Sligo students Rory McCormack from Kilmactranny National School and Rory Carr from Coolbock National School were amongst a group of 22 students attending the Centre for Talented Youth, Ireland (CTYI) summer programme at IT Sligo last week. They learned how to create android apps like MoleMash and Mini Golf.
CTYI is a programme run by Dublin City University, which provides enrichment courses for students with high academic ability. It offers fun, enrichment courses in IT Sligo and other centres in Ireland for student aged between 8-12 year old and 6-16 year old in Dublin.
As part of the programme, students spent a week at IT Sligo learning about the fundamentals of digital electronics.
The relationship between Electronic Engineering and smart phone technology was of particular interest to the students, according to Electronic Engineering lecturer, Fergal Henry (pictured right with Rory Carr from Coolbock National School, Sligo) ; “Most people associate smart phones and app development with computing but less is known about the link with engineering. The design of the software is developed by software developers who are trained in the area of computing, but the hardware is produced by engineers. Special features like the scroll eye tracking motion on the new Samsung Galaxy S4 are the work of engineers.
“The students found the app development particularly interesting. They were impressed by the fact that they could use an emulator to test their apps or else use a WIFI connection to program their own phones. At the end, they were keen to go home to invent their own computer games apps,” he said.
The students were instructed by Electronic Engineering lecturer Fergal Henry and PhD candidate from the Institute’s Department of Mechanical and Electronic Engineering, Padraig Varley.
To learn more about Electronic Engineering at IT Sligo click here.
McCormack from Kilmactranny National School pictured with PhD candidate Padraig Varley at IT Sligo during the Centre for Talented Youth week at IT Sligo last week.