‘Hacker-style’ workshops allow teenagers to ‘tinker with technology’

Teenagers are being encouraged to tinker with technology as part of an initiative poised to sweep the world.

The Tyndall National Institute in Cork, which works at the cutting edge of electronics, photonics, sensors and nanotechnology research, has launched MakerDojo — a club which encourages second-level students and the general public to explore science and technology in hands-on ‘hacker-style’ workshops.

The research centre will provide technologies such as Arduino microcontrollers and littleBits electronics kits to encourage participants to build homemade burglar alarms; transmit songs through fibre-optic cables; and experiment with a miniature water-powered car.

Karen McCarthy, Tyndall’s public engagement and outreach officer, said it is hoped the initiative will help create a new generation of inventors, experimenters, and creators.

“This isn’t going to be anything like a formal classroom situation,” she said.

“Making is very intuitive, and comes naturally. When people are left to their own devices, they can have great experiences with technology — whether they’re already into it, or they’ve previously had negative experiences with exam-based learning and want to try something different.

“We hope a community of people will feel that the ‘makerspace’ here belongs to them and not to the institution, and that you can learn to build something in your own home, or in your own community.”

See: www.makerdojo.ie.