A CODING club in Co Down has scooped two gongs at an international gathering in Dublin of coders from more than 20 countries including Japan, India, Argentina, Australia, France, Poland, Saudi Arabia and Turkey
CoderDojo Banbridge won the ‘Coolest Club’ award at Coolest Projects International , the world’s leading technology exhibition for young people, while eight-year-old Erin Corkery took an individual award in the visual programming category.
The event was organised by the team behind CoderDojo, the Cork-born global volunteer-led movement of extra-curricular coding clubs for young people.
Nearly 700 young tech creators from across the globe presented their inventions at the event, while more than 4,000 members of the public attended to celebrate this next generation of technology innovators.
CoderDojo Banbridge not only developed its own dojo, but also collaborated with others, organised meet ups, and were ambassadors for #CoolestProjects in creative ways.
Erin's award was for her “Micro:bit Exercise Challenge”, which was inspired by her love of sports and wanting to combine playing games while still physically working out to interact with characters in the game.
CoderDojo Banbridge champion Mark Corkery said: “This award validates the efforts all the volunteers have been making to inspire a love of digital creativity and helping the entrepreneurs of tomorrow.
“The fact is that all dojos rely on people of all skills and backgrounds to make all of this happen and hopefully this award will lead to more dojos springing up. It would be amazing if more volunteers joined and we could continue to grow.”
The young coders’ inventions ranged from projects which raise awareness about climate change, to assistive technologies for people with disabilities, to sci-fi video games and GPS-enabled mountaineering websites.
