I Wish 2017

I Wish reaches out to Dublin for 2017

Life
Pictured: I Wish founders Caroline O'Driscoll, Ruth Buckley and Gillian Keating with students from St Finians CC Swords

6 October 2016

I Wish, a partnership initiative encouraging young women to pursue a career in STEM, will be expanding in 2017 from its Cork base to Dublin.

The I Wish conference and exhibition will include talks, demonstrations and interactive hubs where students can meet and engage with inspiring women working in a variety of STEM roles. Students will hear from female leaders from organisations such as Dell, Arup, PepsiCo, Google and Twitter.

“The world is facing incredible challenges in the next decade – over population, food shortages, urbanisation, ageing populations, climate change,” said I Wish co-founder Gillian Keating. “We know that the answer to all of these problems lies in STEM. I Wish 2017 will explain to these girls how big the world’s problems are, we will put female role models centre stage to show them the real jobs in STEM that can help solve these problems and ultimately help people in a truly remarkable way.”

I Wish is a partnership between Cork City Council, Cork Chamber, it@cork, Cork County Council, Dublin City Council, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, UCC, CIT, American Chamber of Commerce Ireland, Trinity College Dublin and Science Foundation Ireland. The event is also supported by RTE. The lead sponsors of the I Wish 2017 events is Dell, which is supporting the initiative for the second year running.

“It’s fantastic that Dublin is getting its own event this year, which will further broaden the reach of I Wish. We look forward to meeting students from across the country in February and telling them all about the world of options that the STEM subjects make possible, as well as emphasising the broad range of talents which have a home in the technology sector,” said Niamh Townsend, general manager, Dell EMC Ireland.

Dr Ruth Freeman, director of strategy & communications at Science Foundation Ireland said: “STEM courses provide students with the essential flexible and analytical skills they will undoubtedly need to have fulfilling careers doing the jobs of the future.  Ensuring we have a well-qualified future workforce is also critical to support the sustainable growth of Ireland’s economy. Connecting students with people working in various STEM jobs provides vital role models to encourage and inspire students to pursue their own STEM career paths.”

I Wish takes place in Cork City Hall on 9-10 February and the RDS Dublin on 13-14 February 2017. The events are free to attend and promise to benefit young women with hands-on practical information, talks and demonstrations by women in STEM roles. A full line-up of exciting national and international speakers will be announced in the coming weeks.

TechCentral Reporters

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