Jane Ní Dhulchaointigh

Ní Dhulchaointigh was born in Kilkenny. She grew up on a farm and was constantly repairing broken items. She studied sculpture. At the age of 23 she moved to London to study product design at the Royal College of Art.{{Cite web|url=https://www.epo.org/learning-events/european-inventor/finalists/2018/ni-dhulchaointigh.html|title=Jane ní Dhulchaointigh and team (Ireland)|last=Office|first=European Patent|website=www.epo.org|language=en|access-date=2018-11-21}} Here she came up with the idea of Sugru, a mouldable elastomer that can be used to repair broken items. She combined bathroom sealant with wood-dust powder, which resulted in bouncy ball that looked like wood.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/mar/16/sugru-inventor-jane-ni-dhulchaointigh|title=Sugru, the new wonder material: 'I made a thing like wood, but it bounced'|last=Hickey|first=Shane|date=2014-03-16|website=the Guardian|language=en|access-date=2018-11-21}} She graduated in 2004.{{Cite news|url=http://thegreatdiscontent.com/interview/jane-ni-dhulchaointigh|title=Jane Ní Dhulchaointigh on The Great Discontent (TGD)|work=The Great Discontent|access-date=2018-11-21|language=en}}

File:First fix using @sugru (6922463409).jpg that has been fixed with Sugru]]

She partnered with James Carrigan and Roger Ashby to found the company FormFormForm in 2005 and develop Sugru. She spent 8,000 hours in the lab developing the product, working with silicone scientists. She demonstrated an early product at Electric Picnic.{{Cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/business/innovation/sugru-inventor-jane-n%C3%AD-dhulchaointigh-wins-european-inventor-award-1.3522574|title=Sugru inventor Jane Ní Dhulchaointigh wins European Inventor Award|work=The Irish Times|access-date=2018-11-21|language=en-US}} She won a £35,000 grant from Nesta.{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-business/10139032/How-best-invention-Sugru-went-from-BandQ-to-the-North-Pole.html|title=How 'best invention' Sugru went from B&Q to the North Pole|journal=Daily Telegraph|last=Sinclair|first=Emma|date=2013-06-24|access-date=2018-11-21|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235}} They ran out of funding in 2008, and used social media and crowdfunding to raise enough money to buy machinery, develop packaging and design a website. They went on to secure £250,000 from Lacomp PLC in 2006.{{Cite news|url=https://eoy.ie/entrepreneurs/jane-ni-dhulchaointigh-sugru/|title=Jane ní Dhulchaointigh - Entrepreneur of the Year|work=Entrepreneur of the Year|access-date=2018-11-21|language=en-US|archive-date=22 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181122005821/https://eoy.ie/entrepreneurs/jane-ni-dhulchaointigh-sugru/|url-status=dead}} The product eventually launched in December 2009 and sold out within 6 hours.{{Cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/tjmccue/2011/11/30/sugru-duct-tape-for-makers-and-gadget-lovers/#5edb51945144|title=21st Century Duct Tape - Sugru|last=McCue|first=TJ|work=Forbes|access-date=2018-11-21|language=en}} They were featured in Boing Boing and Wired. She named Sugru after the Irish word súgradh, which means play.

Sugru is sold in over 6,000 shops worldwide. In 2010 Time magazine as one of the world's best inventions.{{Cite news|url=https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2029497_2030629_2029789,00.html|title=The 50 Best Inventions of 2010 - TIME|last=Dyk|first=Deirdre Van|date=2010-11-11|work=Time|access-date=2018-11-21|language=en-US|issn=0040-781X}} She delivered a Ted Talk at TEDxDublin in 2012.{{Citation|last=TEDx Talks|title=Can We All Be Fixers?: Jane Ni Dhulchaointigh at TEDxDUBLIN|date=2012-10-02|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFwv1zvUdDU |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211215/TFwv1zvUdDU |archive-date=2021-12-15 |url-status=live|access-date=2018-11-21}}{{cbignore}} Ní Dhulchaointigh was named as the Design Entrepreneur of the year by the London Design Festival in 2013.{{Cite web|url=https://sugru.com/story|title=Story|website=sugru.com|language=en|access-date=2018-11-21}} She launched Sugru in B&Q shops across the UK and Ireland using a YouTube video to tell their customers about their product.{{Citation|last=Sugru|title=meet Sugru|date=2011-11-11|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXXcq6-3y8g |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211215/rXXcq6-3y8g |archive-date=2021-12-15 |url-status=live|access-date=2018-11-21}}{{cbignore}}

By 2013, Sugru had been used on all seven continents. Ní Dhulchaointigh was selected by EY as one of their top entrepreneurs of the year.{{Cite web|url=https://eoy.ie/entrepreneurs/?theyear=2013|title=Entrepreneurs Archive - Entrepreneur of the Year|website=Entrepreneur of the Year|language=en-US|access-date=2018-11-21|archive-date=22 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181122005746/https://eoy.ie/entrepreneurs/?theyear=2013|url-status=dead}} She was invited to give a keynote at 99U at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Her keynote, The Magic Is in The Process, discussed the six-year process from hmmm to eureka and wow!.{{Cite news|url=https://99u.adobe.com/videos/17813/jane-ni-dhulchaointigh-the-magic-is-in-the-process|title=Jane ni Dhulchaointigh: The Magic Is in The Process|last=Inc.|first=Behance|date=2013-08-09|work=99U by Behance|access-date=2018-11-21|language=en-US}} They developed a foil handle for fencers with fencing equipment manufacturer Leon Paul. In 2014 Sugru was described by The Guardian as a wonder material. FormFormForm were estimated to turn over £3.6 million a year in 2016.{{Cite news|url=https://www.managementtoday.co.uk/meet-woman-behind-sugru-worlds-first-mouldable-glue/women-in-business/article/1356431|title=Meet the woman behind Sugru, the world's first mouldable glue|access-date=2018-11-21}}

Ní Dhulchaointigh spoke at InspireFest in 2017, where she estimated that Sugru had been used to fix more than ten million items.{{Citation|last=Inspirefest HQ|title=Jane Ní Dhulchaointigh, Sugru {{!}} Inspirefest 2017|date=2017-07-14|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGwkZI7udQ4|access-date=2018-11-21}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.siliconrepublic.com/start-ups/sugru-jane-ni-dhulchaointigh-inspirefest-2|title=Sugru's Jane Ní Dhulchaointigh on making a good idea stick|last=Kennedy|first=John|date=2017-07-13|work=Silicon Republic|access-date=2018-11-21|language=en-GB}} They launched a Family-Safe formula that allows children to get involved with making.{{Cite web|url=https://sugru.com/family-safe-formula|title=Family Safe Formula|website=sugru.com|language=en|access-date=2018-11-21}} She won the 2018 European Inventor Award for Small and Medium Enterprises.{{Cite web|url=https://www.epo.org/news-issues/news/2018/20180607.html|title=Outstanding inventors from France, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Switzerland and the US honoured with European Inventor Award 2018|last=Office|first=European Patent|website=www.epo.org|language=en|access-date=2018-11-21|archive-date=23 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190123141809/https://www.epo.org/news-issues/news/2018/20180607.html|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.epo.org/news-issues/press/releases/archive/2018/20180424j.html|title=Mouldable glue gives new life to broken possessions: Jane ní Dhulchaointigh named European Inventor Award 2018 finalist|last=Office|first=European Patent|website=www.epo.org|language=en|access-date=2018-11-21|archive-date=22 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181122092140/https://www.epo.org/news-issues/press/releases/archive/2018/20180424j.html|url-status=dead}} She is the first Irish person to win a European Inventor Award in the history of the prize. The company sold to Tesa in 2018 for £7.6 million.{{Cite news|url=https://inews.co.uk/news/long-reads/sugru-mouldable-glue-putty-finances-jane-ni-dhulchaointigh/|title=Sugru: how a brilliant invention became a financial disaster|date=2018-06-05|work=inews.co.uk|access-date=2018-11-21|language=en-GB}} She is part of the Awesome Foundation, who donate £1,000 into a different idea every month. From 2023, she has been a director on the board of the Irish home building non-profit Common Knowledge.{{Cite web |title=Our Board |url=https://www.ourcommonknowledge.org/board |access-date=2024-02-16 |website=The Common Knowledge Centre |language=en-IE}}

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Category:Irish women artists

Category:Irish designers

Category:Irish inventors

Category:21st-century women inventors

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

Category:Living people