As with most things this year, Letterkenny Institute of Technology’s DICE_TY Academy took on a considerably different format, but the innovation, enthusiasm and creativity of the students still shone bright.
Established in 2018 the DICE_TY Academy forms part of the Faculty of Business’ DICE Labs and is run by the Department of Design and Creative Media each year. DICE stands for Design Innovation Creativity and Entrepreneurship.
Events kicked off on Tuesday with TY students from 4 schools across the county coming together online for a 4-day design sprint to encourage creativity and entrepreneurship. The week followed the stages of ‘UNIQUE’, a creative process developed by Dr. Tena Patten and Cróna O’Donoghue at the Department of Design & Creative Media and certainly facilitated many UNIQUE ideas.
“The capacity of the students to show empathy for their elders and for the past was impressive. Balancing nostalgia with future needs. Many of the ideas nullified wider problems in society.” – Emmet Rock, UX Designer and former LYIT student.
Sally Murphy conducting one of the interactive workshops delivered as part of DICE_TY Academy 2021
Transition year students from Abbey Vocational School, Donegal Town; Deele College, Raphoe; Loreto Convent, Letterkenny and St. Columba’s College, Stranorlar; were challenged to come up with a product, service or experience that would improve the lives of their target audiences in 2040. The themes for the project were Home/Place and Work/Education, reflecting these themes the impressive line-up of speakers inspired the students to think about the topics from several perspectives – Donegal County Council’s Sinead McCauley and James Hennessy, The Paul Hogarth Company discussed the regeneration work happening at present in Letterkenny and the county; Optum’s Dr. Dave Monaghan encouraged tech curiousity; world renowned surfer and scientist Dr. Easkey Britton inspired the academicians to consider the future of the environment in their ideas; and Associate Professor of Advanced European Studies, Bashir Otukoya, a past student of LYIT, advocated for a fair and equitable future.
Sinead McCauley, Donegal County Council, and James Hennessy, The Paul Hogarth Company discuss Letterkenny 2040
This experience has enabled me to think in a very different way. To be able to imagine/dream and come up with things I would have otherwise never would have. – Loreto Student
DICE taught us that your ideas can become reality! – Loreto Student
The days were filled with interactive workshops by designers and experts in many different fields and were interspersed with some time-out activities including a 10-minute workout lead by Donegal and LYIT’s own Michael Murphy.
Action shot of Michael Murphy doing a Ten-Minute Time Out with the students.
“We’ve really enjoyed DICE_TY Academy, it developed our teamworking skills and in being creativity it lets your creative juices flow” – St Columba’s Student.
“DICE_TY was great as it brought us all together as a team and helped our creative thinking.” – Orla Greene, Darcy Kennedy – AVS.
The 17 projects developed through the project are a testament to the wonderful talent in the county and are a very encouraging sign for the future of the county.
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