South Dublin County Council unveils STEAM lab for Tallaght

Monthly robotics, VR workshops planned as part of global education initiative

Life

Students from St Killians NS try the latest tech at the Think Big Space launch in The Big Picture, Tallaght

South Dublin County Council (SDCC), through South Dublin Libraries and Amazon Web Services, has opened a collaborative space for science, technology, engineering, arts and maths (STEAM) education in Tallaght.

The first of its kind in Europe, AWS Think Big Space will provide a dedicated space for students, educators and communities to explore innovative and imaginative ideas through interactive hands-on technical education.

Students and teachers will be encouraged to “Think Big” by using their creativity and imagination as they explore the technologies on offer. The programme will support interactive hands-on learning and will be available for fourth class to sixth class primary school groups, and first year to fourth year secondary school groups.

An innovative programme of events in the AWS Think Big Space features Creative Hut Robotics workshops and virtual reality (VR) workshops.

The VR workshops will introduce students to the technology behind VR as well providing a hands-on experience and the chance to see VR in action. In the Creative Hut robotics workshops, students will have the opportunity to collaborate and create amazing robots, take on challenges and get an introduction to robotics technology.

Speaking on the launch, Paul Fusco, County Librarian with SDCC, said: “Libraries have always moved with the times and this is a perfect example. The pace of technological advancement is ever-increasing, and by working with experts in the field like AWS, South Dublin Libraries can help the children of today become the creative thinkers for tomorrow.”

Mike Beary, country manager, AWS Ireland, added: “AWS has been investing in South Dublin for over a decade. We’ve grown the number of our employees, expanded our collaboration with colleges and universities, invested in skills programmes, renewable energy projects, and strengthened our relationships with local communities across the country including in SDCC. We chose the SDCC area as the first location in Europe to launch an AWS Think Big Space because of the council’s focus on digital skills for the local community.”

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Read More: Amazon Web Services AWS Education Science Technology Engineering Art Maths Steam Think Big Space