31 May 2016
By Elaine Murphy
elaine@TheCork.ie
The CEIA – Cork’s Technology Network – today (Tuesday) launched a new App development competition for transition year students based on the logic of George Boole. SySTEM, a team-based competition that will run over a 12-week period starting in September 2016, will require teams of up to 8 students to establish a mini-technology company and develop an App for a game incorporating the true and false values of Boolean logic.
“This is a brand new programme for us in the CEIA, and we are very excited to launch this today. This competition is very much focused on team work, teams will have to work together to come up with a game concept but also assign team roles such as a project manager, app developer, graphic designer, financial controller and sales and marketing,” said Dr. Eamon Connolly, Electrical and Electronic Engineering Promotion Officer, CEIA.
Orna Sexton from Coachford College and Conor Murphy from Patrician Academy, Mallow pictured launching SySTEM an App development competition for transition year students based on the logic of George Boole Pictures developed by the CEIA. Picture by Gerard McCarthy
“The key activity for teams is to have a clear idea and structure as to what they want to achieve with their game, it’s not necessarily about having a fully functioning App. It is about participating and engaging with IT and STEM subjects,” he added.
The CEIA are calling on schools in the region to sign up for SySTEM, training workshops for teachers as well as industry mentors will be provided for every school participating in the competition.
“This is the first year of the programme so we are looking for schools and teachers to get involved. SySTEM is a fantastic and innovative way of showcasing IT, STEM and engineering as exciting and interesting career options to the next generation,” said Valerie Cowman, Skills and Education Chair of the CEIA.
The CEIA Skills and Education Group promotes STEM education to students from the ages of 10-18 through programmes such as the ROBOT competition, CANSAT competition, maths tutorials linked to the leaving cert curriculum, Discover Science workshops and other events.
The SySTEM programme will kick off from September 2016 and is open to all TY students in Cork.
