Trinity Business Student of the Year 2018
Posted on: 23 April 2018
Final year Business Studies and French student, Arthaud Mesnard, is this year’s winner of the Trinity Business Student of the Year Award. The Award, now in its 24th year, is one of the most sustained and successful of all student awards in Ireland due to the continuing support of the Bank of Ireland and the Trinity Business Alumni.
The Award recognises and celebrates students who have achieved excellence in a number of categories, including academic, athletic, entrepreneurial, and social engagement. Trinity Business School is particularly proud of the achievement of its students in two of the core aspects of their programmes: entrepreneurship and social engagement.
Provost, Dr Patrick Prendergast said “I would like to pay tribute to the important role that this Award has played in creating today’s successful Business School and the culture of entrepreneurship which we enjoy on campus. Two and a half decades ago – before anyone was speaking of innovation ecosystems or knowledge economies or spin-outs, or indeed Launchbox or Pitchbook – Trinity alumni came together with academic staff and corporate sponsors to find a way to incentivise students to develop their skills and broaden their scope. The aim was simple: to help foster the new generation of entrepreneurs, innovators and business leaders.”
Six exceptional undergraduate finalists were honoured on the evening: Jordan Boyd, Malwina Grondzewska, Arthaud Mesnard, Simon Curran, Isabel Ottewill, and Marcus Kelly. Between them they have engaged in a remarkable range of activities beyond their academics. They have founded start-ups; developed mobile apps; taken part in sports teams; got involved with social entrepreneurship; led student societies; written for student newspapers; contributed research to academic teams; interned with start-ups and with global corporations; and volunteered and fund-raised for NGOs.
The winner of the award, Arthaud Mesnard is a Scholar and serial entrepreneur. During his time on campus he was involved with three start-ups, and in his final year led the Enactus TCD project KeepAppy, an app that empowers people to improve their mental wellbeing. He is a competitive tennis player and up to the age of fourteen expected to become a professional sportsman. During his Erasmus year in Paris Arthaud led a student consulting project to help professionalise a centre that housed and fed 300 Tibetan refugees. He continues his support for charitable organisations through his involvement with Edco, an NGO that builds schools in India. This summer Arthaud will go to SpaceX Headquarters in California with Éirloop, the first Irish Hyperloop team, to present a design of a high speed train in front of Elon Musk.
Commenting on his win, Arthaud said “My experience of Trinity has been fantastic: it has enabled me to develop both personally and professionally and has prepared me for the rest of my life! Thank you to Trinity, the Business School and my peers for making this experience unique!”
Speaking about the many achievements of all the finalists, Dr Prendergast expressed the sentiment shared by those in the room: “I congratulate all six candidate for using your College years to such effect. You are an inspiration and hope for the future, and you set an example for prospective applicants of this Award.”
