,500, this year’s competition was fiercely contested, attracting over 350 students forming 113 teams or individual applications across MTU’s six campuses in Cork and Kerry.
The top prize of €4,000 and the prestigious title of MTU Entrepreneur of the Year was awarded to a multi-disciplinary team of third-year Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering students from the Bishopstown campus.
Their project, MastiTrak, was designed to detect early signs of mastitis in cattle. By integrating seamlessly into new and existing milking parlours, the device provides farmers with clear, immediate feedback, enabling faster intervention, reducing milk loss, and improving herd health.
The device was developed under the guidance of Professor Sean O'Leary, Department of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering.
A multi-disciplinary team of students from MTU’s Bishopstown and Kerry campuses, studying Software Architecture and Design, Data Science and Analytics, Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering and Photography with New Media programmes won the award for Best Business Opportunity and a prize of €1,500 for their product, FlowTrack.
FlowTrack tackles the issue of equipment misplacement in hospitals and reduces the time healthcare staff spend searching for critical equipment, improving workflow efficiency and allowing more time to be dedicated to patient care.
Fully aligned with HSE Safety standards, the system is designed to work with existing hospital infrastructure, offering a practical and affordable pathway to digital traceability.
The team developed the concept as part of the MTU Innovation Challenge programme with the mentorship of Dr. Anila Mjeda, MTU Lecturer, Faculty of Science and Informatics, Paul Healy, Rubicon Centre’s General Manager, and Sean Donovan, Enterprise Engagement Facilitator, MTU Extended Campus.
This year’s Best Concept Award and €1,500 prize money was awarded to Artificial Intelligence, Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering students for HaloWave, a fall detection and prevention system.
Designed to enhance patient safety in hospitals and hospices, HaloWave combines real-time monitoring with AI-driven predictive analytics to identify when patients may be at risk of falling, enabling staff to intervene proactively and improving response times.
The system was developed under the guidance of Innovation Challenge mentors: Niamh O’Kennedy, Programme Manager for Enterprise Ireland and AnnMarie Barrett, Commercialisation Specialist in MTU.
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