Road safety system drives Irish team to tech success

A GROUP of Irish students have gained international recognition for an in-car road safety system designed to save lives.

The team from the Sligo Institute of Technology saw off competition from more than 400 finalists from 70 countries to win a major international technology prize in New York yesterday.

The students were named the winners of the annual Microsoft Imagine Cup, which has been described as the world’s premier student technology competition.

Áine Conaghan, 24, from Ballybofey, Co Donegal; James McNamara, 26, Ballyfarnon, Co Roscommon; Calum Cawley, 21, from Castlebaldwin, Co Sligo, and Matthew Padden, 21, from Ballina, Co Mayo, received a prize of $25,000 (€17,632) for taking top honours in the competition for software design.

Their project involved the design of a device called Hermes, which plugs into a car and monitors dangerous driving behaviour and road conditions and provides instant feedback to the motorist.

The data can also be transmitted via the internet to other users. This could be of benefit to vehicle fleet operators.

James said they were inspired by a desire to help tackle road deaths. He predicted the project could particularly assist younger learner drivers as well as their parents, who might be anxious to monitor their driving.

The students can hope to benefit from a $3 million (€2m) fund established by Microsoft to help various projects to be developed further.

Meanwhile, an Irish scientist at Rice University in the US has been hailed for his role in developing a power cable that will increase the efficiency of electrical grids and lower energy costs.

Alvin White Orbaek, who grew up in Clare and studied at NUI Galway, was part of the team that developed the armchair quantum wire, which weaves metallic nanotubes that can carry electricity with negligible loss over long distances.

Mr Orbaek had previously worked on a space hotel project to house people in people in space by 2012.