Calor’s First Ever Hackathon: Innovating for a Better Customer Experience

In late May, Calor hosted its first ever hackathon at the picturesque Tinakilly House, marking a significant step towards innovation and customer-centric solutions. Over three exhilarating days, 30 Calor staff members, alongside expert partners Imvizar, Deloitte, and Storm, collaborated on four groundbreaking ideas, aiming to impress our esteemed judging panel.

Day 1: Kickoff and Inspiration

The hackathon, themed “Hack to the Future,” began with a motivational speech from our CEO, Duncan Osborne. He highlighted Calor’s rich 87-year history and the imperative for continuous innovation to secure our future. Following this, Deloitte delivered an insightful presentation on the innovation process, setting the stage for our teams’ creative journeys. The day concluded with a visit to the newly opened whiskey distillery on Tinakilly’s grounds, providing a perfect blend of relaxation and inspiration.

Day 2: Ideation and Prototyping

Day two started with invigorating walks, runs, and swims around the beautiful Tinakilly grounds, energizing our teams for the challenging day ahead. The focus then shifted to building prototypes. With the final pitches looming, our teams received a captivating presentation on the art of pitching from ACNE/Deloitte. The teams worked diligently, often late into the night, perfecting their prototypes and pitches for the final presentation at Calor’s offices.

Day 3: Final Presentations and Judging

The anticipation was palpable on day three as the four teams prepared to present their final prototypes to a packed office and a panel of judges, including Calor CEO Duncan Osborne, SHV Energy Director of Innovation Adriano Jorge, and SHV Energy CIO Paulo Rodriguez. The teams, clearly influenced by Dylan Cotter’s pitching workshop, expertly articulated the problems they aimed to solve, the functionality of their prototypes, and the value these innovations would bring to Calor and its customers.

After four impressive pitches, the judges faced the tough task of selecting a winner. The team comprising Mary Coughlin, Liam Higgins, Matt Carlin, Ciaran McKenna, and Michael Guerin from Imvizar emerged victorious with their innovative solution for siting tanks using augmented reality.

Moving Forward

The hackathon culminated in an inspiring showcase of creativity and teamwork. The prototypes developed over these three days are now being refined and prepared for implementation, promising exciting advancements for Calor and its customers.

A massive thank you goes out to all participants, especially Tinakilly House for hosting the event, and our expert partners Deloitte, Imvizar, and Storm for their invaluable assistance. Together, we are driving innovation to enhance the Calor customer experience and secure our growth for the future.