Nurturing Bright Minds, Creativity & Ambition
To enhance the entrepreneurial eco-system across SETU, the GROWTHhub project has established a community of Entrepreneurial Ambassadors that will work closely with SETU to support entrepreneurial ambitions.
The SETU GROWTHhub Entrepreneurial Ambassador programme engages individuals with the background, experience and enthusiasm to deliver entrepreneurial and related insights and support work for SETU students, staff and stakeholders.
Together they form an entrepreneurship and innovation network (e&iNetwork) that aims to provide students and staff across SETU with rapid access to a broad and deep base of knowledge, experience and contacts. Specifically, they will provide insight into the challenges of creating and growing an enterprise, social or cultural venture and advise on how an entrepreneurially-minded individual can succeed.
As well as providing inspiration for our students, Entrepreneurial Ambassadors are embedded in a number of Schools, contributing their thinking and insights into new programme development, community engagement and knowledge exchange.
The Entrepreneurial Ambassadors showcased below are the first in our e&iNetwork, and we look forward to growing this network across the university in the future.
Entrepreneurial Ambassadors
Miriam Dunne
Chair of ISACS
A founder member of Waterford Spraoi, Miriam left the company in a full-time capacity in 2012 to concentrate on new work opportunities. While still working with Spraoi on certain projects, including the curation of the annual Spraoi festival, over the last number of years she has built up a varied client base, including Cat Laughs Comedy Festival, Fidget Feet Aerial Dance Company, Cork City Council, Kilkenomics Festival and the Irish Aerial Creation Centre. Work with these clients, and others, includes production management, strategic planning, curation of events and consultancy. She is constantly seeking out opportunities to work with existing and emerging artists and events, and has established a solid network of contacts, both in Ireland and internationally.
Miriam was a Board Member of the Arts Council of Ireland from 2014-2019, the first appointee to the national board to represent outdoor arts. She is currently Chair of ISACS (Irish Street Art, Circus and Spectacle Network) and also sits of the board of The Walls Project, who produce the annual Waterford Walls festival.
John O'Connor
Founder & CEO of Kollect
John values the proximity of SETU (South East Technological University), having welcomed numerous graduates into his companies. Their contributions have been invaluable, reflecting the high-quality education and entrepreneurial support provided by the university. Additionally, many of his companies have offered work placements to SETU students, fostering a symbiotic relationship that benefits both the students and the businesses. Beyond healthcare and waste management, John's diverse portfolio includes ventures in the food industry, alongside successfully exiting his bitcoin lending business, Verify21, to a major national lender last year. With an eye for disruptive opportunities, John continues to make waves in multiple sectors
Eva Milka
Co-founder of Gaelic Escargot
Since 2013 they have been dedicated to researching and farming snails, with a particular focus on free-range and sustainable production. They have supplied Irish escargots internationally and are now diversifying their operations.
Recognising the widespread mental health challenges faced by many and healing benefits that working with the land brings, Gaelic Escargot is exploring the integration of farming into psychotherapeutic practice, an area that Eva is currently studying. This innovative initiative seeks to address mental health issues by leveraging the therapeutic benefits of farming.
Gaelic Escargot is proud to be at the forefront of passion and excited to spread the story of farming escargots to the greater community. Our reputation is built on know-how, perseverance, dedication and the continuous innovation within the industry.
Dean Roche
Owner of Precision Health Performance
Jens Köpke
CEO OF Motoklik
At 7 I started into motocross and over 20 years later, I still love riding the bike. I have my older brothers to thank for this, as it all stems from when we traversed the country in our '92 Transit to get our racing fix.
Having always been technically minded, I decided to use my skills in Technical Drawing and Maths to pursue engineering through my studies in South East Technical University Waterford. However, the opportunities for working in Motorsports in Ireland are pretty much non-existent and with the responsibilities of parenthood, I decided to support my young family as best I could through Technical and Engineering roles in Ireland.
My ambition to work in Motorsports never left, and following a crash due to incorrect suspension setup in 2016, the path to Motoklik came to be. I have truly embraced the challenge of this start-up, and I am driven to bring Motoklik to market, and in so doing, give others in Ireland the opportunity to work in Motorsports, just as I have always wanted to.
Tammy Darcy
Founder & CEO of the Shona project
To date TSP has delivered workshops to over 30,000 girls in every corner of Ireland and delivered the IMRO award-winning Shine Festival, bringing together thousands of girls each year to hear from inspirational and empowering role models.
Tammy is passionate about ensuring every girl in Ireland achieves her potential, whatever that means for her. The organisation is a tribute to Tammy's sister Shona, who passed away in 2023 after a long illness, with no idea that TSP has supported over 100,000 young women in her name.
Over the years Tammy has received many awards for her work including the Irish Red Cross Humanitarian of the Year in 2021 and The European Citizens Award 2023. She regularly appears on TV, radio, podcasts and newspapers and has been invited to speak to royalty about her work. She is also a published author, and released her first book, You’ve Got This, a beautiful resource for young women in 2021. She was also the founding CEO of SERI, the representative body for social enterprises in Ireland.
Alan Quinlan
Financial Services Executive
Alan Quinlan
Financial Services Executive
He is also a seasoned Entrepreneur having co-founded several businesses across multiple sectors including Technology, Financial Services and Nutri Sciences.
Alan is a graduate of the SETU having completed his BBS in 2001 and attained his MBA in 2016 from Macquarie University in Sydney.
Alan has worked closely with the SETU over the last few years to help academics commercialise their wonderful work which to date has resulted in 2 spin out companies and a number of others in the pipeline."