In a unique charitable event laptop computers, donated by Galway businesses and educational institutions, will be carried overland from Germany to the Middle East in a rally car driven by NUI Galway postgraduate researcher Armin Haller before being donated to a school in Jordan.
One hundred teams from 15 countries will take part in Allgau-Amman rally that is supported by the United Nations and the World Food Programme, with funds raised going to charitable Jordanian causes. A unique feature of the race is that all participating cars have to be over 13 years old.
According to Brendan Smith, Education Officer at DERI, “Fourteen second-hand laptops were collected in just a few weeks from local individuals and institutions. After they were reconditioned, they were loaded into a car which will be driven by Armin in the Allgau-Orient Car Rally. The Rally will begin on April 30, setting out from the Allgäu region of southern Germany and ending in mid-May at Amman in Jordan. Armin, who recently completed his research studies at DERI, will then donate the computers to a Jordanian school for their use by children in computer and internet-based learning”.
DERI is one of most renowned third-level research institutes in Ireland as it is the world’s leading institute involved in developing the next generation of the web known as the Semantic Web. It operates an extensive Outreach programme supporting internet-based learning projects in schools and communities across the West of Ireland.
