Top Kilkenny students get creative at The B!G Idea Student Accelerator

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Creative thinking students from Kilkenny are a step closer to bringing their award winning ideas to life as The B!G Idea hosted a new accelerator for its problem solving students in Ireland. 

The B!G Idea is an award-winning, creative thinking initiative which is teaching the world’s most in-demand skills to young people nationwide through its Youthreach, Community Training Centres, Leaving Certificate Applied, Transition Year and Northern Ireland programmes.

Around 35 students and learners attended the B!G Student Accelerator at Autodesk in Dublin on Thursday, October 26, where they worked with The B!G Idea team and industry experts from partner companies and sponsoring organisations such as Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland, Netwatch, Local Enterprise Office, Rethink Ireland and MSD Ireland.  

The top teams hail from Kilkenny, Carlow, Cork, Longford and Offaly and were announced at the B!G Showcase in May before being invited to take part in the one-day accelerator.

Kilkenny Youthreach developed their idea for an app that would use augmented reality to educate primary school students about the impacts of climate change in their local environment.

The event was also supported by ESB Generations and Síol Foundation, with a host of mentors from top companies across Ireland. 

“We are thrilled to launch our accelerator this year and bring these award winning ideas a step closer to becoming real solutions,” said founder and CEO of The B!G Idea, Kim Mackenzie-Doyle.

“We wanted to bring together key partners to provide an opportunity and space where students could also explore a range of career prospects, apply their new skills, experience innovation across different sectors, and build valuable connections in a diverse and collaborative setting.”

Niamh Cooney, Head of Growth and Sustainability at The B!G Idea says the standout student teams, nurtured through The B!G Idea programmes, had the amazing opportunity to be part of a one-day sprint guided by industry professionals.

“In true accelerator style, students learned directly from mentors, gained insightful industry perspectives, employed cutting-edge methods for idea development and rapid prototyping, and collaborated across diverse backgrounds,” she said, adding that students got to take to the stage, pitch their B!G ideas and showcase their digital prototypes to a panel of experts.