Category: Tech News

Thermo Fisher Scientific has awarded a University College Cork student with the first Thermo Fisher Scientific Prize in Organic Chemistry

Thermo Fisher Scientific has awarded a University College Cork student with the first Thermo Fisher Scientific Prize in Organic Chemistry. Fourth year Chemistry student Ciara Millerick was presented with the inaugural award at the Annual UCC STEM Awards ceremony which took place on the UCC campus.  

To recognise her achievement, Ciara received a €1,000 cash prize along with a commemorative plaque. Open to all students that completed third year in Chemistry throughout the 2022/23 academic year, the prize will be awarded annually to the student who passes with the highest combined mark in the Organic Chemistry modules.  

Speaking ahead of the official award ceremony UCC STEM Awards ceremony, Siobhan Creedon, Thermo Fisher’s Director of Process Development, said: “We are proud to be here today to support the next generation of young budding chemists. It’s an honour to present Ciara with the Thermo Fisher Scientific Prize in Organic Chemistry.  

“Each year we are blown away by the calibre of students that come through the School of Chemistry in UCC. Over the years we have invited many UCC Chemistry graduates to join our team in our Ringaskiddy site and we are consistently impressed by the level of excellence demonstrated. Their dedication and hard work are a testament to the quality of education and support provided by faculty members at University College Cork, and we have no doubt that they will continue to make significant contrib autions to the field of chemistry and beyond.”  

Professor Anita Maguire, Head of School of Chemistry at UCC, said: “We are truly appreciative of the support from Thermo Fisher Scientific for our students, through work placements and other interactions, and now their additional commitment with the launch of their prize. 

“On behalf of the School of Chemistry, I would like to extend a heartfelt congratulations to Ciara for receiving this award. Ciara was an active member of the Chemical Society and regularly assisted in the organisation of events to help spread her passion for chemistry. Ciara – we are extremely proud to count you among our students. Your success is an inspiration to all in the School and we look forward to seeing you continue to make great strides in your academic and professional pursuits.” 

Thermo Fisher currently has approximately 1,200 working across its Irish operations. The active pharmaceutical ingredient development and manufacturing site in Cork is part of its Pharma Services business and is expert in taking chemistry from laboratory scale development through to clinical and large-scale commercial manufacturing.   

Simplified Partner Service Offers Resellers A New Window Into The World Of Evolve IP

Global collaboration provider, Evolve IP, has launched a new ‘window into its world’ of integrated cloud-based communications, to make life simpler for its reselling partners. The creation of a single ‘Anywhere Portal’ is designed to provide a streamlined and more efficient route into Evolve IP’s service stack for provisioning and administration.

Evolve IP works with many of the world’s biggest tech companies and innovative industry leaders to create robust and reliable solutions for a growing reselling partner base. It specialises in securely integrating unified communications, collaboration tools, contact centre, voice, and omnichannel solutions into the cloud.

The Anywhere Portal aims to deliver enhanced levels of service and support. It is based on a new user interface which is fast and clean as well as mobile and desktop compatible.

Powerful step forward

Senior Solutions Consultant, Adrian Penny, says the new portal provides resellers with the ability to provision, manage and support their customers all from a single convenient resource.

“Anywhere Portal is a single space that houses all the solutions our customers have with Evolve IP. We want to make it as easy as possible for them to manage their customers and services. The Anywhere Portal gives them the ability to build and configure all Cisco BroadWorks services via our core telephony platform, allowing them to add customers to detailed configurations easily.”

Benefits include full Webex integration, customer password resets, multi-factor authentication, and bulk upload capabilities. In addition, comprehensive reporting and business analytics is combined with one click functionality to build multiple devices, meaning no more custom credentials.

Penny concluded: “Our previous provisioning portal was much more limited. We’ve added lots more features and functionality based on a sophisticated engine which can automate a lot of the core processes which were previously manual. It reflects our three core pillars of efficiency, automation and simplicity.

“Evolve IP is designed to advance today’s hybrid workplace and the Anywhere Portal represents another powerful step forward to help partners deliver faster, easier and quicker responses to their customers. It’s a win-win for all parties.”

Internal workshops are taking place throughout May to boost knowledge and ensure users become more familiar with the new portal.

Game changer

The launch of Anywhere Portal is being hailed as a ‘game changer’ by Nikki Hough, UC Deployment Manager at leading solutions provider, Babble.

“We can build and deploy a significant number of users easily and efficiently. This complements the industry-leading solutions that Evolve IP can provide the team and makes the Evolve IP offer more complete and compelling,” 

 He added: “Anywhere Portal also provides us with an extra level of security with two-factor authentication; which is of course a priority for any business’s service that they provide. This solution was the missing piece in Evolve IP’s offering and so it’s great to see it in place. We’re excited to explore what we can achieve with the Anywhere Portal in the future.”  

To find out more about Anywhere Portal, visit https://www.evolveip.net/en-gb/solutions/anywhere-portal

Minister Dara Calleary joins Statkraft & Microsoft to turn sod on energy provider’s latest solar project

Minister of State for Trade Promotion, Digital and Company Regulation, Dara Calleary TD, joined Statkraft and Microsoft to turn the sod on Harlockstown Solar – Statkraft’s latest solar project in Ireland.

The 34MW solar project in Co. Meath, which could power the equivalent of almost 9,000 homes, is one of several renewable energy projects being delivered as part of a Corporate Power Purchase Agreement (CPPA) package with Microsoft which was signed last year. Under the multi-year deals, Statkraft Ireland will supply the technology firm with 366MW of clean energy from six of its wind and solar farms.

The CPPA establishes a Community Benefit Fund that will provide grants of approximately €1.3 million over the lifetime of the project to community-led clean energy and environmental justice initiatives to help create a brighter future, and make a difference in the communities that we operate in.

CPPAs enable corporations to procure renewable electricity directly from a renewable electricity generator and with these CPPAs, Microsoft is helping add additional clean energy capacity to the grid. The Government’s Climate Action Plan includes a target of 15% of electricity demand to be delivered from renewable energy CPPAs by 2030. This equates to approximately 6 terawatt hours of additional electricity generation.

Through its renewable energy contract with Statkraft and its other CPPAs announced in November 2023, Microsoft’s procurement will see the development of more than 900 MW of onshore wind and solar energy projects. The company is seeking to make a material contribution to accelerating the country’s journey to a net-zero future.

Speaking at the event, Minister of State for Trade Promotion, Digital and Company Regulation, Dara Calleary TD, said: “Our future is both green and digital, and how we manage data will be a crucial to our decarbonisation ambitions. Renewable energy has a really important role to play in our fight to protect the planet, and I want to congratulate Statkraft and Microsoft on this important initiative. This new solar project has capacity to power the equivalent of almost 9,000 homes – Corporate PPAs have a real role to play in supporting Ireland’s renewable energy and climate targets, and I believe can be an important mechanism to support the wider system changes necessary in the electricity sector to deliver lasting benefits to households, businesses, and local communities.”

Kevin O’Donovan, Senior VP for Statkraft, said: “There is a growing understanding among the public of the importance of solar power to meet the country’s energy needs and security of supply. Every single solar panel installed means importing less polluting and costly fossil fuel while at the same time, bolstering Ireland’s future energy security.

“There is no magic formula when it comes to climate action and meeting our 2030 targets. It will require a range of rapidly deployed technologies and solutions all working in harmony to decarbonise our electricity supply. For that reason, we are delighted today to be announcing the beginning of construction on Harlockstown Solar.”

Donal O’Sullivan, VP for Development and Offshore with Statkraft Ireland, added: “Between now and the end of the decade, we are going to have to use all the tools at our disposal to make the energy transition happen. Projects like Harlockstown contribute to Ireland’s ambition of delivering 15% of new renewable volumes via CPPA while showcasing Statkraft’s experience of sourcing alternative routes to market for its renewable energy projects.”

Eoin Doherty, Microsoft’s Cloud Operations + Innovation EMEA Regional Leader, said: “At Microsoft, we’re committed to becoming carbon negative by 2030. That’s why we’re proud to be partnering with Statkraft to bring additional renewable energy on stream and help the Irish Government to achieve its climate action ambitions. The development of the solar energy project at Harlockstown is one of many projects that are coming on stream as a result of 900MWs of renewable energy contracts that we announced last year, which is a significant contribution to Ireland’s renewable energy corporate power purchase agreement target. As the country works towards achieving a more sustainable future, Microsoft will continue to partner with the energy sector and Government to accelerate the growth of renewables on the energy grid.”

Dublin Smartphone Film Festival is back with a BANG with more Mobile Movie Magic

Now in its 6th year, The Dublin Smartphone Film Festival returns to the Capital for another weekend of mobile movie brilliance. Taking place on June 3rd -DubSmartFF has the usual exciting mix of shorts, features and workshops, but this time at the beautiful MART GALLERY & RATHMINES Ominplex in Dublin 6

This year’s festival is bigger than ever with filmmaking workshops, a range of short films from 15 countries around the globe, and an Irish premiere of the heartbreaking documentary Everybody’s Oma from award-winning with director Jason Vangenderen 

The festival organizers have meticulously curated an exceptional program, emphasizing powerful original concepts and innovative utilization of technology. In an exciting development, this year’s festival has partnered with esteemed brands such as Zacuto, Dreamgrip, and Zhyiun as well as Ireland’s premier tech site, Goosed.ie. These collaborations will offer fantastic prizes and gifts to fortunate audience members coming to the event

Festival Director Robert Fitzhugh commented: “We just could not believe the success of the festival in the past five years. We sell out each year before the doors even open. The pandemic and subsequent lockdowns have brought about an incredible period of creativity with people forced to use the tools they have at their disposal to tell stories. There has never been a more interesting time to explore Smartphone filmmaking. This is what the Dublin Smartphone Film Festival is here to do; to encourage the next generation of filmmakers to create their stories using their phones and to provide them with the widest possible platform to present these stories to a wider audience”

The Dublin Smartphone Film Festival will take place on the 3RD of June 2023 at the Irish Film Institute and online from May 1st to May 7th 

Tickets

Filmmaking Workshop:  https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/630634182817

Gimbal Workshop: https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/630779948807

Shorts Programme: https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/630634182817

Feature: https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/631404145797

 

Edifier Announces W820NB Plus Headphones

Edifier, the forward-thinking audio-technology brand, have announced the release of the W820NB Plus which continues the brand’s outstanding record for affordable but premium quality audio products incorporating the latest technologies.  The W820NB Plus is an update to the top selling W820NB headphones. This latest version features support for LDAC coding, certification of Hi-Res Audio Wireless, 40mm dynamic driver with Titanium coated composite diaphragm for crystal clear listening and up to 49 hours of playtime.

The W820NB Plus is certified by Hi-Res Audio and Hi-Res Wireless Audio, providing a high-frequency bandwidth of up to 40kHz. Whether you prefer wired or wireless connectivity, you can enjoy music with enhanced details, a wider sound field, and richer emotions.

These latest headphones utilize LDAC high-definition codecs technology that allows for a transmission bandwidth of up to 990kbps, similar to a highway in wireless protocol. This ensures that high-bit-rate audio files are transmitted with great protection, retaining about three times the amount of music detail and delivering nearly lossless, natural and full sound.

The W820NB Plus headphones feature Hybrid ANC technology that can effectively cancel up to 43dB of background noise, resulting in an immersive music listening experience. Moreover, these headphones use advanced deep neural network call noise reduction technology, ensuring clear voice calls by accurately capturing the human voice and filtering out unwanted sounds. Business or personal calls can be made and taken with the confidence that call quality is guaranteed.

Equipped with 40mm dynamic driver with Titanium coated composite diaphragm, the W820NB Plus offers an exceptional transient response that enhances the clarity of high-frequency sounds. This results in rich, dynamic bass and clear, well-defined mids and highs, which create an immersive music experience background noise. 

With a high capacity battery and an energy saving Bluetooth chip, the W820NB Plus provides up to 49 hours of non-stop playtime, making it ideal for travel. Even if the battery runs low, charging for just 10 minutes gives up to 7 hours of music playback ensuring that you can listen to your favourite playlist anytime, anywhere without missing a beat! 

Turn on the ambient sound mode and enjoy your music whilst being aware of your surroundings without worrying about missing that important train, plane, bus announcement and more. With an ultra-low game mode of just 0.08 seconds, you will experience perfectly synchronized sound.  Every sound and position is accurately heard, allowing you to fully immerse yourself in your game and play your role effortlessly. 

The W820NB Plus is also compatible with The Edifier Connect App which offers a wide range of musical options and allows you to tailor your listening experience. You can customize settings such as power display, EQ selection, shutdown timer, prompt volume and soothing sounds to your own preference.

Available in Grey, Green, Blue, Ivory or traditional Black, there is a colour for everyone! The super soft headband and ear cushions are comfortable to wear for long periods of time. The retractable headphone arm will give you a secure fit with less pressure and help prevent sound leakage.

Main Features:

  • Immersive sound with both Hi-Res Audio and Hi-Res Audio Wireless certified
  • Active Noise Cancellation with ambient mode
  • DNN noise cancellation technology for crystal clear call quality
  • Up to 49 hours of continuous playback with ANC off
  • 0.08s of low latency for the seamless gaming experience
  • Super soft and comfortable ear cushion for all day entertainment
  • Can be use as wired headphones via a USB cable connection

 

Price & Availability:

The W820NB Plus is available at £79.99 from: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09YV6FRVT

 

 

 

 

BearingPoint renews Leinster Rugby sponsorship as Official Innovation Partner

Management and technology consultancy BearingPoint, has today announced the renewal and extension of its sponsorship with Leinster Rugby as part of a new five-year contract. BearingPoint will continue to partner with the club as their Official Innovation Partner with the aim of helping Leinster realise the potential of its people, technology and ideas.

As part of its new five year contract, BearingPoint will now expand its sponsorship to support the women’s game, with BearingPoint becoming the title sponsor for the Under-17 regional Sarah Robinson Cup.

In addition, BearingPoint will become the new title sponsor for the regional Under-16 Shane Horgan Cup and will sponsor the Women’s Young Player of the Year Award at the end of season awards. Current Leinster Rugby players Tadhg Furlong, Ciarán Frawley, Dannah O’Brien and Ella Roberts are examples of the talent that has come through these underage competitions.

As Innovation Partner, BearingPoint will continue to support the achievement of Leinster Rugby’s goals by providing digital transformation, technology implementation and consulting services.Commenting at the announcement, Gillian O’Sullivan, Country Leader for BearingPoint in Ireland, said: “Leinster Rugby is a well-established high-performance organisation. BearingPoint’s Innovation Partnership over the past five years has contributed positively to creating a successful environment within Leinster Rugby. We are delighted to be continuing our sponsorship with Leinster Rugby and look forward to further collaborative innovation. We are particularly excited to be expanding our sponsorship into the female game through our sponsorship of the Sarah Robinson Cup.”

Over the last five years as Innovation Partner, BearingPoint has implemented a number of innovation projects, from fan engagement, virtual reality experiences and facilitating innovation bootcamps with staff from Leinster Rugby’s Centre of Excellence and Academy.

Shane Nolan, Leinster Rugby CEO, commented: “We are delighted in Leinster Rugby to be renewing our partnership with BearingPoint. Since 2018, they have been a key part of the wider Leinster family and we have thoroughly enjoyed working with Gillian O’Sullivan and Eric Conway who made those early days and indeed the days since then, very easy on our part and very quickly a spirit of partnership and cooperation was formed.

“As a club, we are continually looking to innovate and BearingPoint has been a crucial partner in driving innovation at Leinster Rugby. As recently as last year we explored the possibilities of the metaverse with BearingPoint. This was Leinster Rugby’s first foray into this area and one we plan to explore further with BearingPoint. The announcement today allows us to do that and we are hugely excited to now be further cementing the relationship so that we may continue to explore what can be done between both our organisations over the coming years.”

Nolan added: “Leinster Rugby is keen to be market leaders and innovators in everything we do and partners like BearingPoint are vital in helping us achieve that.”

Creative launches Live! Cam Sync 4K

Creative Technology today announces the release of Creative Live! Cam Sync 4K, the latest webcam that comes equipped with nifty features to meet any video conferencing or streaming needs. With a high-performance Sony 4K UHD 8MP image sensor*, a backlight adjustment feature, and a 95° wide-angle lens, this webcam captures more within the frame and delivers crystal-clear videos even in low-light conditions at a smooth frame rate of up to 40 FPS. Perfect for pros, streamers, and anyone who wants to take their video quality to the next level.

Say goodbye to blurry video quality and hello to 4K perfection with Creative Live! Cam Sync 4K. The Creative Live! Cam Sync 4K is not just about video quality, though. It also has dual built-in microphones that can capture the user’s voice with clarity and accuracy. So, whether for presentations, live-streaming, or just chatting with friends and family, this webcam makes sure that users appear and sound great in any setting. Plus, it has an integrated lens cover for extra privacy and a universal mounting clip that allows greater flexibility for users to find the best angle.

Setting up the Creative Live! Cam Sync 4K is also super easy. It’s UVC-compliant, which means users can jump into virtual meetings and start streaming right away without any additional drivers. It is also compatible with most video conferencing platforms and popular streaming apps. And if that is not enough, it even comes with a SmartComms Kit via the Creative App. This kit includes features such as VoiceDetect and NoiseClean-Out to ensure clearer communication whenever and wherever.

Be it for work or personal use, the Creative Live! Cam Sync 4K is the perfect tool to achieve greater video quality with clear audio to match. Creative Live! Cam Sync 4K is priced at £74.99 and is available at Creative.com. For more information, visit www.creative.com/LiveCam4K

Sennheiser announces SoundProtex hearing protection earplugs

The new Sennheiser SoundProtex hearing protection earplugs enable wearers to hear the best possible sound at concerts and loud environments without having to worry about damaging their hearing. Many people will be familiar with that ringing sound in the ears after a concert, and that’s not a healthy thing. Music fans are often turned off from using earplugs as they can make it feel like the band or DJ is playing under water, which can ruin the concert experience. Utilising the brand’s extensive knowledge of sound, the Sennheiser SoundProtex enhances the live music experience in a safe way.

Perfect for enjoying concerts and festivals

The advanced high-fidelity ear plugs have patented membrane filter technology. This gives users the opportunity to enjoy perfectly balanced and full frequency sound without damaging their hearing. It preserves all the sonic details that make music brilliant and beautiful. By reducing the sound pressure that reaches your ear, the filter lowers potentially harmful volume levels so that users can listen safely for longer. The decibel level at many rock concerts, for example, is above 100 dB, and exposure to such decibel levels for more than 15 minutes already puts the listener at risk of hearing damage.

Balanced sound to preserve ambient awareness

The two-stage filters in SoundProtex are uniquely capable of passing on only clear, balanced sound to a user’s ears. The combination of a tuned membrane and a sound dampening mesh reduces high and low frequencies in equal measure. To understand speech, people rely heavily on higher frequency details. But standard earplugs can mask those details. The perfectly balanced SoundProtex filters keep enough of the higher frequencies to preserve ambient awareness —so users can still have a normal conversation at a concert.

Long lifetime

Unlike single-use earplugs, SoundProtex can be used as often as users like. Just wipe them off after use or rinse them under water. Three sizes of ear tips are included in the standard package which also comes with a small pouch bag. This way, everyone can enjoy a comfortable, secure fit for hours on end. The soft, flexible, medical-grade TPE material is free of plasticisers and other substances that could irritate the sensitive skin in ears.

Multiple use cases

SoundProtex is also great to enjoy some peace and quiet on the road or in a noisy office when users need to concentrate. And whenever the goal is to eliminate as much sound as possible, pop in the included full block filter. It’s perfect any time a user wants complete quiet to relax or sleep and as it is air-and water-tight, it even protects ears from water when swimming.

SoundProtex Plus

The Sennheiser SoundProtex Plus comes with everything included in SoundProtex as well as two additional acoustic filters allowing people to choose between three different levels of sound attenuation to cover any situation from noisy offices to loud concerts.

Choose the strongest filter with an estimated single number rating (SNR) of 20 dB for loud music, motorsports, or power tool use. Medium is perfect for festivals, events, or travelling, with an estimated SNR of 17 dB. The low filter is suitable for quieter or non-amplified concerts, noisy offices, or visiting bars and restaurants and has an estimated SNR of 10 dB. Or, when you want nothing but silence, pop in the total block filter. SoundProtex Plus has the right filters for practically any situation.

Pricing and availability

The Sennheiser SoundProtex and SoundProtex Plus will be available for pre-order on May 16, 2023, and will go on sale on May 30, with an MSRP of 34.99 and 69.99 GBP respectively.

www.sennheiser-hearing.com

Students scoop national prizes at The Big Idea creative thinking awards

Powerful problem solvers and creative critical thinkers – students from across Ireland have learned one of the most in-demand skills in the world, as teams from Carlow, Offaly and Kilkenny have won the top prizes in Ireland’s national creative thinking programme The Big Idea.

Team Community Cara from Borris Vocational School won the overall award having journeyed through the 14-week problem-solving programme, exploring the issue of hidden poverty and developing a solution with potential for real social impact. They developed an idea for an app to support people living in poverty in Ireland to help connect them with local support.

The standard of projects submitted this year in the Youthreach and Community Training Centre (CTC) pilot programme was outstanding and in recognition of the innovation shown across this programme two additional Big Idea national prizes were awarded.

The Youthreach & CTC Climate Change winner was Team YR – Kilkenny Youthreach, who designed an app that would use augmented reality to educate primary school students about the impacts of climate change in their local environment.

The Youthreach & CTC Mental Health Award was won by Team HopOut from Tullamore Community Training Centre in Offaly, who proposed a community hub promoted by a drink’s coaster with a QR code to help support younger men with their mental health.

The Big Idea is delivered through the Leaving Cert Applied (LCA) and Transition Year (TY) programmes, as well as an expanded pilot Youthreach and Community Training Centre (CTC) programme. It was delivered across 22 counties this year, with a successful pilot programme trialled in Northern Ireland.

Students were tasked with working through the four Ds of the creative process – discover, define, develop and deliver – focusing on solutions for issues they identified as major stressors in their lives. These were mental health, climate change, hidden poverty, displaced people, and diversity and inclusion, all aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). With the help of hundreds of Big Idea mentors from a range of sectors, they develop a digital experience, product, service, space or place, or a tech solution to tackle that issue.

Winning ideas

The Climate Change Award went to the Eco Activists from Scoil Bernadette in Cork, who delivered the idea of a wildflower garden at the school, which is a safe space for students and their hero Brian The Bee. 

Sarah’s Strength won the Mental Health Award for St Patrick’s College Dungannon in Tyrone for the website ‘It Takes Strength’, which would support university students’ mental health and wellbeing by offering relevant information and peer-to-peer advice on topics such as financial worries or time management issues. 

Team Immoderate at Mercy Secondary School in Ballymahon in Longford won the Hidden Poverty Award for their development of an idea for an app ‘Incognation’, to build an online community and provide information, resources and support for people experiencing hidden poverty. 

Borris Vocational School in Carlow had a second winner as Team Cabhrú wanted to develop a comprehensive multi-lingual website for the Displaced People category to support refugees to Ireland and offer information on education, housing and employment, as well as a guide to help them settle in.         

Meanwhile, Team The Bois at Meánscoil San Nioclás in Waterford won the Diversity and Inclusion Award for an inclusive mental health journal called ‘Mind Bloggling’,  which supports the emotional wellbeing of young people from all backgrounds. 

Teachers and tutors were also celebrated, as teacher Patricia Dunphy of Mercy Secondary School in Waterford was crowned TY/LCA/NI Creativity Champion, with tutor at Tullamore Community Training Centre Lynsey McCabe winning the Youthreach and CTC Creativity Champion award.  

Elevating the national skill base

Founder and CEO of The Big Idea, Kim Mackenzie-Doyle says the winners were selected by judges based on the recognition and celebration of their journey through the creative Big Idea process, in addition to their innovative and inspiring ideas which have potential for real social impact.

“A massive congratulations to all of the students across the 22 counties who have journeyed through the 2023 programme. They have learned transformative creative skills and thanks to the help of our industry mentors, they can continue to think big and use creative thinking to solve problems and develop solutions – whether in life, college or work.”

The award-winning product designer who founded Ireland’s creative thinking programme, The Big Idea in 2021 says it is more than just an educational programme, “it’s a movement to elevate the national skill base and democratise the world’s most in-demand skill – creative thinking.”

Kim says the programme is brought to life by the Creativity Champions, teachers, staff, facilitators and coordinators who bring the Big Idea to life across classrooms and workshops across Ireland.

“They create a safe space for students and learners to experience creativity in action. They empower young people to find their voice and share their Big Ideas.”

EPAM Ireland is a partner of The B!G Idea and provided 13 mentors to work alongside the students, helping to bridge the gap between industry and education by providing practical advice on how to develop their innovative ideas and projects. Commenting on the programme, Martin Byrne, VP and Country Manager at EPAM Ireland, said: “Partnering with The B!G Idea was a no-brainer for us. Equipping the next generation of students with high-level problem-solving skills to tackle complex global issues like climate change and hidden poverty is exactly what Ireland and the technology industry needs right now. Highlighted by the fact that climate change was the #1 topic that these students wanted to address, sustainability is a huge issue in modern society and one that we are passionate about in EPAM. Our mentors and I are very excited to see how some of these Ideas progress, and we look forward to continuing the relationships we have built after the Showcase.”

Since the programme launched in 2021, it has already reached 6,500 learners, supported by over 750 industry mentors globally to help unlock valuable industry knowledge to help build the confidence and problem-solving skills of young people.

The winners, along with a selection of Big Ideas from the programme will go on to take part in a Big Idea accelerator in September. The Big Exhibition which includes every project submitted this year is now live at thebigidea.ie, where schools and mentors can also sign up for the next term.