TCD Engineering Student Wins Prestigious Internet Award

Dec 02, 2010

School of Engineering student, Liam Ryan, was recently presented with the ‘One to Watch’ award at the Eircom Golden Spider Awards for his new business venture, SafeText.ie.  The Eircom Spider Awards honour Irish individuals for their outstanding achievements online, recognise online excellence and innovation, and present a unique platform to highlight emerging trends and future potential growth sectors. 

SafeText.ie is a text message reminder service aimed at women that promotes the health and well-being of its female users.  The SafeText project was set up by Liam and a colleague, Chris Rooney, in September 2009 following market research and consultations with medical practitioners.  Speaking about the service provided by SafeText.ie, the judges said: “Novel, brilliantly implemented, gorgeous to look at and easy to use, the winner’s site also provides a genuinely useful free service that will make lots of peoples’ lives better.  It also cleverly and seamlessly combines internet and SMS technologies.  The site is the real deal – one to watch.” 

Presenting the Spider Award were TV3's Peter Clerkin, Chris Rooney and TCD student, Liam Ryan.

In winning the ‘One to Watch’ award, SafeText.ie beat off stiff competition from other recently launched internet businesses including Just Mobile, AutoDirect and MediaContact.  The awards are judged by a prestigious panel of experts comprised of leaders from industry, commerce, media and academia.  The panel evaluated entries on a diverse range of criteria including content, structure and navigation, visual design, functionality, interactivity as well as overall user experience.  The Spider Awards have become the most prestigious internet awards in Ireland and are widely recognised.