Five transition year students from Galway, who developed an innovative, peer-to-peer note sharing system for third level students, were crowned regional winners at the final of Bank of Ireland’s TY Academy.
The winning Galway team, named ‘Stutor’, was made up of Rian Spillane (Coláiste Iognaid ), Silvana Gusani (Galway Community School ), Daniel O’Reilly (Presentation Athenry ), Katie Higgins (Coláiste Éinde ), and Anna O’Hara (Salerno Secondary School ), were presented with their award at the TY finals in the Irish House of Lords, in the Bank of Ireland, College Green, Dublin.
"I’d like to congratulate ‘Stutor’ on creating such an innovative solution to the challenges facing young people during third level education," said Ciara McGuigan segment manager, Bank of Ireland. "We are delighted to have been able to provide the team with the tools, resources and mentoring support that have enabled them to create this exciting solution.”
Since September 2016, 400 transition year students from second level schools across Galway, Dublin, Cork, and Limerick have participated in Bank of Ireland’s TY Academy. The three-day programme challenged students to design a solution to overcome barriers facing young people who want to progress to third level education. The projects included solutions to address funding and housing shortages, keeping laptops and bicycles safe on campus, and managing mental health.
The teams comprised students from various different schools who worked together to develop ideas from concept to delivery and presented their projects to an experienced judging panel comprising business people, representatives from Bank of Ireland, and academic experts.
