ROBOTICS
about. We aim to create an understanding of big science, engineering and mathematical ideas that come to life when you engage with a real-life problem. Seeing it in context in relevant meaningful ways, rather than disconnected pieces of content.”
A robot arm at the Confirm Centre CONFIRM
Confirm is the Science Foundation Ireland research centre for smart manufacturing. It is a national centre, led by the University of Limerick with seven academic (Tyndall National Institute, UCC, CIT, NUIG, MUIM, AIT, and LIT) and 42 industry partners. The manufacturing sector is the second largest employer in Ireland and accounts for €110 billion in exports. Confirm’s vision is to enable transformation of the Irish manufacturing landscape to ensure future sustainability by supporting Irish industry to move to a smart manufacturing ecosystem in sectors that are critical to the Irish economy.
GOVERNMENT ACTION Deirdre also played a key role in preparing the Digital Strategy for Schools, a programme which will further embed technology and digital learning tools in primary and post-primary education, and she is positive about the government’s focus on embedding digital technologies across the curriculum. The professor is serious about designing
learning experiences that are suitable and fit for purpose for the 21st century. However, Butler is also aware of the stiff competition Ireland faces from other nations throughout Europe
in attracting multinational
INNOVATION NATION There are
creative
fostered in Ireland to be The
some notable projects being proud of.
setting up of four new Science
Foundation Ireland (SFI) research centres, backed by massive investment, has been announced by the government, while the Future Creators programme is continuing to equip teenagers with digital skills, including coding, app development and robotics, to name but a few. Dublin City University (DCU) has
recently partnered with Lego to create an educational centre that will help students and Irish schools develop innovative approaches to teaching science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects. Located at DCU’s St Patrick’s Campus in Drumcondra, the
Lego Education
Innovation Centre aims to ignite a passion for STEM subjects from early childhood, right through to third-level education. Senior Lecturer in education and digital
learning at DCU, Professor Deirdre Butler was a key figure in the establishment of the studio. Butler has been influential in pushing the digital agenda throughout
the Irish
educational system for over three decades and she believes digital technology should be used to transform learning environments. For Deirdre, the opportunity arose to
work with Ross Maguire, Director at Learnit and STEM Solutions, as well as Gary Jones from Lego Education Europe. A lot of
thinking was required in the
formation of the studio and DCU came on board with the full support of the university’s President, Professor Brian MacCraith. An interesting element of Deirdre’s work has been some
workshops and summer camps focusing on entrepreneurship
creativity,
really forward-thinking and
using
robotics as a way of focusing young people on developing an interest in STEM. Building on the success of the studio to date, and on the back of the such positive feedback, the Higher Education Authority has provided more funding, leading to the creation of 14 mini camps. “Within 24 hours the camps were full,” says Butler. “We’ll have girls and boys solving real problems, coding in
companies to the country. “We’re all faced with the same issues across Europe: trying to prepare people for a world we can’t imagine,” she explains. “Ireland needs to stay ahead of the curve and prepare people to be future makers capable of having an influence in the world – changing the world they’re in, rather than being acted upon. And key to that is the education system. We’re now living in a globally connected
world where change is very rapid. We need to prepare people to be flexible, resilient, life long learners. We don’t need to turn everyone into a computer scientist, but it’s important
that people understand what coding is about.”
GET SMART Smart manufacturing
has become an
increasingly common topic in recent times and Ireland recently invested €25 million in
“Ireland needs to stay ahead of the curve and prepare people to be future makers capable of having an inf luence.”
content, giving them the opportunity to think about robots in the real world.” Deirdre continues: “We’ve also started
family workshops to get out into the wider community, trying to get kids involved at an even earlier age with our Junior Robotics workshop. There’s also a DCU awareness day for older citizens. We want to create an awareness of STEM and empower people to understand what robotics and coding is all
18 14 INNOVATION IRELAN REVIEW
a new Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) research centre: Confirm – Smart Manufacturing. This centre
fundamentally transform Ireland into a smart
manufacturing leader,
aims to where
products, machines, production systems and supply chains will all be communicating and making smart decisions. Ireland has an increasing amount of highly sophisticated and automated factories
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