NUI Galway has appointed Mary Carty as director of Blackstone LaunchPad, an enterprise programme that opens its doors to students at the university this week.

Based on a proven programme developed at the University of Miami, the Blackstone initiative is described as an "experiential campus programme, designed to introduce entrepreneurship as a viable career path and develop entrepreneurial skills and mindsets through individualised coaching, ideation and venture creation support".

Carty (pictured) brings to her new job a decade of experience in technology and startups. She founded two multi-award winning technology startups and was a BAFTA Interactive finalist, as well as working in the public, private and non-profit sectors as an advisor, programme developer, keynote speaker and lecturer.

A graduate of Ulster University, with an MA in Material Culture and an Advanced Diploma in Management, Carty was listed on Ireland's 'Talented 38', the Sci-Tech Top 100, and was an Image Magazine Business Woman of the Year Award finalist for Social Entrepreneurship. She served on the board of the Irish Internet Association and is an adviser to STEMettes, a British social enterprise that encourages more young women into careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Welcoming Carty, UCG president Dr Jim Browne pointed out that the programme will build mutually beneficial relationships with other Blackstone LaunchPad sites at University College Cork and Trinity College Dublin, along with the Blackstone LaunchPad network in the USA.

In Association with

The initiative was developed as part of the Blackstone Charitable Foundation's Entrepreneurship Initiative and modelled on the successful programme at the University of Miami.