Nursing student from Drogheda wins merit award at Enterprise Ireland Student Entrepreneur awards
Max is a second year student BSc (Hons) in General Nursing at the Dundalk Institute of Technology (DKIT) and was presented with his award at a ceremony in TUD Blanchardstown, following a tough competition.
Ten innovations which address a range of global challenges were shortlisted for the final of the 44th annual Enterprise Ireland Student Entrepreneur Awards.
They included medtech devices, sustainable solutions and pioneering sports tech focused innovations.
Max's entry RespÉire is a short-term respiratory rate monitoring device designed to assist nurses during patient observations.
As respiration rate is often the earliest indicator of clinical deterioration, the device offers a more efficient and accurate alternative to current manual methods - aiming to save time, reduce costs, and improve patient outcomes
Speaking after receiving his award, Max said: "So far it's been a very exciting journey since I started working on RespÉire just four months ago and discovered this amazing world of support for Irish entrepreneurs.
'Entrepreneurship wasn't something that I was contemplating when I was focused on my nursing studies, so you can imagine my surprise, when RespÉire was chosen from over 1,000 students then narrowed down to 50 and then one of the final 10.
'Receiving the Cruickshank High Achieving Merit Award was an absolute honour and I am so grateful for this recognition. To any of my fellow student nurses and anyone else who thinks they have a great idea, don't be afraid to explore it, as you never know what you might achieve."
The Enterprise Ireland Student Entrepreneur Awards is focused on supporting students to turn their smart ideas into commercial businesses, and aims to encourage and stimulate entrepreneurship by helping students.
The annual initiative, which invites applications from third-level student innovators, is co-sponsored by Cruickshank, Grant Thornton and the Local Enterprise Offices.
Ryan Ormonde and Jonathan Hoffman from Saor Water, a bespoke canned water solution for brands who are seeking a sustainable alternative to plastic bottles were named as the overall winners of the 2025 Awards.
The company offers custom-branded aluminium cans and a low-minimum order service, which includes design, compliance, and logistics.
As the overall winners of this year's competition, Technological University Dublin students Ryan Ormonde and Jonathan Hoffman have won a €10,000 prize, as well as mentoring supports from Enterprise Ireland experts and advisors.
The other six finalists from this year's competition also received a prize of €1,500 each from the Enterprise Ireland Merit Awards Fund.
This year's winners will also benefit from comprehensive business advice and mentoring supports from Enterprise Ireland and the Local Enterprise Office, Intellectual Property consultancy and protection from Cruickshank and business plan development from Grant Thornton.
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