Shannon teen to represent Ireland at Technovation global semi-final

Dementia support app sends Chloe O’Loughlin forward for international consideration

Life

Pictured: Aoibheann O Brien, FoodCloud; Chloe O’Loughlin; and Clodagh McCabe, AMD

Chloe O’Loughlin, a second year student in St. Patrick’s Comprehensive School in Shannon, won the Junior category award at the Technovation Ireland Regional Pitch Event (RPE) in AMD’s offices CityWest Dublin. She will now go forward to virtual semi-final and, potentially, a global final at the Technovation World Summit on 19 September.

O’Loughlin had been working on an app to help people with dementia since she started the Teen-Turn afterschool programme in January. Twelve weeks of mentoring and support led to the big event, with Chloe winning the Junior category for her app Brain Track.

The app was the product of a 12-week afterschool programme taken with more than 10 other girls in the group to learn to code, develop a business plan and pitch to judges.

“The app features a to-do list, calendar, to keep track of different appointments and allows relatives and caregivers to keep an eye on them,” said O’Loughlin.

An additional feature of the app is a profile page where the user or their relatives can input profiles of the people around them including photos and key details about that person. If a user forgets a name, they can go into the app to get a reminder, saving the frustration of having to ask directly.

Group mentor Donna O’Sullivan, who is also a teacher at the school, said: “Chloe has shown tremendous dedication and commitment to attending our Teen-Turn sessions after school each week and made superb progress during that time. We are so proud of what she has achieved and grateful to Teen-Turn for their continued support in developing tech skills for our girls.”

Sixty-five projects from eight counties and more than 20 schools were submitted to Technovation from Ireland this year.

The semi-finalists will judged online in June, with the finalists revealed at an online event in July.

Technovation partners with leading organisations like UNESCO and UN Women, and with mentors from companies such as Google, Nvidia, and Adobe to reach children and families in more than 100 countries.

TechCentral Reporters

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