Stir it up

THE BRAINS behind a drinks stirrer that detects alien substances in beverages was the winning product of this year’s Accenture Leaders of Tomorrow (Lot) programme. Clare McCollum, a University of Ulster student, designed her “DipSticks” project to alert consumers to the potential dangers of drug-related sexual assault. She impressed the judges because of her project’s clear commercial potential and edged out competition from several hundred entries.

The competition, now in its third year, aims to promote entrepreneurship and management skills in third-level colleges throughout the island.

A native of Co Derry, McCollum has just completed her final year of a business with marketing course. The incidence of the spiking of drinks of a number of local acquaintances proved the inspiration for her idea. The idea of the DipStick is that it resembles an ordinary plastic cocktail stirrer that will change colour if it detects an alien chemical.

The product will allow users to quickly and simply provide a test for illicit substances, especially in bars and nightclubs where drink spiking may be a risk. Another perceived benefit of the DipStick is that it will help to educate people about the potential for drink spiking.

McCollum believes that the idea will appeal to drinks companies conscious of their social responsibilities and has identified them as the clear target market. The DipSticks would incorporate a branding opportunity for the beverage manufacturers. “It’s a one use product and the aim would be to have a unit price of under 10 pence,” she explains.

McCollum is currently looking for funding to develop the idea to full prototype stage. She is investigating the steps involved in patenting it and hopes to approach a number of drinks companies in the near future to ascertain their interest. Based on a positive reaction, she also hopes to partner with someone who can help her exploit its full commercial potential.

According to the judges, one of the main reasons for McCollum being chosen as overall winner was the obvious work she has put in to ensuring this will be commercially viable. She has completed comprehensive market research – DipStick currently has no direct competitors and it is believed that there could be strong potential for exporting the product.

In the meantime, Clare will enjoy the benefits of a trip to New York to take part in the Accenture Leadership Experience Tour and this will be followed by a six-month internship at Accenture to help her to develop her management and leadership skills. This internship will see her working across consulting, business process outsourcing and technology divisions.

The competition attracted entries from students with a mixture of business and science backgrounds.

“As an Irish company it is part of our role and responsibility to support leadership and entrepreneurship amongst students as they are the future business leaders of this country and will ultimately help shape the prosperity of Ireland Inc as a graduate-oriented organisation,” explains Marian Corcoran, head of business consulting at the firm.

Corcoran says encouraging entrepreneurship and leadership skills in younger people was especially important during economic downturns. Adversity often provides a very good backdrop to developing innovative ideas, she says.

The competition also provides a good link between Accenture and third-level colleges, with obvious spin-offs in terms of the recruitment of talent.

Accenture received several hundred entries from students representing all the main colleges across Ireland and Corcoran says that the standard of entries has been steadily improving since the competition was first launched.

Six finalists were chosen and they received three days of management and leadership training at Accenture. This included presentations from Accenture staff and guest presenters as well as psychometric testing and team building exercises.

In selecting the final winner, each of the finalists had to pitch their business ideas to the judging panel in a Dragon's Dentype presentation. Corcoran says McCollum stood out because of the quality, depth and commercial strength of her 100-page business proposal and also noted that the judges were impressed that they were each asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement with her.

The five runners-up were: David Gilchrist and Enkeled Uldedaj, DCU, who won the Best Technology Enabled Solution category with 3-D whole-body scanning technology. Patricia Williams, WIT, won the Best Demonstration of Strategic Thinking category with Perforium, a scorecard for measuring leadership values and engagement within organisations.

Maire Griffin, UL, for a study of link between foetal development in the womb and health outcomes in later life. Sinead Geraghty and Sean Donnelly, DCU, for a business simulation game using real life companies to develop strategic thinking. Victoria Whelton, TCD, for a project involving capturing kinetic energy (at gyms etc) and establishing a power generation and crediting mechanism.

The 2010 judging panel included: John Herlihy, VP global ad operations Google; John Moloney, chief executive Glanbia; Liam Kavanagh, MD The Irish Times; Niamh O'Donoghue, director general Department of Social Protection; Mark Ryan, Accenture Ireland MD; and Marian Corcoran, head of business consulting at Accenture.