2010 press releases

BT GETS TO WORK ON EDUCATION WITH BUSINESS MENTORING PROGRAMME

By June 18, 2015No Comments

Dublin, Tuesday 2nd March 2010: BT today kicked off the Business of Science & Technology, the pioneering new programme designed to help students progress from the classroom to the boardroom.  The programme, which runs from 2nd – 4th March 2010, is a collaboration between BT and key organisations to give future leaders the business skills and knowledge to help them turn good ideas into potential commercial opportunities.

This new mentoring initiative is an additional dimension to the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition. 53 students from 13 counties were invited to take part in the programme as they were winners of intermediate and senior categories, the overall top four performers and the winners of merit from the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition 2010.

World-renowned technology industry executive, Wendy Kennedy from Canada, will provide training in commercialisation skills using her internationally recognized So what? who cares? why you?® commercialisation methodology.* Through this proven approach, and working in teams, the students will learn the tools and frameworks used by world-class science and technology researchers and apply them to real-world Irish business case studies. The students will be also be mentored  by leading executives and professionals from BT, Bank of Ireland, Bombardier Aerospace, Bord Gáis Éireann, Engineers Ireland, IBM, Intel, IP Innovations, and Innovation Delivery.

Chris Clark, CEO, BT, “The talent that exists in schools across the island is evident each year in the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition and we wanted to take that one step further and arm these students with the business skills they need to turn good ideas into potential commercial opportunities.”

“Through this Business of Science & Technology Programme, BT is collaborating with key private and public sector organisations to help bridge the gap between the worlds of education and business and mentor the next generation of young innovators and entrepreneurs.  Bridging this gap is critical and urgent if Ireland is to be a competitive player in the global economy. We believe that embedding entrepreneurship in the school curriculum would be hugely beneficial for both the future of the students and the island as a whole,” he added.

The core teaching elements of the programme, which incorporates online learning tools, will centre on case studies assigned to the student teams, relating to industry sectors including: micro- electronics, bio-engineering, bio-chemistry, genetics and photonics.

All participating students will receive a certificate of achievement and the Minister for Education and Science, Batt O’Keeffe TD, has confirmed that summer placements in higher education institutions will be made available for the top six performers in the programme.

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