Limerick-educated tech billionaire visits software students in UL

LIMERICK-EDUCATED tech billionaire John Collison took the time to speak to students about their future careers as part of a visit to the University of Limerick campus.

The Castletroy College graduate, who co-founded the payment service Stripe with his brother Patrick, spent the afternoon with the new Immersive Software Engineering (ISE) students, a course he helped co-design and that guarantees placements in Stripe.

"Fun to get to meet the first class of Immersive software students today. Really sharp bunch," the President of Stripe said, reflecting on his visit to UL on October 18.

Our new Immersive Software Engineering students were lucky today to hear from global tech leader @collision when he came to campus to discuss their projects, answer questions about their residencies and give some insights into running Stripehttps://t.co/sjMwg8CMzI#StudyatUL pic.twitter.com/6mn7aCg9MK

— University Of Limerick (@UL) October 18, 2022

The university informed that students were lucky to hear from John about their projects, who also answered questions about their residencies and gave some insights into running Stripe, which is headquartered in both Dublin and San Francisco.

Mr Collison, who first moved to Silicon Valley in California in 2007, while still a Leaving Certificate student in Limerick, was this year estimated to be the 187th richest person in the world, with an estimated net worth of $11.4 billion.

The tech mogul also took took part in a question and answer session while visiting UL students.

He described a career in software engineering as "one of the world's best kept secrets" stating that software engineers are well-paid, work around the world on pressing problems and also opined that the world doesn't have anywhere near enough of them.

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When asked about the importance of the ISE course in its inaugural year in Limerick, he said: "UL is the perfect place to disrupt software engineering education. It’s the upstart university."

He also stated that UL has a great history in creating lasting change spurred on by plucky outsiders, through the co-op education model employed across the university.

Mr Collison, who this year purchased both the luxurious Abbeyleix Estate and Millbrook House in County Laois for use as future family homes, concluded by saying that his intention is to "mint" the very best software engineers in the world, in Limerick.

"ISE graduates will leave with both a masters and two years’ industry experience, that’s an immense advantage over everyone else, whatever you decide to do next," he told them.