Derry students participate in Generation Innovation Impact Day

As part of Enterprise Week 2023, over 80 students from Derry Strabane took part in a Catalyst Generation Innovation Impact Day, a fully immersive design-thinking experience for young people.

Enterprise Week 2023 took place from Monday 6 to Friday 10 March with the aim of inspiring the next generations of entrepreneurs in the City and District.

Catalyst’s Generation Innovation Impact Day, sponsored by Seagate and Foyle Down Syndrome Trust, aimed to inspire and encourage young people to develop their skills and entrepreneurial mindset. The process involved students identifying a real-world problem and designing a solution all in one day.

Each stage of the design process aimed to teach students a range of valuable skills including user-centred design, critical thinking and the ability to collaborate in a team.

To end the day, several different partner companies provided an insightful presentation into their own start-up journey, as well as demonstrating a range of innovative technologies.

Tristan Doran, from St Joseph’s College, who took part in the Impact Day said: “The Generation Innovation Impact Day hosted by Catalyst was a great experience which myself and my friends really enjoyed. We came together to solve a real-world challenge for Seagate.

“It was a really great day and has made me consider taking part in the Generation Innovation work experience programme later on in the year.”

Judith Camblin, Generation Innovation Programme Manager at Catalyst, said: “The Generation Innovation Impact Day during Enterprise Week was a great success and saw so many ambitious young people work together and create solutions to some big problems faced by businesses today.

“The Impact Day gives young people an idea of the full Generation Innovation work experience programme which will take place across three locations in June. We hope to see some of the students who took part in the Impact Day again in the Summer.”

Generation Innovation is a one-of-a-kind work experience programme for young people aged between 17 and 18.

It aims to empower, inform, and upskill future entrepreneurs.

Young people will work with well-known employers, such as EY, Artemis Technologies, Bank of Ireland and Dawson Andrews, to discover a solution to a real-life problem. Participants will then pitch their group idea to a partner company and their peers, alongside learning new skills and receiving training from expert facilitators.

The programme will take place in Derry in The Guildhall from 13-16 June 2023.

For more information visit: generationinnovation.co. Applications close on 31st March 2023.