Honoring Maura Moore McCune’s Achievement: Irish Patent Certificate at ‘Building Better Business’ Event
December 7th, 2023, 9:30am – Dublin Convention Centre
King’s Hospital School TY student receives Patent Certificate for revolutionary system enhancing safety for visually impaired individuals at a business event in the Dublin Convention Centre.
Maura Moore-McCune, a remarkable 16-year-old innovator, has been presented with her Patent Certificate for her invention of a “System for detecting moving objects for use by Visually Impaired people”. (VIPMOD)
At the “Building Better Business” event organised by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, attended by Minister Simon Coveney, industry leaders, and innovators, Maura Moore-McCune was recognized for her exceptional creativity and ingenuity in creating a solution poised to address the needs of visually impaired people with the potential for reaching global markets.
The system created by Maura Moore-McCune has the potential to revolutionize the global market. This innovative product is the result of Maura Moore-McCune’s resilience, tireless dedication, ingenuity, and purposeful actions aimed at helping other visually-impaired people, not just in Ireland and Europe but around the world, based on her own experiences of being a visually-impaired road user.
The Patent Certificate, an indicator of Maura Moore-McCune’s inventive abilities, was presented by Mr. James Kelly, Controller of the Intellectual Property office (IPOI) and by the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Mr. Simon Coveney, at the Building Better Business event in the Convention Centre, Dublin.
Maura Moore-McCune attends The King’s Hospital School, Palmerstown, Dublin. and is championed by a team of dedicated staff, including her Science teacher, Maura Quinn who immediately identified the potential that Maura has to make real impact for other visually-impaired people. Maura was supported in 2nd year to enter this project in the Scifest Competition, becoming a national finalist and winning the SciFest Intel Technology Award 2022. She has subsequently won multiple awards at the BT Young Scientist, RSA Leading Lights and Keeping it Reel competitions in 2022 & 2023.
Maura said: “I have developed VIPMOD, Visually Impaired Person’s Moving Object Detector, as a System for detecting moving objects, such as cars, for use by visually impaired people.
Several years ago, I was almost knocked down by an electric car, which prompted me to develop VIPMOD,” said Maura, “Now, with the help of HGF patent lawyers and OCO Global, I’m in a position to commercialise my invention, and I’m actively seeking partners to help me to do this, as I’m still in secondary school. Through the development of this invention, I aim to break down barriers especially for visually impaired road users and to revolutionize road safety. My VIPMOD system has life saving potential, has no carbon footprint and is progressive in the digital world we all live in.”
Headmaster Mark Ronan said: We are extremely proud of Maura today for her determination in bringing this project to life. Maura is a talented and inspirational student who has achieved so much inside and outside the classroom in her young life. She has a remarkable curiosity and passion for the environment and making a difference in people’s lives, which is now a real possibility with the groundbreaking development of the VIPMOD. As Maura is only in Transition Year, her teacher’s are really excited to support her into the senior cycle, as she embarks on this incredible journey.
But Maura has always set her sights on bigger things; to bring her project to the market and into the hands of the people who can benefit from it. A dream team with Maura in the role of leader and in the driving seat, was built including Marie Walsh and Dr. Rosi Armstrong, European Patent Attorneys at HGF Limited, IP Specialists, as well as Kilian Cawley, Aodhan Hickey and Gareth King at OCO Global, a team renowned for its expertise in market research who lent their support by advising on commercialisation strategy and by conducting in-depth market analysis for Maura’s invention. The insights and guidance of the OCO Global team have been instrumental in shaping the commercialization strategy for this innovation.
Kilian Cawley, Director at OCO Global said “Maura is an inspirational young entrepreneur, who is using digital innovation to provide positive life changing impacts in the lives of visually impaired people worldwide. OCO Global was delighted to assist her with international market research and intelligence which will help shape the next steps towards international success with her innovative digital visual solution. Maura represents the future of Irish entrepreneurs and innovators which will continue to make Ireland recognised as a technology and digital hub internationally. OCO Global looks forward to continuing to support Maura in the next steps of her entrepreneurial journey.”
Global statistics reveal the pressing need for assistive technologies like VIPMOD, with an estimated 2.2 billion people facing vision impairment, of which a significant portion could benefit from preventive measures and innovative solutions.
As Maura progresses towards creating a Most Viable Product (MVP), she seeks collaborations with business partners to further her commercialization plans. Her dedication to innovation and passion for making a difference stand as an inspiration to students and inventors worldwide.
Some of Maura’s previous accomplishments and recognition for her innovative device:
- SciFest – National Final Winner – Intel Technology Award 2022-
Maura Moore McCune F2 with her project on VIPMOD won 1st Place in the Technology Category and Best Overall Project.
https://images.app.goo.gl/XCNXHCZfNHmk9hUZ6
- BT Young Scientist – Multiple Awards 2022
- RSA Leading Lights in Road Safety Awards 2022 – Future – Joint Award – Maura Moore, Vision Impaired Person’s Moving Object Detector
- Real Science – Keeping it ‘Reel’ Filmmakers Science and me award – 2023
https://vi.ie/ncbi-podcast-meets-15-year-old-inventor-maura-moore-mccune/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEXphdHfeIM
