Projects

Our managing director, Dr. Jake Rowan Byrne, was commissioned by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) to lead the writing of the new Leaving Certificate Computer Science curriculum. A full specification has been developed in collaboration with the NCCA and the associated development group, and has been official launched by the minister.

Jake was brought in as a domain specialist to co-lead the writing process with the NCCA, due to his knowledge in the areas of computer science education, teacher professional development and the development of key 21st century skills. This resulted in a course that is engaging, active and practical.

Working with the the Dun Laoghaire Local Enterprise center to develop a number of workshops  to engage secondary school students in Design and entrepreneurial thinking.

The four workshops are student-centered with an active learning pedagogy marrying theory and practice. To complete the learning cycle student teams will be challenged to develop a project to integrate and apply their learning which will be shared at a final presentation event with their peers and other stakeholders. To enrich this experience students will encounter and learn from new technology developers and entrepreneurs who will share insights into career options in STEM.

Workshop Day 1

With advances in programming, embedded systems (Raspberry Pi, Arduino etc.), Computer Aided Design (CAD), 3D printing and other creative technologies, it has become easier than ever to realise our creative ideas such as, computer generated interfaces, physical constructs and complex computer systems.

Our vision for the LexIconLab, is a place where community members can work together to turn ideas into reality. Where they encourage each-other to solve local challenges in creative and innovative ways, all while having fun and learning as you go.

Learning and development of both technical and social skills will be central to all the activities that take place at the LexIconLab, whether that’s with staff, adults, entrepreneurs or younger members of the public. Combining the knowledge and technical infrastructure available at the LexIconLab will provide both individuals and teams a workspace to research, design, experiment, develop/create, share and iterate on projects. This knowledge and experience could be collected and curated by the library staff on a web based platform, building up a set of community resources and list of local expertise.

LexIconLab, where the future’s in the making…

3D printers @ LexIcon Lab

CAWriter

Research Skills Tool-kit for Novice researchers, Research and Developed in conjunction with the Centre for Research in IT in Education at Trinity College Dublin.

The GrassOmeter

The GrassOmeter project, in conjunction with Monford Ag. Systems, is a wearable technology that supports dairy farmers through a range of hardware and software systems. Embedded systems are used to acquire grass height as the farmer walks their farm. This information is then made accessible through both a smartphone app and web services and presented in a manner to help the farmer make the best use of their natural resources, grass.

The GrassOmeter