Sentinus Young Innovators Winners
A massive congratulations to two of our Year 14 Computing students who recently attended the Sentinus Young Innovators competition at Queen’s University, Belfast. Andrew Hamilton (Year 14) won the Young Engineer of the Year 2022 award for Northern Ireland and Michael McMahon won the overall award which includes an all-expenses paid trip to Dallas, Texas.
They were invited to submit a STEM project that showcased innovation. Andrew submitted his AS Computing coursework which was an educational learning tool on the topic of Business Studies. This was created entirely in Visual Studio using the C# programming language. Michael submitted a 3D modelling product that is experienced using a virtual reality headset. The environment was created by Michael using 3D models made in Blender and incorporated into Unity. The user is able to interact with the 3D objects, pick them up and throw them etc. The system was developed so that a user is able to import their own model and interact with it. For example, imagine a company develops a new product and rather than having a Zoom meeting where they look at the product on a screen, they have a virtual reality meeting and each person is able to hold and interact with the object. To demonstrate, Michael developed a room that had various cars and custom commissioned models.
Andrew won the Young Engineer of the Year 2022 award for Northern Ireland. Michael won the overall award which includes an all-expenses paid trip to Dallas, Texas (including spending money) where he will represent Northern Ireland at the Regeneron International Science & Engineering Fair. This is the world’s largest pre-college STEM event and includes an $8 million prize pool.
This was a tremendous achievement by both of these young men and has provided them with great exposure. I don’t think this is the last we will have heard of them!
Below are some articles that Michael has featured in.
https://syncni.com/article/10009/young-scientists-showcase-their-innovations-as-northern-ireland-s-largest-science-fair-returns
https://syncni.com/article/10050/young-innovator-to-represent-northern-ireland-at-international-science-engineering-fair
