Page 15 - DePuy End of Year Magazine 2020

VIRTUAL
LAUNCH
This year, the impact of COVID-19 has seen DePuy Ireland transform its STEM Academy Programme to a virtual format. A dedicated team of volunteers lead by Susan Dunlea from DuPuy Engineering Excellence & Innovation team have prepared a bank of virtual lessons for the outreach programme.
To co-inside with Science week, 150 pupils from four Cork primary schools recently attended DePuy’s first ever Virtual STEM Academy Programme event. The event marks the completion of DePuy Ireland’s two year STEM Pilot Outreach Programme and launches the Virtual STEM Academy Programme for the 2020/21 academic year.
The STEM Academy Programme is designed to inspire and encourage children to engage in future studies and careers in science, technology, engineering and maths-related fields. Over the past year, the programme has reached over 10,000 Irish primary school students, teaching STEM-related subjects including robotics, 3-D printing, sustainability and virtual reality as part of our Lego Mindstorms, Dash and Dot Robotics and 3-D printing programmes.
This year, the impact of COVID-19 has seen DePuy Ireland transform its STEM Academy Programme to a virtual format. In addition, the team have also allocated time for online training and assistance for schools and teachers engaging with the programme.
Teachers and pupils of Cork based schools, Scoil Bhride, Scoil Mhuire, Ballincollig, Watergrasshill NS, and St Paul’s School, Montenotte attended the Virtual STEM Academy Programme launch event, which included a video event featuring testimonials of past participants, principals, teachers and volunteers. Speaking about the Programme, Mairead Ní Mhurchú, Principal of Scoil Mhuire, said
“The students are really excited to be involved
in the STEM Academy Programme this year. The programme is a great tool that allows our teachers to encourage students to engage in innovative thinking and explore the possibilities associated with a career in STEM.”
The sponsor of J&J STEM Academy - Global Leader Manufacturing, Engineering, Science & Technology, Gary Clerkin, said “At Johnson & Johnson, we recognise the importance of creating future generations of life-changing scientists and engineers. So far this year, we’ve reached over 10,000 children in a safe and socially distanced way. It is important for us to show all children, regardless of gender, socio-economic background and ethnicity, that a future in STEM is an exciting possibility, and one that we’re committed to supporting.”
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