Dragon’s Den Star for Student STEM Showcase

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Star of RTE’s Dragon Den and owner of Cara Pharmacy, Ramona Nicholas, has been confirmed as the guest speaker at the Student STEM Showcase at IT Sligo during Enterprise & Innovation Week on Thursday, March 14th.RamonaDragons240JCLandscapeWEB

From Co Tyrone, Ramona set up Cara Pharmacy with her husband in September 2002 and now owns 15 businesses; 12 pharmacies and three CARA HOME stores. The business has won numerous awards, including the Deloitte Best Managed Company Award in 2012.

A pharmacist by profession, Ramona will join a number of other experts in the fields of Science, Engineering Technology and Maths at the Student STEM Showcase which will run from 11am to 4pm in IT Sligo’s Hume Hall. Also attending will be SMART Futures, the Institute of Physics in Ireland, Intel, and a wide range of research active staff and students from IT Sligo.

An evening session on STEM Subjects specifically for parents will be held in the same venue at 7pm, and will feature presentations and advice from experts at IT Sligo.

The event was initiated by Senator Susan O’Keeffe and is organised by IT Sligo in partnership with Sligo Education Centre. It aims to demystify and promote the STEM subjects as a career and business option for students. Senator Susan O’Keeffe said: “As a parent in a world where there are tremendous advances and changes in science and technology I want to reach out to parents so that we can all better support our young people as they make subject choices and career choices. The experts we have invited to this event can help parents and young people to understand the many opportunities out there.”

The STEM events are just one element of a three-day long programme of events in the Connacht-Ulster Alliance Enterprise & Innovation Week, which is a collaborative effort by the three Institutes in the Alliance, IT Sligo, GMIT and LYIT.

On Tuesday March 12th, a Regional Futures Conference in association with IBEC will be held in Donegal Town with guest speakers Danny McCoy (IBEC), Padraic White (former IDA MD) and the President of IT Sligo, Professor Terri Scott, and on Wednesday March 13th IT Sligo will host an event aimed at aspiring entrepreneurs and business people, called ‘Working Locally – Trading

Globally’. This event will run from 10.30am in the Institute’s Hume Hall and will involve a panel discussion hosted by the presenter of Ocean FM’s business programme Up and Running, Daniel Browne. Advice and tips on how to secure funding and support for start up business will be available at the event is open to members of the public to attend.

Head of Innovation at IT Sligo, Niall McEvoy said; “Enterprise and innovation are of major importance nationally and at the European level given their potential contribution to job creation and economic recovery. The combined resources of GMIT, LYIT and IT Sligo working with the State development agencies will play a major role in fostering our region’s economic recovery, hence our tagline – stronger together.”

For more information on Enterprise and Innovation Week, click here.

Caption for the above photo: Ramona Nicholas, star of Dragons’s Den and guest speaker at Student STEM Showcase at IT Sligo during Enterprise & Innovation Week on Thursday, March 14th.