Meet the speakers at TechTides Youth 2026
A game that helps players look after their mental wellbeing, a platform that makes life easier for farmers and a movement for better women’s health. These are some of the ideas you’ll hear about at TechTides Youth 2026.
We’re bringing together young founders, researchers and creators to share what got them started and what they’re building now. We’re also welcoming back two past Hightop winners to tell us how they turned an idea into something their community could use.
Who’s speaking at TechTides Youth 2026
Ava McGurk – Illuminate Labs
Ava McGurk is a researcher, founder and community builder from Belfast. At 18, she has already been named on Ireland’s 30 Under 30 list. She explores how psychology and technology can help people recognise and develop their potential.
Ava began publishing research at 12 and has been named Northern Ireland Young Scientist of the Year four times. She jointly leads Illuminate Labs, where she helps young people across Northern Ireland and the border counties access the tools, opportunities and community to build their own ideas. Her work is driven by the belief that talent is everywhere, but access to opportunity is not.
Precious Obasohan – She Health
Precious Obasohan is a biochemistry graduate from Queen’s University Belfast, women’s health advocate and founder of SHE Health, a platform making women’s health information and resources more accessible both digitally and in person. She is a DigiBio Healthtech Innovation Fellow at RCSI and DkIT this year.
Precious founded the SHE Women’s Health Forum 2026 at Stormont, bringing together policymakers, healthcare professionals and advocates to advance women’s health policy. Her work focuses on cross-border collaboration, health innovation and improving women’s healthcare across Ireland. Precious will talk about building a movement, how she got started and what’s next for SHE Health.
Caitlin Houston & Natan Kryslak – Woodlouse Studios
Woodlouse Studios is an indie game design company, based in NI, that focus on building community. They are currently creating a game called Blossoms, a story based game about mental health that aims to teach the players about the 'Take 5' initiative and how to look after themselves and their mental wellbeing.
They will talk about what its like to study at Ulster University whilst building a game with a global reach and what they’re looking forward to next.
Ben O'Connor – Farmflow
Ben O'Connor is an award winning 16-year-old serial entrepreneur from County Down, Northern Ireland, and the founder of FarmFlow, an innovative digital farm management platform.
Raised on a family dairy farm near Castlewellan, O'Connor experienced first-hand the overwhelming administrative and compliance burdens facing farmers, inspiring him to develop an adaptive software solution that streamlines task management, livestock medical records, and workforce communication.
Ben's entrepreneurial journey began long before this agricultural venture; he launched a firewood business at age 11 and later founded Giftery, a highly successful mail-order gift basket venture that sold over 200,000 units. Recognised for his digital innovation in the agricultural sector, he was named Young Innovator of the Year at the 2026 British Farming Awards and featured in the Belfast Telegraph's 30 Under 30 list.
Louie Proctor | Planetary Studios
Louie is a North West Regional College IT student who has spent the past year turning his love of gaming into projects that help other young people get involved.
He developed the TechTides Youth competition portal to remove barriers to entry.
Louie has also supported over 80 young people across the north west to use AI tools on civic issues that matter to them. He is North West Coordinator for the Builders Network at Illuminate Labs, leading monthly tech and AI meet-ups for young builders.
Louie volunteers with gaming charity Kippie, building gaming PCs and representing it at Game Jam competitions. At TechTides Youth, he will share how to go from playing games to building the things around them.
Returning Hightop winners | Rebecca Furey and Jayden Tang - Sparks DC
Meet Sparks DC: A team of young people from Derry who saw a problem and decided to fix it themselves. They were just 16 and 17 when they came up with the idea.
They wanted to make it easier for young people to find art, sport, music, meetups, programmes and events, and to feel better for getting involved. So they went out and asked young people what they actually need. Then they built it. Out of 11 finalists, they won the Hightop Competition. Come and hear how they did it, and what you could build next.
Join us at TechTides Youth
TechTides Youth takes place on Monday 23 November 2026, from 10am to 2pm, at the Foyle Theatre in the Foyle Building at North West Regional College. Join us to hear from this year’s speakers, meet other young people interested in technology and learn how local founders and creators turned their ideas into projects.
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